"I was worried," I said. "Where've you been the last two months?"

 

"The last two — " Grover's smile faded. "The last two months? What are you

talking about?"

 

"We haven't heard from you," I said. "Juniper's worried. We sent Iris-messages,

but — "

 

"Hold on." He looked up at the stars like he was trying to calculate his

position. "What month is this?"

 

"August."

 

The color drained from his face. "That's impossible. It's June. I just lay down

to take a nap and . . ." He grabbed my arms. "I remember now! He knocked me out.

Percy, we have to stop him!"

 

"Whoa," I said. "Slow down. Tell me what happened."

 

He took a deep breath. "I was ... I was walking in the woods up by Harlem Meer.

And I felt this tremble in the ground, like something powerful was near."

 

"You can sense stuff like that?" Nico asked.