. some visions Hestia showed me."

 

"You mean about Luke?"

 

Maybe it was just a safe guess, but I got the feeling Annabeth knew what I'd

been holding back.

 

Maybe she'd been having dreams of her own.

 

"Yeah," I said. "You and Thalia and Luke. The first time you met. And the time

you met Hermes."

 

Annabeth slipped her knife back into its sheath. "Luke promised he'd never let

me get hurt. He said . . . he said we'd be a new family, and it would turn out

better than his."

 

Her eyes reminded me of that seven-year-old girl's in the alley — angry, scared,

desperate for a friend.

 

"Thalia talked to me earlier," I said. "She's afraid — "

 

"That I can't face Luke," she said miserably.

 

I nodded. "But there's something else you should know. Ethan Nakamura seemed to

think Luke was still alive inside his body, maybe even fighting Kronos for