9. Chapter 8 (1/2)

chapter 8

purotekutā pov

i woke up with a start as the van came to a stop, earning a laugh from thalia and two of the other hunters, the lieutenant was the only one who didn't say anything, only looking at me through the rear-view mirror.

"did you have a nightmare, mutt?" thalia mocked, getting another round of laughs from the other two hunters. i ignored the tease and pushed the back door of the van open, surprising a family of four as they walked behind the vehicle.

"it's a puppy." a little girl rushed forward to try and pet me. her parents held her back, but i tilted my head and slowly trotted closer. after hesitating a moment, the parents got closer nervously and let their daughter pet my fur. i guess i looked like a husky, instead of a wolf because of the mist, but i didn't care.

i gave a soft bark and licked the hand that was rubbing behind my ear by the child, smiling when she giggled in return. the other questers strode up to get me when the parents started to talk to them about what kind of

eed i was.

thankfully, zoe answered before the other girls could. "husky. he's actually a lot older than you would think."

"really, how old is he?" the little girl asked.

"he turned 18 last week, so he's an elderly lupine." zoe answered with a light smile.

"wow, you're right. i never would've guessed that. you girls have a good day." the mother answered before pulling her daughter away as they went over to a nearby museum.

the hunters nodded back at them and turned to face me where i was looking pointedly at them with my ears perked up. i cocked my head in the direction of a fast-food restaurant that i had been to on my travel towards america and tried once before.

"they won't let animals inside without them being service dogs." thalia replied.

i had already prepared for this and trotted forward and poked the backpack i

ought for the quest and looked at zoe pointedly. she gave me a weird look and opened up the bag to smile at what was resting at the top of the bag.

it was a service dog vest, collar, leash and dark lensed sunglasses.

phoebe smiled slyly and clipped the vest around my body as well as the collar and leash and gave the looped end to zoe as she placed the sunglasses over her eyes. "well played perseus."

the other two hunters and thalia quickly made their way into the restaurant to give zoe a chance to enter and not draw suspicion. "okay perseus, play your part and i may just get you a treat." i gave a playful bark in return and heard a clipped laugh before her face became stony and we entered the building.

3rd pov

the rest of the quest traveled incident free all the way to washington d.c. where they had train tickets that would take them to chicago. their plan was to travel to chicago and then switch trains and ride the rest of the way.

zoe parked the van at the train station which was located near the smithsonian mall of museums. as they exited the van, tracy pulled out their train tickets. "we have four hours to kill before our train leaves. we should get a snack to kill some time."

everyone agreed as the group found their way into a small café inside the smithsonian mall. the four girls quickly found a booth before they noticed that the wolf was no longer with them.

"i told you

inging him was a bad idea." thalia said from their booth.

"maybe if you didn't try to cut him down every five minutes on the ride here then he might actually be willing to stick around to eat a meal with us." tracy snapped at the daughter of zeus.

it was weird to see a hunter of artemis defend a male, but this one seemed to be the exact opposite of what males were described as. lady artemis herself had demanded that he be respected, and even zoe seemed to be okay with him.

phoebe's eyes narrowed at her fellow hunter. "he is nothing but a useless boy. he will only get in our way on this quest. we do not need that wolf to save our mistress; another hunter would have been a lot more useful than some teenage male."

"enough phoebe; i am the one who asked him to join the quest. lady artemis told me that he was to be treated with respect and i will not allow you to drive him away from this quest. perseus is a member of this quest and my decision is final." zoe growled.

phoebe's eyes narrowed but she sat down in the booth without another word. tracy and thalia stared at zoe in shock but a quick glare from the huntress caused them to quickly avert their eyes.

at that moment, perseus stepped into the café and took a seat across from zoe, instantly gaining glares and looks of disbelief from the other two hunters. "where have you been?" thalia snapped with a glare.

"gathering intel." he responded calmly before looking over his shoulder to get a quick sweep of the room. he stopped in the direction of a body builder that was also staring back at him.

when zoe saw who he was looking at, she too froze before reaching at the hunting knife strapped to her waist. "we need to leave…now."

at her statement, both hunters and thalia quickly got up and rushed out of the restaurant before they realized that zoe and perseus were still inside. they stopped instantly and looked back, only to see the entire building explode in a massive fireball that knocked them to the ground.