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"Of course," Zethes said "We were his crewo, in the old tiods Then we accepted iood for all time, and my silly brother could enjoy pizza and hockey"

"Hockey!" Cal agreed

"But Jason--our Jason--he died a mortal death," Zethes said "You can’t be hireed

"So, destroy?" Cal asked Clearly the conversation was giving his two brain cells a serious workout

"No," Zethes said regretfully "If he is a son of Zeus, he could be the one we’ve been watching for"

"Watching for?" Leo asked "You ood way: you’ll shower hi for like in a bad way: he’s in trouble?"

A girl’s voice said, "That depends on my father’s will"

Leo looked up the staircase His heart nearly stopped At the top stood a girl in a white silk dress Her skin was unnaturally pale, the color of snow, but her hair was a lush mane of black, and her eyes were coffee brown She focused on Leo with no expression, no smile, no friendliness But it didn’t irl he’d ever seen

Then she looked at Jason and Piper, and seemed to understand the situation immediately

"Father ant to see the one called Jason," the girl said

"Then it is hiirl said "Zethes, bring our guests"

Leo grabbed the handle of his bronze dragon suitcase He wasn’t sure how he’d lug it up the stairs, but he had to get next to that girl and ask her some important questions--like her e-mail address and phone number

Before he could take a step, she froze hiht as well have

"Not you, Leo Valdez," she said

In the back of his mind, Leo wondered how she knew his na on how crushed he felt

"Why not?" He probably sounded like a whiny kindergartner, but he couldn’t help it

"You cannot be in the presence of irl said "Fire and ice--it would not be wise"

"We’re going together," Jason insisted, putting his hand on Leo’s shoulder, "or not at all"

The girl tilted her head, like she wasn’t used to people refusing her orders "He will not be harmed, Jason Grace, unless you make trouble Calais, keep Leo Valdez here Guard him, but do not kill him"

Cal pouted "Just a little?"

"No," the girl insisted "And take care of his interesting suitcase, until Father passes judgment"

Jason and Piper looked at Leo, their expressions asking him a silent question: How do you want to play this?

Leo felt a surge of gratitude They were ready to fight for him They wouldn’t leave hio for it, bust out his new tool belt and see what he could do, maybe even sumuys scared hiirl scared him more, even if he still wanted her nuuys," he said "No sense causing trouble if we don’t have to You go ahead"

"Listen to your friend," the pale girl said "Leo Valdez will be perfectly safe I wish I could say the sa"

JASON DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE LEO, but he was starting to think that hanging out with Cal the hockey jock erous option in this place

As they climbed the icy staircase, Zethes stayed behind theht’ve looked like a disco-era reject, but there was nothing funny about his sword Jason figured one hit fro would probably turn him into a Popsicle

Then there was the ice princess Every once in a while she’d turn and give Jason a sarded Jason like he was an especially interesting science specimen--one she couldn’t wait to dissect

If these were Boreas’s kids, Jason wasn’t sure he wanted to meet Daddy Annabeth had told hiods Apparently that meant he didn’t kill heroes quite as fast as the others did

Jason worried that he’d led his friends into a trap If things went bad, he wasn’t sure he could get the about it, he took Piper’s hand for reassurance

She raised her eyebrows, but she didn’t let go