Chapter Twenty-Six | KITTY ELLIS


'I SPY' COULD ONLY DISTRACT THEM for so long. Kitty had started the game about an hour after they left the Hunters, noticing that Ophelia looked to be still in pain and Alex kept quiet. It worked for about half an hour. I Spy didn't work well when the only change to the environment was passing another new tree with each step forward.

Oak trees. Always. And a black asphalt road with one lane in each direction. And yellow dividing lines. And partly cloudy blue skies. And unbelievable humid heat—except they couldn't see that one. Just feel it.

Kitty took another drink of her water bottle. They'd found a partially stocked vending machine in a campsite of Patuxent Research Refuge. That's what Thalia had called the large forested area they'd been chased into by the Colchis Bull.

She shivered, and definitely not from the weather. That thing had been massive. She knew Alex had seen one before in New York, and Percy Jackson had killed a couple alongside Tyson and the Ares cabin years ago. But she'd never seen one. And she never wanted to see one again. Why did Hephaestus make such horrible things? He must've been so consumed by the desire to make that he didn't think about if he should.

Which Kitty supposed she could respect. Though not if it had gotten her killed. Alex had this vendetta against Daedalus for his bronze creations. If that thing had landed her in Elysium she might've tried for reincarnation just to mess with Hephaestus the second time around.

Her side still ached. A shredded piece of shrapnel from their car had slashed across her abdomen. If it hadn't been for the Hunters, Elysium had been a distinct possibility. Ophelia hadn't been any better off. The bull had hit her side of the car first. Kitty remembered dragging her out of the wreckage. Once she'd seen Alex awake, confident he could fight the thing better than either she or Ophelia, Kitty had helped her stand and started running.

It all blurred from there. She remembered a lot of pain. She remembered blood soaking her shirt. Glancing down, Kitty appreciated even more the replacement grey camo tee a hunter had given her. Wandering into Washington, DC soaked in blood seemed like a bad gamble. That wouldn't go over well.

Next thing she remembered was waking up next to Alex and Ophelia in a silver tent listening to morning birds singing. Thalia and Artemis offered them breakfast before they departed with simple instructions: follow Alex.

He knew what to do. He always did.

Kitty glanced up. Their tall, blond, athletic leader dragged his feet as he marched forward. She had to hand it to him—didn't matter how exhausted he felt, Alex led from the front. He might've been the disgraced son of Hermes, but he had the heart of a true king. She'd always liked him more than Luke for that very reason.

Ophelia brought up the rear a few paces back. While the roads were lined with oak trees, that hardly helped with the sun directly overhead. Why didn't Apollo lay off on the whole blazing hot ball of gas thing for a while. He had a million other duties to attend to. And they were on a quest to reclaim his lyre.

Ophelia hadn't said a word in an hour. But Kitty knew she was there. She had bad luck in spades, like she already had one foot in the grave. It almost radiated off her. Seemed worse this morning, though. Probably the sunlight and seven hour walk into DC.

They had a good plan. It got derailed multiple times. The initial plan was to walk to DC, leaving the Hunters by 9am, taking only one break for lunch around one, thus reaching the National Mall by dinner. But as it turned out, Ophelia couldn't handle it.

Alex let her take a two hour nap after lunch while he scouted ahead. That left Kitty to make sure no one died and what little supplies they had left didn't get stolen by a stealth harpy or a pigeon. Between that delay and the ungodly traffic around the city, they didn't wander towards the Washington Monument until 8pm, stomach's growling and only Ophelia in a decent mood.

"We need food," Kitty said. "I'm starving."

They stood under a tree on a massive, pale gravel walkway that rounded the green space of the National Mall. To their left, several hundred yards away, the pencil-like Washington Monument towered into the twilight sky with the top covered in metal scaffolding. Kitty half fell, half sat back into a green metal bench that lined the walkway.

"Something cheap," Alex said. He kept glancing around, as if a monster would jump out at them at any moment. Which of course was a definite possibility.

Ophelia nodded. She folded her arms over her chest, looking much better than earlier. Sometimes Kitty wondered if at night, she was even more powerful in a fight than Alex. It was possible.

"What about McDonald's?" Ophelia suggested. "We passed one not long ago. Cheap, quick, not the absolute worst food in the world."

"Hardly the best, either," Kitty said. She remembered too many nights when her dad, glued to a slot machine, would hand her a five and send his eight year old daughter down the Strip to find a McDonald's.

Ophelia shrugged. "You aren't wrong, but it's better than nothing. Trust me."

Kitty knew Ophelia had spent time on the streets as well. More time than she had, probably. Didn't make McDonald's any more appealing.

"It's either McDonald's or a food truck, and honestly I could go for fries," Alex said. "Besides, I wanna get off the National Mall. I don't like being this open."

So they went to McDonalds. Nestled under a glass office building, it still had a decent number of folks in line and eating at the tables. No one spared them more than a glance. A trio of teenagers in street clothes hardly alarmed anyone. But Kitty, giving her order for Chicken McNuggets to Alex, took a minute to sit in a booth and scan the room.

Neutral luck pretty much across the board. Mortals' luck auras never glowed with the same intensity as monsters or demigods. And it seemed like everyone in this McDonalds was mortal. A relief, honestly. She yawned.

"Here's the plan," Alex said. He slid into the booth across from her, Ophelia next to him with her cheeseburger. "O can get us in. We kill time until a bit before midnight. That's when the building closes."

"How'd you know that?" Kitty said.

"I asked around."

Ophelia scoffed. She gestured to a group of teenage girls in the checkout line. "He asked them. They seem to think he's hot."

"Weird," Kitty said.

Alex snickered before getting back to the plan. "Anyways. When the building is emptying, Ophelia uses the Mist to get us in and we look around for Quinn."

"The Apollo kid guy?" Kitty said. As Alex nodded, she munched on a few fries and took a drink. "And Thalia is sure he's on our side?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. I'm not excited about following her lead," he said.

"That goes without saying, Alex," Kitty said.

He scoffed. He narrowed his eyes and grabbed a handful of her fries, his already gone. He ignored her protests. "Look. We don't have another lead. So we're doing this her way. But I don't want to go in blind."

Ophelia agreed with him. "Hopefully he has an office or something. I break us in, we poke around, we decide where to go from there."

"Shadow-travel?" Kitty said.

Alex and Ophelia both said no. Kitty watched them look at each for a moment before Ophelia explained. "I could get us in that way, but I don't know where I'd land us. It's stealthier for me to manipulate the mortals' perception of us and have us just walk inside."

"Sounds good to me."

She had to admit that any food at all and an air conditioned place to sit down in, even McDonalds, really did make everything better. They'd get to the Kennedy Center without issue. Ophelia would break them inside, no problem. Quinn Coleman would be waiting and on their side. Nothing would go wrong.

And nothing did. Not between their late dinner and navigating through the dark to the Kennedy Center, at least. She had to admit that walking by the Lincoln Memorial, with its faux Ancient Greek architecture, felt a bit disconcerting. And Ophelia got really distracted while they wandered through the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. But Alex kept them from getting run over by cars while trying to navigate DC traffic. Which somehow, even after 11pm, still had way more cars than necessary as far as she was concerned.

New York City didn't even pretend to be a place where people should commute in and out by car. DC apparently hadn't gotten that memo. Kitty waited behind Ophelia and Alex at a crosswalk. Across the street stood The Kennedy Center, constructed for white stone, maybe marble, and skinny bronze-gold pillars holding up a small stone overhanging roof. A sign for "Hall of Nations" pointed to the main doors. Floor to ceiling windows around the doors splashed pools of light out into the darkness.

Men in three piece suits and women in evening gowns with sparkling clutches walked arm in arm or in small groups, laughing and chatting. They climbed into yellow taxis, black cars, and the occasional limousine in the drop of circle. Kitty felt incredibly out of place. This looked more like some of the cocktail bars and clubs she'd gone to with her dad in Vegas. A chill ran down her spine. Could've done without that reminder.

She had no intention of seeing him again. Why should she? She'd ditched him. He had all the bad luck in the world. She didn't need to be dragged down by that. She'd moved on and didn't need his gambling addicted deadweight. She'd learned to survive on her own. He could apologize all he wanted. She took care of herself now.

"Come on," Alex said. A couple cars finally stopped to let them across. "Ophelia?"

She nodded. With a tiny smile, she snapped out of pure drama. "Congratulations. You're now hot to rich women, not just teens."

Kitty hoped she was right. A seven year old got a slap on the wrist and a firm talking to for sneaking into private events with rich businessmen. A seventeen year old could get arrested. But as Kitty concentrated on the luck around her, she felt satisfied for now. She, Alex, and Ophelia glowed mostly a fierce gold, only a few threads of black twisting around them.

They got through the crowds easily. They had about half an hour before the place would close. A few employees in business clothes hung around on the fringes. Kitty figured they couldn't wait for everyone to just leave. She couldn't blame them.

The Hall of Nations put to shame every fake rich Vegas enterprise. Velvet red carpet spanned most of the twenty foot by a hundred entrance hall covering white marble floors. Pairs of endless flags of endless countries hung from the ceiling, also made of white marble. Kitty stopped breathing. She'd never seen anything so beautiful in her life. This was decadence, true wealth. Not fake opulence meant to steal money from visitors like the Vegas Strip.

Ophelia pulled them both aside, jerking Kitty from her amazement. "I want to try something," she said. "Follow my lead."

Ophelia led them over to one of the employees. He was about sixty, white haired in a black suit, hands clasped behind his back. He seemed to be guarding an elevator. Kitty heard Ophelia mutter a few words under the breath. Latin maybe? Or perhaps Greek that Kitty couldn't quite hear. Her fingers twitched. Casting a spell?

"Sir, could you help us?" She said. "We're looking for Quinn Coleman. I know we aren't supposed to go upstairs so close to closing but—"

"You're not. But it's fine," he said, though his brow twisted into knots as if confused at his own words. "Mr. Coleman is out on the Terrace dealing with some unruly pigeons."

"Thank you, sir". Ophelia didn't look back as she stepped into the elevator.

So Kitty followed. She and Alex slipped in behind her as the door closed. She smirked. "So, Jedi mind trick?"

Alex burst out laughing and Ophelia shrugged. She couldn't help smiling though. "I hoped it would work. I'd been working on it at camp but hadn't tried it yet."

The doors opened into more beautiful, open architecture. The terrace wasn't difficult to find. It ran along the entire exterior of the second level. They ran into nonresistance as they ducked out into summer night.

Terrace was an understatement. Kitty didn't have a word for what this was, but balcony, terrace, deck all failed. Made of grey and white stone, if stretched good twenty feet out, maybe more. Lengthwise, the next corner turn had to be a good three minute walk away. Across the way was a view of part of the Potomac River as well as a large green space and patio.

No sign of Quinn Coleman. That was a good thing. Sneak up on him. They could watch him for a while since they'd not heard about an office to rummage through.

A familiar screech filled the night air. Harpies. Alex, Kitty, and Ophelia exchanged glances. Kitty saw Ophelia smirk, clearly not phased at a fight now that it was dark out. Frowning, she watched as Ophelia and Alex tore off down the terrace to the next corner.

"Fine," Kitty said. She followed them a few seconds behind.

Two Harpies came into view as they backed away, airborne, from behind the other side of the building. Their wrinkled human female faces held gaunt eyes and crooked noses while massive black wings missing a dozen feathers each beat the air. Another came into view, screaming. Kitty watched Alex raise his sword when they turned his way. They reached the corner.

The air whistled. Three celestial bronze tipped arrows thunked into a harpy each, evaporating them instantly into sparkling ash. Kitty stopped running, nearly running into Ophelia.

"Who are you?" A man shouted, voice tense.

Kitty looked down the other side of the Terrace. He had dark skin and perfectly cut, short black hair. Despite his unbuttoned black suit coat and beautifully crafted bow, he still seemed the picture of poise: unblemished white dress shirt, black tie, black pants, and shining leather shoes. Two more arrows lay ten and fifteen feet on the stone nearby.

"Quinn Coleman?" Kitty said. "Son of Apollo?"

He raised the bow a little higher. "Half-blood or monster?"

"What?" Kitty said. "Oh. Ophelia, stop with the Mist. Maybe you're too good."

She must've done it, because he lowered his bow as Alex replied 'Half-Blood'. Standing above the Potomac River, illuminated by the chandeliers of indoors and porch lights, they faced off from each other.

Alex let Vindication slip back into bracelet form. "We're from Camp—"

But an arrow from Quinn and the shriek of another Harpy drowned him out. Kitty shrank against the side of the building as Alex drew his weapon again and spun around. Gods, she really hated monsters.