The wolf king disappeared into the night.

Seconds later, I 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 appeared: a troop of hunters in white-and-gray winter camouflage, 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 in the firelight and snatched up the arrow that had wounded Lycaon's hand. I stared in wonder. It was Thalia.

"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.

Then Thalia turned toward us, 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?" Then she saw me, and she returned my surprised face.

"Alex?!"

"Thalia!"

"Oh my gods, I didn't think I would find you here," she said, after hugging me. Then she scanned our little party.

Jason stood frozen, staring at his sister. I grinned, my ADHD mind already scripting out the perfect brother/sister re-union. I jerked my head in Jason's direction, but she didn't seem to get the hint.

"You're her," Piper guessed. "You're Thalia. "

Thalia tensed. I was afraid she might draw her bow, in a moment of surprise, but instead she pulled down her parka hood. Her hair was spiky black, unruly as always, with a silver tiara across her brow. Her face had a super-healthy glow to it, like it always had, but her face was stooped. She must have been on Lycaon's trail for ages, and her eyes were brilliant blue. Jason could tell she was the girl from the photograph.

"Do I know you?" Thalia asked.

Piper inhaled sharply. "This might be a shock, but—"

"Thalia. " Jason stepped forward, his voice trembling. "I'm Jason, your brother. "

For a minute, Jason and Thalia faced each other, stunned. Then Thalia rushed forward and hugged him.

"My gods! She told me you were dead!" She gripped Jason's face and seemed to be examining everything about it. "Thank Artemis, it is you. That little scar on your lip—you tried to eat a stapler when you were two!"

Leo and I laughed. "Wait, seriously?"

Hedge nodded like he approved of Jason's taste. "Staplers —excellent source of iron. "

"W-wait," Jason stammered. "Who told you I was dead? What happened?"

At the cave entrance, one of the white wolves barked. Thalia looked back at the wolf and nodded, but she kept her hands on Jason's face, like she was afraid he might vanish. I rolled my eyes, but my face felt hot, like I was intruding on family matters. "My wolf is telling me I don't have much time, and she's right. But we have to talk. Let's sit. "

Piper did better than that. She collapsed. She would've cracked her head on the cave floor if I hadn't caught her.

Thalia rushed over. "What's wrong with her? Ah—never mind. I see. Hypothermia. Ankle. " She frowned at the satyr. "Don't you know nature healing?"

Hedge scoffed. "Why do you think she looks this good? Can't you smell the Gatorade?"

"And Alex, what about you?"

I looked sheepishly down at the floor. "Y'know, Thalia. I tried my best on her ankle, but it needed time to heal-time which we didn't have, and the Hypothermia, I can't heal something I can't see. So I couldn't do anything about it. Sorry."

Thalia shook her head. "It's not your fault. I should've know, with the time restrictions on Hera's imprisonment and all. But still, why did you let this goat become a doctor. Really?" she said exasperatedly.

"You, The other boy and the satyr," Thalia ordered, "take this girl to my friend at the entrance. Phoebe's an excellent healer. "

"It's cold out there!" Hedge said. "I'll freeze my horns off. "

But I knew when we weren't wanted. "Come on, Hedge. These two need time to talk. "

"Humph. Fine," the satyr muttered. "Didn't even get to brain anybody. "

Hedge carried Piper toward the entrance. We were about to follow when Jason called, "Actually, man, Alex, could you, um, stick around?"

I saw something in Jason's eyes I didn't expect: Jason was asking for support. He wanted somebody else there. He was scared.

Leo grinned. "Sticking around is my specialty."

I nodded.

Thalia didn't look too happy about it, but the four of us sat at the fire. For a few minutes, nobody spoke. Jason studied his sister like she was a scary device—one that might explode if handled incorrectly. Thalia seemed more at ease, as if she was used to stumbling across stranger things than long-lost relatives. But still she regarded Jason in a kind of amazed trance, maybe remembering a little two-year-old who tried to eat a stapler. Leo took a few pieces of copper wire out of his pockets and twisted them together. I pulled an arrow out and started fiddling with the feathers. Getting bored, I pulle dout the entire quiver, and started picking out random arrows. By mistake, I accidentally pulled out one of Apollo's recorded arrows. Suddenly, a burst of awful music played out around the fire.

"I got the-the-the-the

I got the-the-the~

POWER!

music

I'm so cool, I'm the coolest God,

So much better

than my little twin Arte-mi~s!

Mother Leto said I'd get a girl at 22!
I got the girl at 21, ba-boom!

Her name was Daphne, and she was so cool-"

Finnaly, my hand stareted working again, and, face red, I stuffed the arrow back in the quiver. I didn't look back up, until Leo asked me, with a confused face,

"What the hell was that?"

"Apollo's masterpiece," I said wearily, putting air-quotes around the word 'masterpiece'.

There was silence, and then Leo tried to break it.

"So … the Hunters of Artemis. This whole 'not dating' thing—is that like always, or more of a seasonal thing, or what?"

Thalia stared at him as if he'd just evolved from pond scum. Leo shrunk back.

Jason kicked him in the shin. "Don't mind Leo. He's just trying to break the ice. But, Thalia … what happened to our family? Who told you I was dead?"

Thalia tugged at the silver bracelet on her wrist, Ageis. In the firelight, in her winter camouflage, she almost looked like Khione the snow princess—just as cold and beautiful.

"Do you remember anything?" she asked.

Jason shook his head. "I woke up three days ago on a bus with Leo and Piper. "

"Which wasn't our fault," Leo added hastily. "Hera stole his memories. "

Thalia tensed. "Hera? How do you know that?"

Jason explained about our quest—the prophecy at camp, Hera getting imprisoned, the giant taking Piper's dad, and the winter solstice deadline. Leo and I chimed in to add the important stuff: how he'd fixed the bronze dragon, could throw fireballs, and made excellent tacos(he really had to get that in), and how me and Piper got us out of Medea's place, how I'd sacrifices my hair.

"I thought your hair looked shorter," Thalia mused.

"'I thought your hair looked shorter'," I mimicked rudely. "That's because it is shorter, you dumbass."

Thalia was a good listener. Nothing seemed to surprise her—the monsters, the prophecies, the dead rising. But when we mentioned King Midas, she cursed in Ancient Greek.

"I knew we should've burned down his mansion," she said. "That man's a menace. But we were so intent on following Lycaon—Well, I'm glad you got away. So Hera's been … what, hiding you all these years?"

"I don't know. " Jason brought out the photo from his pocket. "She left me just enough memory to recognize your face. "

Thalia looked at the picture, and her expression softened. "I'd forgotten about that. I left it in Cabin One, didn't I?"

Jason nodded. "I think Hera wanted for us to meet. When we landed here, at this cave … I had a feeling it was important. Like I knew you were close by. Is that crazy?"

"Nah," Leo assured him. "We were absolutely destined to meet your hot sister. "

Thalia ignored him. Probably for good reason.

"Jason," she said, "when you're dealing with the gods, nothing is too crazy. But you can't trust Hera, especially since we're children of Zeus. She hates all children of Zeus. "

"But she said something about Zeus giving her my life as a peace offering. Does that make any sense?"

The color drained from Thalia's face. "Oh, gods. Mother wouldn't have … You don't remember—No, of course you don't. "

"What?" Jason asked.

Thalia's features seemed to grow older in the firelight, like her immortality wasn't working so well. "Jason … I'm not sure how to say this. Our mom wasn't exactly stable. She caught Zeus's eye because she was a television actress, and she was beautiful, but she didn't handle the fame well. She drank, pulled stupid stunts. She was always in the tabloids. She could never get enough attention. Even before you were born, she and I argued all the time. She … she knew Dad was Zeus, and I think that was too much for her to take. It was like the ultimate achievement for her to attract the lord of the sky, and she couldn't accept it when he left. The thing about the gods… well, they don't hang around. "

I remembered my own mom, the way she'd made up all these weird stories when I was younger. We would lie under the hot Australian sun...


"So, Honey, what sort of story do you want now?"

Four-year-old me giggled, and I shoved my hands into the damp sand of the beach. When the sea came in, I chucked handfuls of sand into it, not caring that flecks of it landed on my heavily freckled nose.

"Where's Daddy?" I was afraid I'd blown it with the long pause my Mum had, but then she just laughed.

"Oh, Honey! Who's saying you had a daddy? What's not saying that you were found in an egg I found in the supermarket, and when it hatched, I found my little baby girl?"

"I'm not a chicken!" I protested. Even at that young age, that was the one thing I was completely sure of. I was not a chicken.

"Are you sure? You have flaps coming out of the side of your body..."

"They're arms, not wings!" I said, laughing.

"Plot twist!" my Mum said dramatically. "What if all humans were chickens, and all chickens were humans!"

"That's not true!" I said, giggling so hard I was rolling over the sand.

I was six now. I blew out the candles on my cake, and then my mum started crying.

"Mummy!" I cried out. "Did you get burnt?"

"No, hun. Just...Your father would be proud."

"Ha! So I do have a father!" I declared, happy I'd won the argument. "What was he like, what happened to him?"

"He was a truly amazing person, Alex, hun, but he-he-died."


"Alex. Alex!"

"Huh, what sorry!" I zoned back in again.

I looked around, and noticed Jason's face—looking more and more devastated as Thalia described their mom—and for once, I didn't feel jealous of my friend. I might have lost my mom. I might have had some hard times. But at least I remembered her. I felt bad for Jason, not having memories like that—not having anything to fall back on, but then I slapped myself, almost physically. Jason didn't want our sympathy.

"So …" Jason didn't seem able to finish the question.

"Jason, you got friends," Leo told him. "Now you got a sister. You're not alone. "

Thalia offered her hand, and Jason took it.

"When I was about seven," she said, "Zeus started visiting Mom again. I think he felt bad about wrecking her life, and he seemed—different somehow. A little older and sterner, more fatherly toward me. For a while, Mom improved. She loved having Zeus around, bringing her presents, causing the sky to rumble. She always wanted more attention. That's the year you were born. Mom … well, I never got along with her, but you gave me a reason to hang around. You were so cute. And I didn't trust Mom to look after you. Of course, Zeus eventually stopped coming by again. He probably couldn't stand Mom's demands anymore, always pestering him to let her visit Olympus, or to make her immortal or eternally beautiful. When he left for good, Mom got more and more unstable. That was about the time the monsters started attacking me. Mom blamed Hera. She claimed the goddess was coming after you too—that Hera had barely tolerated my birth, but two demigod children from the same family was too big an insult. Mom even said she hadn't wanted to name you Jason, but Zeus insisted, as a way to appease Hera because the goddess liked that name. I didn't know what to believe. "

Leo fiddled with his copper wires, and I continued to play with my arrows, careful not to pull out the bad ones. I felt like an intruder. I shouldn't be listening to this, but it also made me feel like I was getting to know Jason for the first time—like maybe being here now made up for that time I'd missed out on Leo, Piper and Jason's friendship.

"How did you guys get separated?" Leo asked, bringing us all out of our thoughts.