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could get hurt in battle now…” Percy mused. “Then again, maybe monsters would ignore you because you’re not important?”
    “Stop!” My hands trembled. Being a mortal was traumatic enough. The thought of being barred from camp, of being
unimportant
…No. That simply could not be.
    “I’m sure I’ve retained some powers,” I said. “I’m still gorgeous, for instance, if I could just get rid of this acne and lose some flab. I must have other abilities!”
    Percy turned to Meg. “What about you? I hear you throw a mean garbage bag. Any other skills we should know about? Summoning lightning? Making toilets explode?”
    Meg smiled hesitantly. “That’s not a power.”
    “Sure it is,” Percy said. “Some of the best demigods have gotten their start by blowing up toilets.”
    Meg giggled.
    I did not like the way she was grinning at Percy. I didn’t want the girl to develop a crush. We might never get out of here. As much as I enjoyed Sally Jackson’s cooking—the divine smell of baking cookies was even now wafting from the kitchen—I needed to make haste to camp.
    “Ahem.” I rubbed my hands. “How soon can we leave?”
    Percy glanced at the wall clock. “Right now, I guess. If you’re being followed, I’d rather have monsters on our trail than sniffing around the apartment.”
    “Good man,” I said.
    Percy gestured with distaste at his test manuals. “I just have to be back tonight. Got a lot of studying. The first two times I took the SAT—ugh. If it wasn’t for Annabeth helping me out—”
    “Who’s that?” Meg asked.
    “My girlfriend.”
    Meg frowned. I was glad there were no garbage bags nearby for her to throw.
    “So take a break!” I urged. “Your brain will be refreshed after an easy drive to Long Island.”
    “Huh,” Percy said. “There’s a lazy kind of logic to that. Okay. Let’s do it.”
    He rose just as Sally Jackson walked in with a plate of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. For some reason, the cookies were blue, but they smelled heavenly—and I should know. I’m from heaven.
    “Mom, don’t freak,” Percy said.
    Sally sighed. “I hate it when you say that.”
    “I’m just going to take these two to camp. That’s all. I’ll be right back.”
    “I think I’ve heard that before.”
    “I
promise
.”
    Sally looked at me, then Meg. Her expression softened, her innate kindness perhaps overweighing her concern. “All right. Be careful. It was lovely meeting you both. Please try not to die.”
    Percy kissed her on the cheek. He reached for the cookies, but she moved the plate away.
    “Oh, no,” she said. “Apollo and Meg can have one, but I’m keeping the rest hostage until you’re back safely. And hurry, dear. It would be a shame if Paul ate them all when he gets home.”
    Percy’s expression turned grim. He faced us. “You hear that, guys? A batch of cookies is depending on me. If you get me killed on the way to camp, I am going be ticked off.”

Aquaman driving
    Couldn’t possibly be worse
    Oh, wait, now it is
    MUCH TO MY DISAPPOINTMENT, the Jacksons did not have a spare bow or quiver to lend me.
    “I suck at archery,” Percy explained.
    “Yes, but
I
don’t,” I said. “This is why you should always plan for
my
needs.”
    Sally lent Meg and me some proper winter fleece jackets, however. Mine was blue, with the word BLOFIS written inside the neckline. Perhaps that was an arcane ward against evil spirits. Hecate would have known. Sorcery really wasn’t my thing.
    Once we reached the Prius, Meg called shotgun, which was yet another example of my unfair existence. Gods do not ride in the back. I again suggested following them in a Maserati or a Lamborghini, but Percy admitted he had neither. The Prius was the only car his family owned.
    I mean…wow. Just
wow
.
    Sitting in the backseat, I quickly became carsick. I was used to driving my sun chariot across the sky, where every lane was the fast lane. I was not used to the Long Island Expressway.