1. I Get a Disturbing Call

I loved winter break. It was the one time of year when my parents, even my mom, took two whole weeks off work for the holidays. We celebrated both Winter Solstice and Christmas at my house. Twice the presents, it was great.

I also enjoyed the city during winter break. Manhattan was never more alive than it was in late December. Central Park was awesome with a dusting of snow, and I loved to take my dog, Iolaus, to the park to play in the fluffy white stuff. Nic and I used to have snowball fights and go ice-skating at Rockefeller Center during our little vacation from school. Unfortunately, we didn't hang out last winter like we used to, and so far this winter the story was the same.

On the bright side, though, Noah was coming to the city for a few days to spend Winter Solstice with Uncle Nico and Aunt Rachel, so I'd get to hang out with him. We were pumped about it.

Another thing I loved about winter break: I got to stay up late playing video games or watching movies every night and sleep-in every morning.

Two days before the Solstice, I finally got to sleep around one a.m. and was awakened an hour later.

"CJ," I heard a voice say. "CJ."

"Hmm," I groggily muttered without opening my eyes.

"CJ!"

I jumped awake. Who the heck was in my room?

"What? Who's there?" I asked as I grabbed my sword in pen-form off the nightstand and flipped on the lamp.

"It's Lexie," she said.

"Lexie?" I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked around my room where I saw her at the foot of my bed in an Iris message. I blinked and looked at the clock. "Lexie, it's two in the morning."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, CJ. I forgot about the time difference." She was in San Francisco; it was only eleven o'clock there. "I'll let you go back to sleep," she croaked.

"No, it's okay. I'm awake now. Wait, are you crying?" I asked noticing how red her eyes were and the moisture on her cheeks. "What's wrong, Lexie?"

She shook her head. "I don't know what to do."

"About?"

"I got ambushed by Mom, Dad, Uncle Jason, and Artemis today. They think it's time I joined the Hunt."

I was at a loss for words. I knew this might happen; I just didn't want it to. "…Oh," I said, finally.

"That's it? That's all you can say?" She shook her head. "I shouldn't have called you."

"Lexie, wait. I'm sorry. It's just…I guess I'm still not fully awake yet. So, I assume from your crying that you don't want to join?"

"No, that's not it."

"Then you do want to join?" I asked.

"No…yes…maybe. Ugh, I just don't know. I need your advice, CJ. Do you think I should do it? Do you think I should join the Hunt?"

What I wanted to say was hell, no! If Lexie joined the Hunt, she'd be gone from my life again. It would be like it was when we were eight. I'd lost her when she moved back to Miami, and I didn't want to lose her again, especially not now. I hadn't yet sorted out my feelings about her, but they were strong, and just the thought of her leaving me was already breaking my heart. Of course, I couldn't tell her that. The Hunt was actually a great opportunity for her. She'd gain immortality. That would be huge, and I'm sure not many people could turn it down.

"I can't make that decision for you," I told her.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I'm so confused. I don't know what to do…and I always know what to do. It's frustrating, and it's…big. Too big."

I wanted to help her. I wanted to comfort her somehow. "Come out here," I said without really thinking, but it was a good idea nonetheless.

"To Manhattan?" she asked.

I nodded. "Come spend Christmas with me. Get away from the pressure. You can think about it out here. I won't pressure you. Like you said, it's big. Come out here and relax for a few days so you can really think about it then make your decision."

Her face brightened a bit. "Your parents won't mind?"

"Are you kidding? My parents love you. They'd be happy to have you come out for Christmas, and so would I. What do you say?"

She thought about it for a second then nodded. "Okay, I'll do it."

I smiled. "Great. In the meantime, try not to worry about your decision. I hate seeing you cry."

She gave me a little smile. "I'll try. Thanks, CJ. Now go back to sleep. I'll see you soon," she said, then waved her hand through the message to disconnect us.

Back to sleep? How was I supposed to go back to sleep after a bombshell like that?

I tossed and turned the rest of the night and rolled out of bed when I smelled coffee brewing in the kitchen. I slipped on a long-sleeve tee shirt with my pj pants and made my way downstairs. Mom was in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

"You're up early," she noticed. "Juice?"

"Coffee," I said, grabbing a mug out of the cabinet.

"Rough night?" she asked, probably noticing the dark circles under my eyes.

"You could say that," I said as I spooned sugar into my coffee.

Dad walked into the kitchen as I sat down at the breakfast bar with my coffee. He ruffled my messy hair as he walked by and went over to Mom to kiss her on the cheek. His hair was damp, so I guess he'd just gotten out of the shower. He poured himself a cup of coffee, and when he turned to me, he blinked.

"You look like crap, Chase," he observed.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, Dad."

"Nightmares?" he asked with a little concern noticeable in his voice.

"I had a visitor in the middle of the night."

That got Mom's attention. "I beg your pardon."

"I got an Iris message from Lexie. She was upset."

"What happened?" Dad asked.

"Her family thinks she should join the Hunt."

Mom shrugged. "Not surprising, really. Thalia was a Hunter for a while, and Artemis is Lexie's aunt. No doubt they want her to join."

"But she's not sure what to do. She wanted my advice, but I didn't know what to tell her. I asked her to come spend Christmas with us so she could think. I hope that's okay."

"That's perfectly fine, CJ," Mom said. "But you should probably prepare yourself, because she may very well join. The Hunt is in her blood. She'll no doubt feel a strong sense of duty toward that part of her life. And it's a great opportunity for her. She'll get to walk in her mother's footsteps as a Hunter."

"Immortality must be pretty tempting, huh?" I said.

"You have no idea," my parents said at the same time.

Mom grinned. "There are times, like when your father's being an ass, that I regret not joining the Hunt."

Dad clutched his chest mockingly. "Oh, you hurt me when you say things like that."

"Wait, you were going to join the Hunt?" I asked her.

She nodded. "I thought about it."

"Why didn't you?"

"She couldn't leave me," Dad grinned. "I had her wrapped around my finger even then."

"In your dreams, Seaweed Brain," she said, and I cringed at the use of her pet name for him. "I was afraid that if I left you unsupervised, you'd get yourself killed."

"Uh-huh, you keep telling yourself that," Dad smirked as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "But I know the truth," he said in her ear. "You couldn't resist me."

"Stop it," I insisted. "Or I'm gonna puke."

Dad started nibbling on her neck, and she giggled like a little schoolgirl. It was disgusting.

"Seriously, I'm gonna be sick if you two don't stop."

The doorbell rang, and Mom pulled away from Dad. "I'll get it," she said.

"Thank the gods," I said.

Dad grinned. "What's wrong, Chase? Can't handle your mom and dad's cheesy love story?"

"If you and Mom love each other so much, then why do you two bicker and fight all the time?" I asked.

"So we can make up."

Whoa! Too much information! "Gross!"

Dad laughed. "Hey, you walked right into that one, son."

I grimaced. "Ugh, sorry I asked."

Mom walked back into the kitchen with red headed woman and a tall, light brown-haired teenage guy. "Look who I found at the door," she smiled.

"Noah!" I gave my best friend a manly hug. "I didn't think you were going to be here until tomorrow."

"Change of plans," he smiled.

"Hey, Aunt Rachel," I said to the redhead, and gave her a less manly hug.

I turned back to Noah. "Hey, guess what. Lexie's coming to town, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I said and waved him to follow me upstairs to my bedroom. "Come on, I'll tell you all about it."

Mom called after us. "Breakfast in half an hour, boys."

"Okay, Mom," I called back.

When we got to my room I flipped on my game console so we could get in some first-person shooter before breakfast.

"So, Lexie's flying in?" Noah asked as he parked his butt on the foot of my bed.

"Yeah, she's coming to spend Christmas with me."

"So, does this mean you two are together now?"

"What? No," I said then told him the reason she was coming to Manhattan.

Noah sighed. "Aw, man, I'm sorry. I know how you feel about her."

"It's not a done deal. She might not join."

"Maybe you should just tell her how you feel. At least she'll be able to make an informed decision if she knows how much you really care about her."

"I...I don't know if I can," I said.

"You're afraid she doesn't feel the same way, and you don't want to make an ass of yourself."

"Speaking from experience, Noah?"

"Possibly."

My phone beeped. I had an email. It was Lexie's itinerary.

"Her flight out of San Francisco leaves tomorrow. She has a connection in Dallas, then her plane will land at LaGuardia at five."

"You know," Noah said. "It's kinda strange that we'll all be together in the winter."

"Yeah, I know," I said. "So what about you? How long are you staying in the city?"

He shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Nico and Rachel said I could stay with them until school started back if I wanted to."

"They're good people. You're lucky to have 'em."

"Yeah, I know. I'm still not sure why I have them, though. Why Nico chose me of all people to take in."

I knew why. I'd overheard Mom and Rachel talking about it once. Apparently Nico thought Noah was the third incarnation of his sister who died when they were kids. Nico wasn't a hundred percent sure that was the case, but he was sure enough that he and Rachel decided they would look after Noah and do whatever they could for the guy. They got him into a boarding school in Jersey, they spent time with him on school breaks, and they treated him like one of their own. Like I said: good people.

Now I wasn't about to tell Noah any of this, because it would freak him out, so I just shrugged. "Nico's weird." And left it at that.

"Speaking of Nico and Rachel," he said. "I need your help with something. I need to get them Solstice gifts, and I'm terrible at picking out gifts."

"You want me to take you shopping?" I asked.

"Uh, if you have the time."

"Yeah, it's no problem. I actually need to do some holiday shopping myself. I still haven't gotten my mom anything yet, and I should buy Lexie a gift, too. What do girls like anyway?"

"Jewelry," Dad said as he poked his head in my room. "Nothing fancy, just simple and meaningful. And breakfast is ready."

Noah looked at Dad hopefully. "Blue pancakes?"

Dad nodded. "A whole stack of 'em."

"Awesome."

After breakfast, Noah and I hit the streets to do some last minute holiday shopping. And we weren't the only ones. Stores were packed with people buying Christmas gifts.

"They're just so hard to buy for," Noah complained as he searched for a gift for Nico and Rachel. "I mean what do you get for people who have everything?"

He had a point. They were super-rich—well, Rachel was anyway. She'd inherited her father's company when he died a few years ago. She was worth like a bazillion dollars, and though she and Nico weren't married, they'd lived together for many, many years and what was hers was his and vice versa.

What did Dad say about gifts? Simple and meaningful.

"Oh, I have an idea," I said pulling my phone out of my pocket. I scrolled through pictures until I found the one I was looking for and showed it to Noah.

"Hey, that's a good one," he smiled. The picture was of him, Rachel, and Nico making goofy faces and posing with their concert tickets at Madison Square Garden. I took the picture during spring break.

"Let's get it printed up and framed," I said. "I think they'd like that."

"Yeah, I think so, too. Thanks, CJ. I knew you'd come through for me."

"Now it's your turn to help me find something for Lexie."

After we got the photo printed and framed, we went to Tiffany to see if I could find something for my mom and Lexie. As we were browsing, I found a nice pair of earrings for Mom, but I was still on the lookout for the perfect gift for Lexie. It wasn't long before I found it. It was an arrow.

I pointed at the small gold arrow charm hanging on a gold chain necklace. "What do you think, Noah? Think she'd like it?"

He nodded. "Oh, yeah, that's perfect. Simple and meaningful."

I bought it.

…

The next morning, the morning of the Winter Solstice, Mom, Dad, and I exchanged a few gifts. Dad loved his screen-printed tee shirts I got him. One read My Brother is a Cyclops and the other I'm the Horse Whisperer. I get him goofy shirts like that every year. He'd get new loafers for Christmas, which Mom picked out, because apparently I sucked at picking out shoes.

Mom loved the earrings I bought at Tiffany yesterday. I decided I'd give her the leather bound sketchbook with her name embossed on the cover to her on Christmas. I got a video game from Dad and clothes from Mom. All in all it was a good Solstice morning, and soon we'd be off to meet up with Nana and Grandpa for brunch like we always do on the Solstice.

The day seemed to drag on. I guess it was because I was so anxious to pick Lexie up from the airport. I hadn't seen her in person since the end of the summer, and I missed her. I think I was just as nervous as I was excited. We hadn't spent time together—just me and her away from camp—since we were little kids. I hoped the time she'd be spending here would go great, and maybe, just maybe she'd decide not to join the Hunt. But if she did join, well, we'd at least have this time together first.

A little before four, I figured I'd better get going to the airport, because traffic to Queens was liable to be bad. I grabbed the keys to my Jeep and was about to walk out the door when Dad stopped me.

"If you want to keep her in your life, you've got to tell her," he said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"I'm talking about Lexie," he said. "When I thought your mother might join the Hunt, I panicked. I hadn't yet told her what she meant to me, and it scared me to death to think I could lose her like that, without her knowing. Thank the gods it was Thalia who joined and not your mom, but I gotta tell you, son, it could've easily gone the other way."

"I don't know if I can tell her anything, Dad. I'm not even sure how I feel about her. And what if we do get together and things don't work out? I'll lose my friend, and I can't lose her, Dad."

"But what if it does work out? You can't just think about the risks, Chase. You've got to think about the rewards, too."

"I don't have that same reckless abandon you have."

He grinned and shook his head. "No, you're more like your mother that way. You think too much. But you know, it was her that made the leap, not me. I was too tongue-tied to get the words out. And I really should thank her for taking that leap of faith and trusting that it would all work out, because I don't know what I'd do without you two. Take a page from her book, Chase."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. You just have to decide if she's worth it, because if you don't do something to stop her, she'll choose immortality. It's like Mom said: it's in her blood." He smiled then scooted me out the door. "Just think about it. And get going. You don't want to be late."

I thought about what Dad said on the drive to LaGuardia. He was right. I'd have to do something. It was her decision to make; I wasn't going to make it for her, but I could show her how important she was to me and let her know how much I'd miss her if she left me. I decided right then that I was going to make this the best Christmas she'd ever had.

Once I was at the airport, I waited near the baggage claim for Lexie, and it felt like I'd been waiting forever. I checked the time; it was 5:45. She should've been here by now. I walked around to all the baggage lines to see if I could find her, but all I found was her luggage—a black suitcase with the letters SPQR embroidered in gold on the front. I grabbed it, then went straight to the Delta terminal where I waited in line for nearly twenty minutes.

When I finally made it through the line, the lady at the desk asked, "How can I help you?"

"My friend was supposed to be arriving at five. Her luggage made it, but I can't find her anywhere," I told the woman.

"Do you know which flight she was on?"

I pulled out my phone and opened the email Lexie had sent me. "Here's her itinerary," I said and showed the information to her.

"Let me check on that," she said and began typing on her computer. "Well, her ticket was scanned at San Francisco International, but it was never scanned at Dallas/Fort Worth. It looks like she missed her connection."

Fear clenched my heart like a vice. Lexie didn't miss flights or get lost in airports or things like that. She was a traveler; she knew her way around airports. She probably made a half a dozen flights to San Francisco, Miami, and Long Island every year. If she missed her connection, then something was wrong.

"Could you call her, maybe?" the lady asked.

"She doesn't have a cell phone," I said, and the woman looked at me funny, because everyone had a cell phone, so I made up a story. "She thinks the radiation in the phone gives you brain damage."

The woman shrugged. "She may be right. Well, let me see if she if she made a later flight." The woman began typing on her computer again. "I'm sorry, but it doesn't look like she boarded another plane. She may still be at the Dallas airport."

I shook my head. "Something's wrong."

I know the woman could tell I was worried and upset, because she went out of her way to help me. "Tell you what," she said. "I'll make a call to our terminal at Dallas and see if they can locate her or have airport security keep an eye out for her. The process may take a while, because as you can see, we're swamped with holiday travelers. Why don't you give me you're phone number? You can go on home, and I'll give you a call when I hear something."

I wrote down my name and number on a sheet of paper, and she gave me her business card. She looked at the paper and said, "We'll find her, Chase. Don't worry."

I gave the woman my thanks even though I knew they'd never find her. It was up to me to find her. I rushed out to my Jeep and tossed Lexie's luggage into the backseat. I made for a little spray-bay carwash in Queens where I could send out an Iris message. I put a couple quarters into the machine, turned on the sprayer nozzle near my Jeep's headlights, and when I could see a rainbow in the misting water, I tossed in a drachma and asked the goddess Iris to connect me to Alexandria Grace.

I got nothing. I tried again, and this time I got a message from the rainbow goddess herself. "Your call cannot be completed at this time. Please try again later."

What? I'd never had an Iris message not go through. This was bad, really bad. I'd been so worried about Lexie joining the Hunt, but now I was worried in a whole new way; I was scared for her life.

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.