Page 93 of The Wild Zone

Even worse, she might be nosy. She might keep closer tabs on all the campers, which would make it harder to sneak out after curfew.

I glanced at the Apollo table. Zuri looked about as enthusiastic as I felt. She had her hands clasped in front of her and was soberly watching the Aphrodite camp celebrate. Over at the Hermes table, Benny was staring at his breakfast tacos as if they’d offended him.

When everyone dispersed for their morning activities, I tried to make my way through the crowd to Argus, but he was whisked away by the satyrs, all of whom seemed to have urgent matters to discuss with him.

I muttered a few unkind words about hundred-eyed giants under my breath, and then I decided to visit the javelin range. Maybe chucking pointy sticks at straw Minotargets would make me feel better.

I was almost there when I heard someone call my name.

“Katie! Wait up!” Beckendorf trotted toward me.

“Hey,” I said. “Sorry I haven’t been back to the forge.”

He waved away my apology. “Nyssa told me you found a scythe you liked in the armory. I thought we could personalize it, if you want.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Oh, that’s so nice! I’m a little busy right now, but could I bring it by later?”

Beckendorf smiled. “Of course! Stop by any time.” He waved and jogged off in the other direction.

I exhaled and continued toward the javelin range. It was generous of Beckendorf to make the offer, but I couldn’t personalize the scythe. Not when I’d fixed it up for someone else…

The morning passed uneventfully. I speared. I studied. I sang love ballads written by the Aphrodite campers to their mom, which wasn’t weird at all. The entire time, I was thinking about Grant and Silas, and that strange cave in the woods. I needed to get back there—soon. It felt wrong to be singing and making lanyards while my friends were missing.

But I still needed a plan.

Even with my friends’ misgivings about her, I was tempted to take Clarisse up on her offer of backup. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure if even she and the entire Ares cabin would balance the scales against that thing in the treetops. I had to find out more information about it, and now that I knew Chiron wasn’t coming back, my intel options had narrowed.

Worst of all, when I thought about that cave, I remembered what the hooded man had told me: You’ll have to go deeper. Now I had a bad feeling that he literally meant deeper…into the ground. And I could think of several forms of medieval torture I would rather endure.

At lunch, I walked with Harper to the dining pavilion.

“How are you feeling about your mom coming to camp?” I asked.

“GREAT!” he shouted.

I winced and rubbed my ear. “You know how you didn’t believe me when I said that? I get it now.”

Harper sighed and kicked a rock. “Actually, I’ve never met my mom. Her relationship with my dad…It wasn’t the best.”

“I guess that’s true for all our parents.”

Harper gave me a sharp look. “No. My situation is different.”

I held up my hands. “Sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not even a little.” He shook his head. “So your dad’s relationship with your mom wasn’t great, either?”

“Oh, he likes my mom fine,” I said. “I’m the reason he left.”

“Aw, I’m sure that’s not true.” Harper put his arm around me and quickly jerked it back, as if my emotions had scalded him. “Wow, you feel that pain down to your bones. I’m so sorry.”

I smiled and batted my eyelashes at him. “I can’t begin to tell you how much I hate when you do that.”

Harper sighed. “Yeah…My gift is my curse.”

We walked a moment in silence before I said, “Maybe it’s good that your mom’s coming to camp. You might get a chance to connect with her.”

“Maybe,” Harper said. “Or maybe she’ll comment on how great my hair looks and then flutter off to her next kid without a backward glance.”