Page 67 of The Wild Zone

They’re fine for now. I’ll be in touch. Go with the satyr.

My stomach twisted. I read the words again. I burned with so much anger and despair I was surprised the scroll didn’t burst into flames in my hand.

The screen door creaked open behind me. Hoofbeats clopped across the patio. I crumpled the note and shoved it into my pocket. I had no idea what to do or whom to trust, but I needed time to think.

“Any luck?” asked the satyr.

I shook my head and wiped my eyes. “What would golems want with my family?”

Silas gave me a sympathetic look. “I don’t know, but nothing good, I’m afraid. Most likely the golems were searching for you, and your family was…simply in the way.”

I glared at him. He blinked as if I’d suddenly taken on the luminosity of a searchlight.

“More important question,” I said. “How do I get my family back?”

Grant stepped forward. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to comfort me or prevent me from strangling the satyr, but he had a confident, calming presence.

“First things first,” he said. “We need to get to Camp Half-Blood. That’s the only place we can be safe. Then…we’ll figure out what comes next. Together.”

He offered me his hand. Foolishly, I took it.

15

I Have a Staring Contest with Argus’s Chin

I woke with a start to “Rise and Shine, Losers!” blasting over the cabin’s sound system. I wanted to fling my entire bunk at whoever had turned on the music, but I was still half rooted in my dream.

I wasn’t surprised that Silas and Grant had made an appearance in my subconscious. I was surprised at how vivid the whole experience still felt, even though I’d tried my best to tamp it down—to bury it in the darkest corner of my mind. Sadly, that dream had been based on reality. Mom and Olivia had really been kidnapped, and I was desperately awaiting the chance to save them.

We’ll figure out what comes next, Grant had promised me. Together.

Now Silas and Grant were missing, too.

I glanced at Grant’s bunk. His Camp Half-Blood T-shirt sat neatly folded on top of his overnight bag, waiting for his return. If we’d been in the Hermes cabin, I imagined that bag would have already been emptied, its contents auctioned off to the highest bidder, but here in Cabin Five, there was some measure of respect for our missing sibling. I didn’t love everything about this group, but I had to give them credit for that. The rage-metal music, however…

It made me long for the tunes Silas would play for Grant and me on our journey to camp. The songs had a magic to them. When Silas blew through the high end of his panpipes, berry bushes would suddenly be bursting with fruit. When Silas blew through the low end, trees bent low, shielding us from the rain or sun. Now those panpipes were with Argus while Silas was who-knew-where.

Enough was enough.

While my cabinmates were goofing around and smacking one another with pillows, I rolled to my feet and strode out the front door of the cabin.

“You’re still in your pajamas!” someone shouted after me.

“I’m aware,” I muttered, hurrying out the door.

I received plenty more stares as I walked to the Big House, and yes, I did regret my choice of attire about five minutes in. But I needed answers, and there was only one place I could get them.

I marched up the steps of the Big House, preparing myself to confront Argus, but someone else greeted me on the front porch.

“Nice pajamas,” said a girl in a unicorn hoodie. She sat in a folding chair, her head bowed over a card table where she’d spread out the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. As she worked on the puzzle, her unicorn horn bobbed along with the effort. “Care to chat?”

I frowned. Why did this kid seem familiar?

“I’m kind of in a hurry,” I said.

The girl grunted in amusement. “Aren’t you all.”

I paused on the landing. I was sure the card table hadn’t been there yesterday, but dew-kissed spiderwebs stretched from the table legs to the porch railing. The puzzle, too, which had to be a thousand pieces, was halfway done, like someone had been working on it for days.