Chapter Thirty One-Piper
"Wolves," Piper said. "They sound close."
Jason rose and summoned his sword. Leo and Coach Hedge got to their feet too. Piper tried, but black spots danced before her eyes.
"Stay there," Jason told her. "We'll protect you."
She gritted her teeth. She hated feeling helpless. She didn't want anyone to protect her. First the stupid ankle. Now the stupid hypothermia. She wanted to be on her feet, with her dagger in her hand.
Then, just outside the firelight at the entrance of the cave, she saw a pair of red eyes glowing in the dark.
Okay, she thought. Maybe a little protection is fine.
More wolves edged into the firelight-black beasts bigger than Great Danes, with ice and snow caked on their fur. Their fangs gleamed, and their glowing red eyes looked disturbingly intelligent. The wolf in front of them was almost as tall as a horse, his mouth stained as if he'd just made a fresh kill.
Piper pulled her dagger out of its sheath.
Then Jason stepped forward and said something in Latin. Piper didn't think a dead language would have much effect on wild animals, but the alpha wolf curled his lip. The fur stood up along his spine. One of his lieutenants tried to advance, but the alpha wolf snapped at his ear. Then all the wolves backed into the dark.
"Dude, I gotta study Latin." Leo's hammer shook in his hand. "What'd you say, Jason?"
Hedge cursed. "Whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Look."
The wolves were coming back, but the alpha wolf wasn't with them. They didn't attack. They waited-at least a dozen now, in a rough semicircle just outside the firelight, blocking the cave exit.
The coach hefted his club. "Here's the plan. I'll kill them all, you guys escape."
"Coach, they'll rip you apart," Piper said.
"Nah, I'm good."
Then, Piper saw the silhouette of a man coming through the storm, wading through the wolf pack.
"Stick together," Jason said. "They respect a pack. And Hedge, no crazy stuff. We're not leaving you or anyone else behind."
Piper got a lump in her throat. She was the weak link in their "pack" right now. No doubt the wolves could smell her fear. She might as well be wearing a sign that said FREE LUNCH.
The wolves parted, and the man stepped into the firelight. His hair was greasy and ragged, the color of fireplace soot, topped with a crown of what looked like finger bones. His robes were tattered fur-wolf, rabbit, raccoon, deer, and several others Piper couldn't identify. The furs didn't look cured, and from the smell, they weren't very fresh. His frame was lithe and muscular, like a distance runner's. But the most horrible thing was his face. His thin pale skin was pulled tight over his skull. His teeth were sharpened like fangs. His eyes were glowing bright red like the wolves'-and they were fixed on Jason with absolute hatred.
"Ecce," he said. "filli Romani."
"Speak English, wolf man!" Hedge bellowed.
The wolf man snarled. "Tell your faun to mind his tongue, or he will be my first snack."
Piper remembered that faun was the Roman name for satyr. Not exactly helpful information. Now, if she could remember who this guy was in Greek mythology, and how to defeat him, that she could use.
The wolf man studied their little group. His nostrils twitched. "So it's true," he mused. "A child of Aphrodite. A son of Hephaestus. A faun. And a child of Rome, of Lord Jupiter, no less. All together, without killing each other. How interesting."
"You were told about us?" Jason asked. "By whom?"
The man snarled-perhaps a laugh, perhaps a challenge. "Oh, we've been patrolling for you all across the west, demigod, hoping we'd be the first to find you. The giant king will reward me well when he rises. I am Lycaon, king of the wolves. And my pack is hungry."
The wolves snarled in the darkness.
"But we've found ourselves quite the treat along the way, not too long ago." Lycaon continued, then ordered to his wolves, "Bring her forth."
What Piper saw next was horrifying. Two wolves walked behind a girl about Piper's age, with manghony, bright, scared eyes, was half Hispanic/half white, and very beautiful. She wore a Houston Dynamos long sleeve t-shirt, skinny jeans, and worn black Converse high-tops. She was model perfect, except not that skinny, just regular, but what ruined that image were scars across her face, as if the wolves had attacked her. She shouldered a thin black book bag self-consciously as she walked, her eyes darting around, but they focused on Piper and her friends.
"Where'd you find her?" Jason demanded, sounding furious.
Lycaon chuckled. "Spying on you, actually in the peak. We tried to attack her, but she is very… ah, rude and quite a fighter."
"Rude!" the girl rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Look at you, wolf man! Steal a teen at Pikes Peak, now that's rude."
Lycaon snarled at her in a threating way. "Shush, daughter of Trivia."
Piper's brain was racking. Trivia? Who the heck was Trivia? And why were Lycaon and his pack following them? What was the story of Lycaon again?
"Who's Trivia?" Leo asked, and Piper noticed he held a bottle full of clear liquid.
"Hecate," Hedge answered. "Goddess of magic."
"Leave," Jason ordered. "There's no food for you here. Now give us the girl."
"Unless you want tofu burgers," Leo offered.
Lycaon bared his fangs. Apparently he wasn't a tofu fan. "If I had my way," he said with regret. "I'd kill you first, son of Jupiter. Your father made me what I am. I was the powerful king of Arcadia, with fifty fine sons, and Zeus slew them all with his lightning bolts."
"Ha," Coach Hedge said. "For good reason!"
Jason glanced over his shoulder. "Coach, you know this clown?"
"I do," Piper answered. The details of the myth came back to her-a short, horrible she and her father had laughed about at over breakfast. She wasn't laughing now.
"Lycaon invited Zeus to dinner," she said. "But the king wasn't sure it was really Zeus. So to test his powers, Lycaon tried to feed him human flesh. Zeus was outraged-"
"And killed my sons!" Lycaon howled. The wolves behind him howled too.
"So Zeus turned him into a wolf," Piper said. "They call… they call werewolves lycanthropes, named after him, the first werewolf."
"King of the wolves," Coach Hedge finished. "An immortal, smelly, vicious mutt."
Lycaon growled. "I will tear you apart, faun!"
"Oh, you want some goat, buddy? 'Cause I'll give you some goat."
"Stop it," Jason said. "Lycaon, you said you wanted to kill me first, but…?"
"Sadly, child of Rome, you are spoken for. Since this one-" He wagged his claws at Piper. "has failed to kill you, you are to be delivered alive to the Wolf House. One of my compatriots has asked for the honor of killing you herself."
"Who?" Jason asked.
The wolf king snickered. "Oh, a great admirer of yours. Apparently, you made quite the impression on her-"
Suddenly, two wolves howled in pain, and faded into a blur of black, then were gone. The girl stood there, eyes wide in horror, staring at the two places that her guards once stood.
Lycaon looked furious. "You killed my wolves. You shall pay for that with death, Trivia spawn."
"Look," the girl explained quickly. "I was just staring at them, and then they were gone!"
"Ah, a liar, an interesting demigod, you are." He then snarled, "Get her."
The wolves charged, but Leo struck. He threw his glass bottle on the ground, splattering liquid all over the wolves-the unmistakable smell of gasoline. He shot a burst of fire and a wall of flames erupted.
Wolves yelped and retreated. Several caught on fire and had to run back to the snow. Even Lycaon looked uneasy at the barrier of flames now separating his wolves from the demigods.
"Aw, c'mon," Coach Hedge complained. "I can't hit them from all the way over there."
Every time a wolf got closer, Leo shot a new wave of fire from his hands, but each effort seemed to make him a little bit more tired, and the gasoline was already dying down. "I can't summon any more gas!" Leo warned, then his face turned red, and the girl grinned to keep herself from laughing. "Wow, that came out wrong. I mean the-"
Suddenly, Lycaon yelped, and collapsed onto his back. He held a long wound on his stomach, wincing, and the girl loomed over him, a huge silver Swiss army knife in hand. She looked ferocious, almost like a madman, which kind of creeped Piper out, but impressed her.
Then a ripping sound cut through the wind-like a piece of tearing cardboard. A long stick sprouted from the neck of the nearest wolf-the shaft of a silver arrow. The wolf writhed and fell, melting into a puddle of shadow.
More arrows. More wolves fell. The pack broke into confusion. An arrow curved and flashed toward Lycaon, but the wolf king caught it in midair. Then he yelled in pain. When he dropped the arrow, it left a charred, smoking gash across his palm, matching on across his stomach. Another arrow caught in the shoulder, and the wolf king staggered.
Piper noticed that more wolves were left, closing in on the girl, who was crouched, covering herself with her arms.
She was about to charge, when a gust of wind made the wolves fly backwards. The girl stood, and Piper noticed that steam was curling of the cave floor, and in a circle around the girl.
Piper watched in awe as bright green fire erupted in a tall circle.
"How…?" she asked, almost unable to speak.
"I-I-I-I don't know…" the girl answered in a small voice, looking stunned.
"Greek fire." Hedge whispered. "Girl, how did you get some of that?"
Lycaon was in the cave entrance, glaring at the group in hatred. "This isn't over."
The wolf king disappeared into the night.
Seconds later, Piper heard more wolves baying, but the sound was different-less threatening, more like hunting dogs on the scent. A smaller white wolf burst into the cave, followed by two more.
Hedge said, "Kill it?"
"No!" Piper said. "Wait."
The wolves tilted their heads and studied the campers with huge golden eyes.
A heartbeat later, their masters appeards: a troop of hunters in white-and-grey winter camoflauge, at least half a dozen. All of them carried bows, with quivers of glowing silver arrows on their backs.
Their faces were covered with parka hoods, but clearly they were all girls. One, a little taller than the rest, crouched by the firelight and snatched up the arrow that had wounded Lycaon's hand.
"So close." She turned to her companions. "Phoebe, stay with me. Watch the entrance. The rest of you, follow Lycaon. We can't lose him now. I'll catch up with you."
The other hunters mumbled agreement and disappeared, heading after Lycaon's pack.
The girl in white turned toward them, her face still hidden in her parka hood. "We've been following that demon's trail for over a week. Is everyone all right? No one got bit?"
Jason stood frozen, staring at the girl. Piper realized something about her voice sounded familiar. It was hard to pin down, but the way she spoke, the way she formed her words, reminded her of Jason.
"You're her," Piper guessed. "You're Thalia."
The girl tensed. Piper was afraid she might draw her bow, but instead she pulled down her parka hood. Her hair was spiky black, with a silver tiara across her brow. Her face had a super-healthy to it, as if she were a little more than human, and her eyes were brilliant blue. She was the girl from Jason's photograph.
"Do I know you?" Thaila asked.
Piper took a deep breath. "This may be a shock, but-"
"Thalia." Jason stepped forward, his voice trembling. "I'm Jason, your brother."