فصل 26

Hey, I Know You’re Dead, But Call Me Maybe

EVEN IF I HADN’T seen her in the park two days before, I would’ve recognized her up close. Her wavy blond hair hadn’t changed since childhood. Her gray eyes had the same determined look—like she’d chosen a target in the distance and was going to march over and destroy it. She was better dressed than me—orange North Face ski jacket, black jeans, lace-up winter boots—but if people saw us together they would’ve mistaken us for brother and sister.

She stared at me, then at the coffin. Slowly her expression changed from shock to cold calculation.

“I knew it,” she said. “I knew you weren’t dead.”

She tackled me in a hug. As I may have mentioned, I’m not a big fan of physical contact, but after all I’d been through, a hug from Annabeth was enough to make me crumble.

“Yeah…um…” My voice turned ragged. I extracted myself as gently as I could and blinked tears out of my eyes. “It’s really good to see you.”

She wrinkled her nose at the corpse. “Are you going to make me ask? I thought you were dead, you butt.”

I couldn’t help smiling. It had been ten years since she’d called me a butt. We were overdue. “Hard to explain.”

“I guessed that much. The body is fake? You’re trying to convince everyone you died?”

“Uh…not exactly. It’s best if people think I’m dead, though. Because…” Because I am dead, I thought. Because I went to Valhalla, and now I’m back with a dwarf and an elf! How could I say that?

I glanced at the chapel doorway. “Wait…Did you pass an el—a guy on the way in? My friend was supposed to be keeping watch.”

“No. Nobody was out there. The front door was unlocked.”

My equilibrium tilted. “I should check—”

“Whoa. Not until I get some answers.”

“I—Honestly, I don’t know where to start. I’m in kind of a dangerous situation. I don’t want to get you involved.”

“Too late.” She crossed her arms. “And I know a lot about dangerous situations.”

Somehow, I believed her. Here I was, a reborn superwarrior from Valhalla, and Annabeth still intimidated me. The way she held herself, her steely confidence—I could tell she’d overcome some hard stuff, the same way I could tell which guys in the shelters were the most dangerous. I couldn’t just blow her off. But I also didn’t want to drag her into my mess.

“Randolph almost got killed on that bridge,” I said. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

She laughed without humor. “Randolph—I swear, I’m going to shove that cane of his…Never mind. He wouldn’t explain why he took you to the bridge. He kept talking about how you were in danger because of your birthday. He said he was trying to help. Something about our family history—”

“He told me about my father.”

Annabeth’s eyes darkened. “You never knew your dad.”

“Yeah. But apparently…” I shook my head. “Look, it would sound crazy. Just…there’s a connection between what happened on the bridge and what happened to my mom two years ago, and—and who my father is.”

Annabeth’s expression transformed. She looked as if she’d opened a window expecting to see a swimming pool and instead found the Pacific Ocean.

“Magnus…oh, gods.”

Gods, I noted. Plural.

She paced in front of my coffin, her hands tented like she was praying. “I should’ve known. Randolph kept rambling about how our family was special, how we attracted attention. But I had no idea you…” She froze, then grabbed my shoulders. “I’m so sorry I didn’t know sooner. I could’ve helped you.”

“Um, I’m not sure—”

“My dad’s flying back to California tonight after the funeral,” she continued. “I was going to catch the train for New York, but school can wait. I get it now. I can help you. I know a place where you’ll be safe.”

I pulled away.

I wasn’t sure what Annabeth knew, or what she thought she knew. Maybe she’d gotten mixed up with the Nine Worlds somehow. Maybe she was talking about something totally different. But every nerve in my body tingled with warning when I thought about telling her the truth.

I appreciated her offer of help. I could tell it was genuine. Still…those words: I know a place where you’ll be safe. Nothing activated the flight instincts of a homeless kid faster than hearing that.

I was trying to figure out how to explain that when Hearthstone stumbled into the chapel doorway. His left eye was swollen shut. He gesticulated so frantically I could barely read the signs: HURRY. DANGER.

Annabeth turned, following my gaze. “Who—”

“That’s my friend,” I said. “I really have to go. Listen, Annabeth…” I took her hands. “I have to do this by myself. It’s like…like a personal—”

“Quest?”

“I was going to say pain in the—yeah, quest works. If you really want to help me, please, just pretend you didn’t see me. Later, after I’m done, I’ll find you. I’ll explain everything, I promise. Right now, I have to go.”

She took a shaky breath. “Magnus, I probably could help. But…” She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Recently I learned the hard way that sometimes I have to step back and let other people do their own quests, even people I care about. At least take this.”

I unfolded the paper. It was one of the MISSING flyers she and Uncle Frederick had been handing out.

“The second number is my phone. Call me. Let me know when you’re okay, or if you change your mind and—”

“I’ll call.” I kissed her cheek. “You’re the best.”

She sighed. “You’re still a butt.”

“I know. Thanks. Bye.”

I ran to Hearthstone, who was bouncing up and down with impatience. “What happened?” I demanded. “Where were you?”

He was already running. I followed him out of the funeral home, north on Arlington. Even pouring on the speed with my upgraded einherji legs, I could barely keep up. Elves, I discovered, could run fast when they wanted to.

We reached the stairs to the T stop just as Blitzen was coming up. I recognized the wide-brimmed hat and coat from the Longfellow Bridge. He’d added larger sunglasses, a ski mask, leather gloves, and a scarf. In one hand he carried a black canvas bag. I guessed he was going for that Invisible-Man-Goes-Bowling look.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Blitz grabbed Hearth to keep him from tumbling into traffic. “What happened to your eye? Did you guys find the sword?”

“No sword,” I gasped. “Hearth’s eye—I don’t know—something about danger.”

Hearth clapped for our attention.

Knocked out, he signed. Girl jumped from second story of funeral home. Landed on me. I woke up in alley.

“A girl in the funeral home?” I scowled. “You don’t mean Annabeth? She’s my cousin.”

He shook his head. Not her. Other girl. She was—His hands froze when he noticed Blitz’s bag.

Hearth stepped back, shaking his head in disbelief. You brought him? He spelled it out: H-I-M, so I knew I hadn’t misunderstood.

Blitz hefted the bag. His face was impossible to read, swaddled in anti-sunlight protection, but his voice was heavy. “Yeah. Capo’s orders. First things first. Magnus, your cousin was at the funeral home?”

“It’s okay.” I resisted the urge to ask why there was a him in the bowling bag. “Annabeth won’t say anything.”

“But…another girl was there?”

“I didn’t see her. I guess she heard me coming in and went upstairs.”

The dwarf turned to Hearth. “At which point, she jumped from the second-floor window, knocked you out, and got away?”

Hearth nodded. She had to be looking for the sword.

“You think she found it?” Blitz asked.

Hearth shook his head.

“How can you be sure?” I asked.

Because she’s right there.

Hearth pointed across Boylston. A quarter mile down Arlington Street, walking at a fast clip, was a girl in a brown peacoat and a green headscarf. I recognized that scarf.

Hearth’s swollen eye had been compliments of Samirah al-Abbas, my ex-Valkyrie.