Reyna pursed her lips. ‘Nico told you?’
‘No. I just sensed it, watching you lead the legion. That must drain you. How do you … you know, get that strength back?’
‘When I get the strength back, I’ll let you know.’
She said it like a joke, but Piper sensed the sadness behind her words.
‘You’re always welcome here,’ Piper said. ‘If you need to take a break, get away … you’ve got Frank now – he could assume more responsibility for a while. It might do you good to make some time for yourself, when nobody is going to be looking at you as praetor.’
Reyna met her eyes, as if trying to gauge how serious the offer was. ‘Would I be expected to sing that odd song about how Grandma puts on her armour?’
‘Not unless you really want to. But we might have to ban you from capture the flag. I have a feeling you could go against the entire camp solo and still beat us.’
Reyna smirked. ‘I’ll consider the offer. Thank you.’ She adjusted her dagger, and for a moment Piper thought about her own blade, Katoptris, which was now locked in her hope chest in her cabin. Ever since Athens, when she’d used the blade to stab the giant Enceladus, its visions had stopped completely.
‘I wonder …’ Reyna said. ‘You’re a child of Venus. I mean Aphrodite. Perhaps – perhaps you could explain something your mother said.’
‘I’m honoured. I’ll try, but I have to warn you: my mom doesn’t make sense to me a lot of the time.’
‘Once in Charleston, Venus told me something. She said: You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart. I – I have struggled with that for …’ Her words broke.
Piper had a strong urge to find her mother and punch her. She hated how Aphrodite could mess up someone’s life with just a short conversation.
‘Reyna,’ she said, ‘I don’t know what she meant, but I do know this: you are an incredible person. There is someone out there for you. Maybe it’s not a demigod. Maybe it’s a mortal or … or I don’t know. But, when it’s meant to happen, it will. And until it does, hey, you have friends. Lots of friends, both Greek and Roman. The thing about you being everyone’s source of strength: sometimes you might forget that you need to draw strength from others. I’m here for you.’
Reyna stared across the lake. ‘Piper McLean, you have a way with words.’
‘I’m not charmspeaking, I promise.’
‘No charmspeak required.’ Reyna offered her hand. ‘I have a feeling we’ll see each other again.’
They shook and, after Reyna left, Piper knew that Reyna was right. They would meet again, because Reyna was no longer a rival, no longer a stranger or a potential enemy. She was a friend. She was family.
That night the camp felt empty without the Romans. Piper already missed Hazel. She missed the creaking timbers of the Argo II and the constellations her lamp used to make against the ceiling of her cabin aboard the ship.
Lying in her bunk in Cabin Ten, she felt so restless she knew she wouldn’t be able to doze off. She kept thinking about Leo. Again and again she replayed what had happened in the fight against Gaia, trying to figure out how she could have failed Leo so badly.
Around two in the morning, she gave up trying to sleep. She sat up in bed and gazed out of the window. Moonlight turned the woods silver. The smells of the sea and the strawberry fields wafted on the breeze. She couldn’t believe that just a few days ago the Earth Mother had awoken and almost destroyed everything Piper held dear. Tonight seemed so peaceful … so normal.
Tap, tap, tap.
Piper nearly hit the top of her bunk. Jason was standing outside the window, rapping on the frame. He grinned. ‘Come on.’
‘What are you doing here?’ she whispered. ‘It’s after curfew. The patrol harpies will shred you!’
‘Just come on.’
Her heart racing, she took his hand and climbed out of the window. He led her to Cabin One and took her inside, where the huge statue of Hippie Zeus glowered in the dim light.
‘Um, Jason … what exactly … ?’
‘Check it out.’ He showed her one of the marble columns that ringed the circular chamber. On the back, almost hidden against the wall, iron rungs led upward – a ladder. ‘Can’t believe I didn’t notice this sooner. Wait till you see!’
He began to climb. Piper wasn’t sure why she felt so nervous, but her hands were shaking. She followed him up. At the top, Jason pushed open a small trapdoor.
They emerged on the side of the domed roof, on a flat ledge, facing north. The whole of Long Island Sound spread out to the horizon. They were so far up, and at such an angle, that nobody below could possibly see them. The patrol harpies never flew this high.