Long chapter ahead! I hope you like it!

Connor's POV

It was approximately seven hours later that our plane landed in California. To be honest, I was really excited for this quest. I had never been to California before and it sounded like a really nice place; Full of hot girls and such. But, I also had a task at hand that I couldn't forget. Aphrodite was counting on me to get Katie and Travis together. And, if I didn't, there would be consequences.

Bad consequences.

So, as I drove the car that Aphrodite supplied for us (I told them it was Mr. D's doing) I whispered to Connor, "Don't you think Katie looks cute today?"

He turned around to look at the brown haired daughter of Demeter who was asleep, drooling on the seat. "I dunno. Why, do you like her? Isn't she a little young for you?"

I choked on my spit and sent myself into a coughing fit that woke Katie up.

"No! No way!" I sputtered out, trying to get my breath.

"What's wrong, doofus?" she asked, yawning.

I cleared my throat. "Oh, uh, nothing. Don't worry about it."

She rolled her eyes.

"How was your beauty nap, my drooly little princess?" Travis asked her, smiling and fluttering his eyelashes like an idiot.

She opened her mouth to say something, but then her face turned red and she closed it. "It was fine, thanks."

I raised an eyebrow. Why wasn't she teasing him now? With all of the stupid things Travis does, she'd have a million comebacks. We came to a stoplight and I turned to look at her.

"Something wrong, Princess?"

She shook her head no, but her red face claimed otherwise.

"It was just a bad dream." she insisted, seeing my unbelieving face.

I shrugged and turned back to the wheel, not bothering to question her.

Katie's POV

I let out a sigh of relief as he went back to driving. My good friend Dolos had come to me again in my dreams, and given me yet another task.

Compliment Connor on his muscles.

Ugh. Why does he hate me?

It's not like Connor doesn't have nice muscles (he's a demigod, duh), but complimenting them is just… Suggesting that I like him.

I don't like him.

He's a few years older than me, already in college, and it would just be wrong if I said something. It was a stupid idea anyway. Why should Dolos care about my social life? He's a spirit, not my boss. I don't have to do what he says.

But I had a sinking feeling that maybe, just maybe, I did.

I ignored it, and allowed it to completely slip from my head when I head Travis exclaim,

"Wait! Dude, pull over there!"

Connor veered off the left at the last possible second, and winced as twenty cars blared their horns at once.

"What was that?" Connor asked, glaring at his brother.

"Sorry," shrugged Travis. "Rachel told about that park over there. I think we should stay there for the day."

Connor gave him a confused look.

Travis sighed. "I talked to her before you guys met us at the top of Half-Blood hill. She described a park. The description sounded a lot like that one over there."

I looked over. It was a pretty park. It had a lot of trees and flowers. I wouldn't mind staying there for a day or two.

"Let's go!" I agreed. Travis smiled at me and I couldn't help but grin back.

He had a nice smile.

Connor suggested that we check into a hotel before we got too tired and cranky to. We agreed and he pulled into the parking lot of a nice looking place called, Hollywood Hotel. We pulled past a fancy black gate, and I gulped.

"This place is going to be expensive."

"We have money." Connor insisted, handing the valet guy our keys.

We walked inside and were immediately greeted by air conditioning and a nice fresh smell.

"Mmmm, this place is nice." Travis grinned.

I smirked and walked over to a bench while Connor worked out all of the stuff with the hotel lady at the front desk. He finished up quickly and handed me and Travis room keys.

"Adjoining rooms." he said. "Let's go to that park now and check out our rooms later tonight."

We walked together outside, down a few blocks and then over to the park we had passes before. Kids were running around and couples sat on picnic blankets, enjoying the nice weather. I smiled as the wind pushed my hair out of my face. I was glad we were going to California and not someplace with a ton of humidity. Because, when there's humidity there's sweating, and when there's sweating, there's not so much cover up on my face anymore. Unsure of what to do, we plopped down next to a tree, and just sat there quietly.

That went on for quite some time. Just hanging there under the shade of the tree and watching people play and have fun in the park. It was about three in the afternoon (California time), and we were all tired, bored, and starving.

"I'll go get us some food." Connor said after hearing Travis's stomach growl for the umpteenth time. He left to go find a hot dog cart or something, leaving me and Travis alone.

"So…" I began, trying to start a conversation.

"So what, Katie Patie?"

"Would you please stop calling me that?" I growled.

"Sure."

"Thank you."

"…"

"…"

"Kate Pate."

"Shut up."

This went on for quite some time.

Connors POV… Yes, again.

As soon as I was out of their range of hearing, I ran to a boy's bathroom and IM'ed Aphrodite.

"Why Hello there Connor!" she greeted me with a warm smile.

My stomach jumped. No matter how many times I saw that women I would never get over how pretty she was. She was currently adopting wavy blonde hair with a flower clip on the side. Her eyes were as chocolaty as they could be and her lips were the brightest pink. If only she were actually here…

"I can hear your thoughts, Connor Darling." Aphrodite stated, making me turn a little red in the face.

"Oh – erm – sorry."

She laughed. "Don't worry about it. Now, how are things going with operation Kate Pate and Travis?"

I shrugged. "Fine I guess. But Rachel told Travis about this park, probably 'cause it's romantic and stuff, but they're expecting something to happen. Something having to do with that Spirit guy who supposedly stole your necklace. Door Post or whatever."

"Dolos." she corrected. "He's the Spirit of Trickery."

"Oh." I said, not caring.

"Hmm, let me think." she said, before pausing. "Aha! I've got it!"

"Yes?" I asked. My stomach was rumbling and I could smell those hot dogs from a mile away.

"Use your phone." instructed Aphrodite.

I cocked my head. "Right now?"

"When you get back to the park." she directed. "That way, monsters will come."

"And that's a good thing?" I asked, still not understanding.

She laughed. "Oh Connor, you're a man, you can deal with them. But, when the monsters come you can blame it on Dolos. That way it will seem as if something is actually going on."

"Ohh," I said, finally beginning to catch on, "That makes sense."

She gave me a small smile. "Well, I can tell you're hungry. Make me proud, Connor Stoll."

"You can count on me, Ma'am!" I waved my hand to end the connection and turned off the sink I had been using. A little boy about five years old was staring at me from the door.

"Sup, kid." I said, slipping past him, leaving him to stare at me: the boy who talks to sinks.

I ran over to a nearby truck that was selling food, and ordered three hot dogs, three containers of fries, and three water bottles. After doing some combining of food and balancing of trays, I made my way back to the two hungry teenagers sitting under a tree.

Katie had a smudge of blue showing on her jaw and Travis had a bleeding scrape on his shoulder.

I didn't ask.

We ate in silence, all three of us starved. It was only after I finished and let out a loud burp that I excused myself to use my cell phone.

Three Dracaena, two Hellhounds, and fat guy.

Those are the monsters that decided to show up after I used my phone to prank call some random number (It was quite fun, actually. I acted like the girl on the other end was my ex and that I wanted her back. It probably would've worked better if she hadn't recently broken up with a guy named Joe…).

They appeared out of the trees behind us, teeth bared and eyes filled to the brim with hunger.

For us.

I'm not saying they were hard to beat. We just looked pretty weird fighting three 'women' and two 'large dogs' in the middle of a park. Especially since one of us resembled a blueberry more than a demigod. In the end, we only had a few minor cuts and scrapes, and a cranky Katie.

"I'm sweating like mad, Travis, do you see this?"

Travis, trying hard not to laugh at her, not very attractive looking, face, just looked at her sleazily.

"I think you look hot, Kate."

Her face perked up a little.

"Slightly more literal than it sounds, though."

Her lips went back into a scowl and we filed into the hotel. We walked up to our rooms. Katie took the smaller of the two and Travis and I fought over who got the bed. Eventually, I got the king (booyah!), and called the front desk to deliver a cot. After Katie reapplied some of her make-up, prank ruin-er stuff, we walked down to the restaurant where we decided to get our dinner. After filling up our plates, we chose a table for three and discussed the 'quest.'

"What do you think that attack in the park meant?" Katie asked, stabbing a bite of chicken with her fork.

Travis snorted. "Dolos doesn't like us."

Being the great actor I am, I suggested, "Maybe he wants us to get out of here. I bet the necklace is hidden somewhere nearby!"

"I suppose." said Kaite. "You know, it's really too bad you can't remember the prophecy. It would really help us at a time like this."

I grinned. "Woops."

"Well," began Connor, "Where should we go next?"

Nobody answered.

"Let's just decide tomorrow." I suggested, finally. Everybody agreed.

We finished the rest of our meal in a hungry silence.

Because of the three hour time difference (and the energy wasting monster attack) we were all dead tired by the time we shoveled the last bite into our hungry little mouths. We grabbed a quick brownie dessert before heading back up to our rooms to sleep.

Katie's POV… Yes, her again. Suck it up.

After a quick goodnight to Connor and Travis, I slipped my key card into the door of my room. The dinner had actually been a little enjoyable, no name calling, or anything. Travis hadn't even called me 'Kate Pate' on our way to bed. He actually called me Katie! It occurred to me that I hadn't commented on Connor's muscles like Dolos had told me to.

Oh well. I thought. It felt good to be rebellious.

I turned the knob and slipped inside, groaning when I saw an extra cot sitting there against the wall by the door. Connor must've given the desk guy my room number by accident. Deciding to worry about it later, I flipped the lock that connected our two rooms (Connor had suggested it in case something happened and somebody was still asleep) before rummaging around in my backpack for my pajamas.

I grabbed them and my toothbrush and walked into the bathroom.

It was a really nice hotel, actually. The rooms were really pretty. The color scheme was all sorts of greens with a little pink mixed in. It reminded me of –

My thoughts were cut off as I heard a loud clang from outside the bathroom door. I went quiet for a minute, quickly pulling my tank top the rest of the way over my head and slipping my underwear on. My stomach dropped as I heard another, not as loud, noise, and a grunt. My heart started hammering and my mind couldn't help but jump to the possibility of Dolos coming to kill me for not doing what he'd ordered. I grabbed the closest thing to me – a toilet plunger – and creaked open the door to the bathroom.

At first, I didn't see anyone. The bed was normal as ever, and so was the couch. I closed the door to the bathroom and screamed.

Somebody was on the other side of the door.

Predictable, I know. I had to do something cheesy.