Chapter Title: I Have A Way With Words
The next morning, me, Frank, Hazel, Luke, Lavinia, and Michael all ate break fast early, then headed into the city before the senate was due to convene. Colton had eaten much earlier than the rest of us, basically at what I believe was maybe like 4:30 am. As Colton was a praetor now, he could go pretty much wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and also wake up whenever he wanted at camp.
And knowing who he currently was, I wasn't in any mood to argue with him over it — else I was probably asking to be put 6 feet under maybe.
I mean, sure.. Michael woke up with the sun due to being a child of Apollo, but even he had to admit, Colton seemed to be as crazy as usual for waking up at such an early time, though to be fair, it was highly likely that he was already driving his designs for the future forward now — which wasn't surprising considering that he and Octavian, from the way that they had looked at each other from time to time last night, now definitely saw themselves as pretty much what me and Colton were. Rivals.
Only this one had a much more serious edge driven by ambition, hatred, and unlike the one between Colton and myself, actually seemed likely that a brawl between these two would happen sooner or later.
Either way, we just had no idea exactly what he had done in regards to that or what his designs for the future were right now.
On the way, we passed by the stables, where Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary were sleeping in. Tyson snored on a bed of hay next to the unicorns, a blissful look on his face like he was dreaming of ponies. Mrs. O'Leary had rolled on her back and covered her ears with her paws. On the stable roof, Ella roosted in a pile of old Roman scrolls, her head tucked under her wings.
"She sleeps peacefully.." Luke muttered.
"Ain't that the truth.." Michael added.
When we all got to the forum, we all sat by the fountains and watched the sun come up. The citizens were already busy sweeping up cupcake simulations, confetti, and party hats from last night's celebration. The engineer corps was working on a new arch that would commemorate the victory over Polybotes.
Hazel said she'd even heard talk of a formal triumph for the three of them—a parade around the city followed by a week of games and celebrations—but I knew they all would never get the chance. We just simply didn't have time.
So I told them about my dream I had involving Juno.
"What is it with Gods and you, man..? You had more gods make appearances to you than they even gave the other kids at camp the light of day.." Luke stated. You could tell that the same attitude that eventually had him join Kronos was making itself felt — if only in a more purified state.
"Seriously..?" Lavinia asked, and Michael just nodded in reply.
Hazel frowned. "The gods were busy last night. Show him, Frank."
Frank reached into his coat pocket. I thought he might bring out his piece of firewood, but instead he produced a thin paperback book and a note on red stationery.
"These were on my pillow this morning." He passed them to me. "Like the Tooth Fairy visited."
The book was The Art of War by Sun Tzu. I had never heard of it, but he could guess who sent it. The letter read: Good job, kid. A real man's best weapon is his mind. This was your mom's favorite book. Give it a read. P.S.—I hope your friend Percy has learned some respect for me.
"Wow," I muttered, handing back the book to Frank. "Maybe Mars is different than Ares. I don't think Ares can read."
"Pretty sure I heard Colton say that Ares actually can read, Percy.." Michael shot back.
"Yeah.. he did mention that to me one time.." Luke said.
"Wow aren't you ignorant then.." Lavinia added.
I was stunned, to say the least — as well as lucky. Colton would have probably tore me a new one if he had heard that. He can get quite touchy over his father and his siblings, not to the same extent he can get touchy over Kayla, but still.
Frank flipped through the pages. "There's a lot in hereabout sacrifice, knowing the cost of war. Back in Vancouver, Mars told me I'd have to put my duty ahead of my life or the entire war would go sideways. I thought he meant freeing Thanatos, but now...I don't know. I'm still alive, so maybe the worst is yet to come."
He glanced nervously at me, and at that moment, I had the feeling Frank wasn't telling me everything. I wondered if Mars had said something about him, but I wasn't sure that I even wanted to know.
Michael also looked a little bit suspicious of Frank too. Not to the point that his eyes were lighting up with red X's, but pretty close.
Besides, Frank had already given enough. He had watched his family home burn down. He'd lost his mother and his grandmother. The poor man had basically lost just about everything up till now.
"You risked your life," I said. "You were willing to burn up to save the quest. Mars can't expect more than that."
"Maybe," Frank said doubtfully.
"Yeah — with Colton merely existing, doubt that's the truth.." Michael muttered.
Hazel squeezed Frank's hand.
They seemed more comfortable around each other this morning, and not quite as nervous and awkward as they had been last night. I couldn't help but wondered if they'd started dating. Believe me, I hoped so, but I also decided it was better not to ask.
"Hazel, how about you?" I asked. "Any word from Pluto?"
She looked down. Several diamonds popped out of the ground at her feet. "No," she admitted. "In a way, I think he sent a message through Thanatos. My name wasn't on that list of escaped souls. It should have been."
"You think your dad is giving you a pass?" I asked.
Hazel shrugged. "Pluto can't visit me or even talk to me without acknowledging I'm alive. Then he'd have to enforce the laws of death and have Thanatos bring me back to the Underworld. I think my dad is turning a blind eye. I think—I think he wants me to find Nico."
"Nico..? You mean Nico DiAngelo..?" Michael asked.
Hazel simply nodded.
Luke just looked on in a bit of regret — and I could tell why. Nico's sister Bianca had lost her life partially as a result of Luke joining Kronos, she was more collateral damage if anything but the point still stood.
If anything, finding Nico would probably be a chance for him to make up for his misdeeds in a certain way, and it was safe to say that he understood too. You could read it in his eyes.
I glanced at the sunrise, hoping to see a warship descending from the sky. So far though, I saw nothing.
"We'll find your brother," I promised. "As soon as the ship gets here, we'll sail for Rome."
"Rome.." Michael muttered. "I always wanted to go there one day. Never imagined it would be under circumstances like this."
"That makes two of us.." Luke added.
"Me three.." Lavinia stated.
Hazel and Frank exchanged uneasy looks, like they'd already talked about this.
"Percy..." Frank said. "If you want us to come along, we're in. But are you sure? I mean...we know you've got tons of friends at the other camp. And you could pick anyone at Camp Jupiter now. If we're not part of the eleven, we'd understand—"
Michael decided to interrupt now.
"Dude, just stop. You've helped Percy out on that quest you all had, so if he wants you two to come along, then I don't even mind it at all.." he said. "You think Colton would have left you all behind even if you all had proven yourselves capable on a quest? Please.. that man is resourceful unlike anyone I've ever seen!"
"He came back for me when I got eaten by the Trojan Sea Monster.. came back for me even when I felt useless.." Lavinia said passionately. "..don't think of yourself that way Frank!"
"Yeah, exactly. Colton's not stupid. He knows that the prophecy involves heroes from both of our camps. Besides, are you kidding?" I added. "You think I'd leave my team behind? After surviving Fleecy's wheat germ, running from cannibals, and hiding under blue giant butts in Alaska? Come on!"
The tension broke. All three of us aside from Michael started cracking up, maybe a little too much, but it was a relief to be alive, with the warm sun shining, and not worrying—at least for the moment—about sinister faces appearing in the shadows of the hills. Michael's face remaining unchanged, however, dampened the mood for me a good bit.
Lavinia and Luke, for their part, seemed a little uneasy about the look Michael had on his face right now.
Hazel took a deep breath. "The prophecy Ella gave us—about the child of wisdom, and the mark of Athena burning through Rome...do you know what that's about?"
I remembered my dream. Juno had warned me that Annabeth had a difficult job ahead of her, and that she'd cause trouble for the quest. I couldn't believe that she would be a problem or had anything difficult ahead of her — she was Wise Girl for gods' sake — but still, it definitely worried me.
I'm not sure," I admitted. "I think there's more to the prophecy. Maybe Ella can remember the rest of it."
"I mean, that's definitely likely.." Luke interjected. "I doubt that it's just all of it."
"Yeah.. reminds me of that quest that Annabeth got before the Battle Of The Labyrinth.. the one that traumatized her by losing Luke to Kronos.." Michael muttered. To be honest, he had a fair point — and I never really thought of it that way.
Frank slipped his book into his pocket. "We need to take her with us—I mean, for her own safety. If Octavian finds out Ella has the Sibylline Books memorized..."
I shuddered. Octavian used prophecies to keep his power at camp. Now that Colton had taken away his chance at praetor, Octavian would be looking for other ways to exert influence. If he got hold of Ella...
I pushed that thought to the side. I didn't want to think about what he might do to her. Still, we had to act.
The fact that Luke and Michael had similar concerned looks on their faces only strengthened this even more.
"You're right," I said. "We've got to protect her. I just hope we can convince her—"
"Percy!" Tyson came running across the forum, Ella fluttering behind him with a scroll in her talons. When they reached the fountain, Ella dropped the scroll in my lap.
"Special delivery," she said. "From an aura. A wind spirit. Yes, Ella got a special delivery."
"Good morning, brothers!" Tyson had hay in his hair and peanut butter in his teeth. "The scroll is from Leo. He is funny and small."
The scroll looked unremarkable, but when I spread it across his lap, a video recording flickered on the parchment. A kid in Greek armor grinned up at them. He had an impish face, curly black hair, and wild eyes, like he'd just had several cups of coffee. He was sitting in a dark room with timber walls like a ship's cabin. Oil lamps swung back and forth on the ceiling.
Hazel stifled a scream.
"What?" Frank asked. "What's wrong?"
Micheal looked at her concerned, but Luke just had a look of shock on his face. And soon, I knew why.
Slowly, I realized the curly-haired kid looked familiar—and not just from my dreams. I had seen that face in an old photo. Both Luke and I had.
"Hey!" said the guy in the video. "Greetings from your friends at Camp Half-Blood, et cetera. This is Leo. I'm the..." He looked off screen and yelled: "What's my title? Am I like admiral, or captain, or—"
A girl's voice yelled back, "Repair boy."
"Very funny, Piper," Leo grumbled. He turned back to the parchment screen. "So yeah, I'm ... ah ... supreme commander of the Argo II. Yeah, I like that! Anyway, we're gonna be sailing toward you in about, I dunno, an hour in this big mother warship. We'd appreciate it if you'd not, like, blow us out of the sky or anything. So okay! If you could tell the Romans that. See you soon. Yours in demigodishness, and all that. Peace out."
The parchment turned blank.
"It can't be," Hazel said.
"Why?" Michael asked.
"What?" Frank asked. "You know that guy?"
Hazel looked like she'd seen a ghost. I completely understood why. I remembered the photo in Hazel's abandoned house in Seward. The kid on the warship looked exactly like Hazel's old boyfriend.
"It's Sammy Valdez," she said. "But how...how—"
"It can't be," I said. "That guy's name is Leo. And it's been seventy-something years. It has to be a..."
Luke looked the same way as me right now.
I wanted to say a coincidence, but I couldn't make myself believe that no matter how hard I tried. Over the past few years I had seen a lot of things: destiny, prophecy, magic, monsters, fate, as well as Colton being well.. Colton. But I had never yet run across a coincidence.
Maybe until now, that is. I didn't really know what to believe, that's for sure.
They were interrupted by horns blowing in the distance. The senators came marching into the forum with Reyna at the lead, Colton nowhere to be seen. Likely, he was already waiting.
"It's meeting time," I said. "Come on. We've got to warn them about the warship."
It didn't take long for us to realize though that once again, Colton was one step ahead of us as usual. That man never missed a beat, it seemed.
- — - — - — -
"Why should we trust these Greeks?" Octavian was saying.
He'd been pacing the senate floor for about five minutes, going on and on, trying to counter what I had told just them about Juno's plan and the Prophecy of Eleven. Colton really looked like he was very close to getting up from his seat and strangling or snapping Octavian's neck with his bare hands once again, and believe me, it was sort of amusing to watch his face morph between anger, rage, and deep in thought about something anger and rage related right now if I had to be honest here.
It seemed like he had really grown to hate Octavian with a passion. As if the man's mere presence was enough to piss him off now.
The senate shifted restlessly, but most of them were too afraid to interrupt Octavian while he was on a roll. Meanwhile the sun climbed in the sky, shining through the broken senate roof and giving Octavian a natural spotlight. I could make out Colton's lips silently muttering "For the love of the gods, shut the fuck up Octavian" from where I was, which really wasn't surprising to be honest. After all, it was typical Colton at work here — one that didn't have the calming influence of Kayla, physically that is to keep him stable at the moment. He had always been a loose cannon in a way that the other Ares campers back at Camp Half Blood weren't — but as the Monster King now, it seemed that it had only gone to another level. One that could probably get real violent real quick if Octavian wasn't careful.
The Senate House was packed. Queen Hylla, Frank, and Hazel sat in the front row with the senators. Michael, Lavinia, and Luke stood in the back. Veterans and ghosts filled the back rows, as well as the two adult demigods, teenaged demigod and clear-sighted mortal that Colton, Michael, and Lavinia had rescued from Chrysaor while on their quest. Even Tyson and Ella had been allowed to sit in the back. Tyson kept waving and grinning at me.
Colton and Reyna occupied matching praetors' chairs on the dais, which made me self-conscious. I had to admit, if it had been me up there and not Colton, I don't think that it would have been easy looking dignified wearing a bed sheet and a purple cape. Yet, somehow, Colton did it without even trying — and all while looking at Octavian like he wanted to bash his head in. Which, to be fair, it was likely that he definitely did want to right now.
The scars on his head seeming to pulse and throb with every twitch of his body seemed to suggest that.
The fact that his hands kept twitching from time to time also definitely made that part obvious.
"The camp is safe," Octavian continued. "I'll be the first to congratulate our heroes for bringing back the legion's eagle and so much Imperial gold! Truly we have been blessed with good fortune. But why do more? Why tempt fate?"
"I'm glad you asked." I stood, taking the question as an opening. Colton simply nodded in agreement and just let out a long sigh of relief. He definitely looked like he wanted to hear someone other than Octavian very much right now. I don't think I blamed him at all for thinking that way to be honest.
Octavian stammered, "I wasn't—"
"—part of the quest," I said. "Yes, I know. And you're wise to let me explain, since I was."
Some of the senators snickered. Octavian had no choice but to sit down and try not to look embarrassed. Even Colton couldn't help but simply have a smirk creep onto his face — and he quietly mouthed 'Nice one, Jackson' to me.
I just winked back at him. We may be rivals, but when it matters, we're at least able to temporarily bury the hatchet for a common cause.
"Gaea is waking," I said. "We've defeated two of her giants, but that's only the beginning. The real war will take place in the old land of the gods. The quest will take us to Rome, and eventually to Greece. Plus, there's more. The Giants are fractured, with many of them supporting Gaea but a few supporting Porphyrion."
An uneasy ripple spread through the senate, as well as a lot of murmurs and questions.
"Wait.. did you just say the Giants have fractured?" Reyna asked. "How is that even possible?"
Colton sighed. "Put simply.. Porphyrion apparently always had this entitlement complex over the power of the Monster King ever since Gaea gave it to Typhon after Porphyrion went and got himself defeated in the first war.." he said. "..and he always had this brewing within him throughout the centuries. Typhon making me the Monster King turned out to be the final straw. I don't know how he, Enceladus, and Periboia managed to do it, but all three escaped Tartarus soon after.. starting their own rogue faction and are waging war with my forces over the power of the Monster King."
More murmurs erupted throughout the area. Some of the residents erupted in anger, calling that because since this war had erupted under the Greeks, that was further reason not to trust them. I spoke up again, trying to counter this.
"I know, I know," I said. "You've always thought of the Greeks as your enemies. And there's a good reason for that. I think the gods have kept our two camps apart because whenever we meet, we fight. But that can change. It has to change if we're to defeat Gaea. That's what the Prophecy of Eleven means. Eleven demigods, Greek and Roman, will have to close the Doors of Death together."
"Ha!" shouted a Lar from the back row. "The last time a praetor tried to interpret the Prophecy of Eleven, it was Michael Varus, who lost our eagle in Alaska! Why should we believe you now?"
Octavian smiled smugly. Some of his allies in the senate began nodding and grumbling. Even some of the veterans looked uncertain.
"I carried Juno across the Tiber," I reminded them, speaking as firmly as he could. "She told me that the Prophecy of Eleven is coming to pass. Mars also appeared to you in person. Do you think two of your most important gods would appear at camp if the situation wasn't serious?"
"He's right," Gwen said from the second row. "I, for one, trust Percy's word. I trust all of them. Greek or not, all four of them restored the honor of the legion. You saw them on the battlefield last night. Would anyone here say these four, and their companions, are not true heroes of Rome?"
Nobody argued. A few nodded in agreement.
Reyna stood. I watched her anxiously. Colton did as well. He knew full well that Reyna's opinion could change everything—for better or worse.
"You claim this is a combined quest," she said. "You claim Juno intends for us to work with this—this other group, Camp Half-Blood. Yet the Greeks have been our enemies for eons. They are known for their deceptions."
"Maybe so," I said. "But enemies can become friends. A week ago, would you have thought Romans and Amazons would be fighting side by side?"
Queen Hylla laughed. "He's got a point."
"The demigods of Camp Half-Blood have already been working with Camp Jupiter," I continued. "We just didn't realize it. During the Titan War last summer, while you were attacking Mount Othrys, we were defending Mount Olympus in Manhattan. Colton killed the Lydian Drakon, scattered Kronos and separated him from Luke, and then scattered Koios and Pallas, before killing what was left of Kronos' army with a single shot."
Reyna backed up, almost tripping over her toga. She turned to Colton. Pretty much everyone except those that have been there to see it last year just stared at him in silence, shock, and disbelief. I'm personally surprised that they were more surprised by the insane stuff Colton had done than the fact that I had admitted that Luke was Kronos' host. "You... what?" Reyna asked.
"I did what I had to do.." he simply said. "You have no idea what I went through, even before I became the Monster King for real."
"He's right.." Michael spoke up, causing everyone to turn towards him. "I was there — so was Luke. Even on different sides of the war, we both know that he went through more than you could have expected. He fought like an absolute animal on more than one occasion."
Luke just nodded before he spoke up.
"He went through more than you could ever have imagined — all because I had to be the idiot that allowed myself to be manipulated by Kronos and cause the war in the first place, becoming his main agent and then eventually his host.." Luke shouted. "Do I regret all the things that I did under his name? Yes!"
He looked teary-eyed now. "Colton promised that he would kill me the next time he saw me when my allegiance to Kronos became known.." he said simply. "The fact that I'm here — meaning that when he had the chance, for whatever reason he chose to separate me from Kronos before he scattered the Titan Lord, thereby sparing me — shows that he is by far one of the greatest people that I ever had the honor to fight side by side. There is not a day that goes by without me remembering how grateful I am that Colton chose to forgive me despite what I done — how everyone did. I still have work to do repairing the damage I caused everyone — Artemis, Diana I mean.. still doesn't like me for placing her under the sky and that I am dating one of her hunters.. long story — but I would trust Percy, Colton, and Michael with my life any day of the week. I trust them completely."
"Because of Luke.." Michael continued. "Colton's gone through a lot of shit — the man literally fought a horde of Stymphalian birds by himself, thousands against one, for five straight minutes with nothing but a Whitworth rifle and killed thousands. He and I mowed down monsters and enemy demigods alike with the MG42 at the Battle of the Labyrinth and then he shot Kampe out of mid air with a single bullet, killing her instantly.. Colton is many things, but this man is one hell of a fighter."
Everyone looked absolutely shocked — except Tyson, Michael, Luke, and me — at what Luke and Michael had confessed. I couldn't tell if Reyna was angry or in shock at what had been revealed. Judging by the expression on her face, it was hard to tell honestly — she seemed to be truly in disbelief as she looked at Colton now, unable to accept that he had actually done all of that.
"You.. you.. you.." she stuttered, and even Octavian looked on in amazement at Reyna reduced to a stuttering mess. Eventually, she finally took her seat again, but not before saying out loud, "..what even are you Colton..?"
"I know it's hard to believe," I said. "But all of that of what has been said is true and after what we have all done, I think we've all earned your trust. We're all on your side. Hazel, Lavinia, and Frank—we're pretty sure they're meant to go with us on this quest. The others are on their way from Camp Half-Blood right now. One of them is Jason Grace, your old praetor."
Colton honestly looked a bit nervous at the mention of Jason's name. To be fair, I didn't blame him at all. Hopefully, Jason wouldn't be too miffed when he found out that the Monster King of all people had taken his former job.
"Oh, come on!" Octavian shouted. "He's making things up, now."
Reyna frowned. "It is a lot to believe definitely. Every single thing of what has just been said is hard to believe honestly — let alone even all that you have said Colton had done. Jason is coming back with a bunch of Greek demigods? You say they're going to appear in the sky in a heavily armed warship, but we shouldn't be worried."
"Yes" Colton spoke up, as I looked over the rows of nervous, doubtful spectators. Of course he would pick this time now to speak and why wouldn't he? One of those coming with Jason was the one person he'd literally move mountains just to make her happy. "Just let them land. Hear them out. Jason will backup everything I'm telling you. I swear it on my life."
"On your life?" Octavian looked meaningfully at the senate. "We will remember that, if this turns out to be a trick."
"You have a lot to learn about Colton Reynolds if you think it's a trick, augur.." Luke called out, and I just chuckled. Luke was very correct on that one. "..he's not the type to take acts of treachery lightly.."
Right on cue, a messenger rushed into the Senate House, gasping as if he'd run all the way from camp. "Praetors! I'm sorry to interrupt, but our scouts report—"
"Ship!" Tyson said happily, pointing at the hole in the ceiling. "Yay!"
Sure enough, a Greek warship appeared out of the clouds, about a half a mile away, descending toward the Senate House. As it got closer, I could see bronze shields glinting along the sides, billowing sails, and a familiar-looking figurehead shaped like a metal dragon. On the tallest mast, a big white flag of truce snapped in the wind.
The Argo II. It was the most incredible ship I had ever even seen. Colton didn't seem all that impressed though.
"Praetors!" the messenger cried. "What are your orders?"
Octavian shot to his feet. "You need to ask?" His face was red with rage. He was strangling his teddy bear. "The omens are horrible! This is a trick, a deception. Beware Greeks bearing gifts!"
He jabbed a finger at me. "His friends are attacking in a warship. He has led them here. We must attack!"
Colton, who had been quiet up until this time for the most part, now decided to snap.
"Shut the fuck up, augur," he said firmly, every word of that said with enough malice and rage you would have thought he was Ares when the God was extremely pissed off. "Your fellow Romans all raised me as praetor for a reason, because I'm the First Monster King that fought for Rome, not against it. I will fight to defend this camp with my life. But these aren't enemies, not when my Queen — my beloved girlfriend for fuck's sake — probably happens to be among them. I say we stand ready, but do not attack. Let them land. Let them speak. If it is a trick, then I will fight with you, as I did last night — if it really isn't them. But it is not a trick."
All eyes turned toward Reyna, mostly because given that Colton had just admitted that his girlfriend was on that ship, many of the Romans likely suspected that he had loyalty issues, which to be honest — was fair. The poor guy was between a rock and a hard place — and you could tell, because oh so uncharacteristically for Colton, the man was clearly sweating.
Reyna studied the approaching warship. Her expression hardened. If she vetoed his orders...well, I didn't know what would happen. Chaos and confusion, at the very least.
Most likely, the Romans would follow her lead. She'd been their leader much longer than Colton had been.
"Hold your fire," Reyna said. "But have the legion stand ready. Colton Reynolds is your duly chosen praetor. We will trust his word—unless we are given clear reason not to. Senators, let us adjourn to the forum and meet our...new friends."
The senators stampeded out of the auditorium—whether from excitement or panic, I wasn't sure really. Tyson ran after them, yelling, "Yay! Yay!" with Ella fluttering around his head. Lavinia, Luke, and Michael followed along behind them.
Octavian gave me a disgusted look, then threw down his teddy bear and followed the crowd.
Reyna stood at Colton's shoulder. Being close to them, despite the words, I could at least most of what they were saying.
"I support you, Colton," she said. "I trust your judgment. But for all our sakes, I hope we can keep the peace between our campers and your Greek friends."
"We will," he promised. "You'll see."
She glanced up at the warship. Her expression turned a little wistful. "You say Jason is aboard...I hope that's true. I've missed him."
"Yeah well — I'm honestly nervous about how he's going to react when he finds out that the same guy who became the Monster King basically became praetor in his absence.." he muttered, looking a bit nervous.
Reyna didn't answer.
She simply marched outside, leaving him and me alone with Hazel and Frank. Colton looked even more nervous now.
Soon enough though, even Colton left the area, leaving me with Hazel and Frank.
"They're coming down right in the forum," Frank said nervously. "Terminus is going to have a heart attack."
"Percy," Hazel said, "Colton swore on his life. Romans take that seriously. If anything goes wrong, even by accident, Octavian is going to kill you. All of you. You know that, right?"
I smiled. I knew the stakes were high. I knew this day could go horribly wrong. But I also knew that Annabeth was on that ship. Kayla was most likely also on that ship. Colton wouldn't risk the safety of her no matter what. He was way too smart for that to even happen on his watch. I had seen him defy that more than once over the past couple of years. And if things did happen on his watch, all bets were off as to what he might do in rage.
If things went right though, this would be the best day of his life since he and Kayla got together. My life too.
So, I just threw one arm around Hazel and one arm around Frank.
"Come on," I said to them. "Let me introduce you all to our other family."
And so we went out.. towards a new chapter in our lives. Towards the adventure that turned out to be Colton Reynolds' finest odyssey.
(A/N: and with that, this is the end of the Son Of Neptune! Next up is MOA, and the end of Book II! It's been absolute fun writing this series, and even with things likely to go to crap over here in America next year, I'll try to go as far as I can with this series. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you in the next chapter!)