Getting a ride with the Muses made things so much easier than I thought possible. They were meeting their mother at the Seattle Center, the artistic hub of the city. As luck had it, that’s exactly where the Space Needle was. I pulled on my backpack and stepped out of the bus. It was raining but I could still smell the Pacific breeze. The place was crowded with mortals and the pit of my stomach dropped out. It was risky enough going on this rescue mission but with so many innocent people around I was afraid I’d screw up and get them hurt.
“So, Annabeth, you spent the ride over here planning. Any bright ideas on what to do now?”
She frowned. “I wasn’t expecting it to be this busy. But we are running out of time.”
“Why do you keep saying that?” I asked suddenly. I couldn’t remember anything in the stupid prophecy about there being a time limit.
“The winter solstice is coming up. If the Fates aren’t free by then, I don’t think we’re getting them free. I don’t know how to explain it, really. Just a feeling, like my mom’s trying to push me in the right direction.”
“I’ve been getting that, too,” Percy agreed.
I couldn’t help the little bit of disappointment that Percy was getting private messages from our father and I wasn’t. I shoved the little jealousy aside and looked toward Annabeth. Who was I kidding? She was the real leader of this quest. “How long do we have?”
“Midnight.” That seemed to give us a lot of time to get this done but with how paranoid she was acting, I didn’t want to cut it too close.
“So what do I have to do?”
“You, Nico, and Tyson go inside and up to the observation deck. If there’s trouble, Tyson can handle it. Nico, keep a lookout while Naida does the actual searching for the Fates.”
Nico’s pitch black eyes locked on mine. I could tell that he was relieved I wasn’t going in alone and, honestly, I was pretty happy about that fact, too. I hugged Annabeth quickly before we left her, Percy, and Grover to keep guard on the ground. I stepped into the elevator with the others and closed my eyes to battle the fear at going over 500 feet above the ground. When the doors opened almost a minute later, I was feeling a little better. Nico gave my hand a gentle squeeze before he and Tyson split off. I weaved my way through the crowds to begin my search.
There were so many rooms that it took forever to go through all the doors. A couple of times a security guard came up to talk to me and I easily lied, saying I was looking for my mom or for the bathrooms. I was ready to just give up all together when I slipped through a door into a storage room. It was dark with the shutters to the windows down. The cocoa scent of coffee was pretty strong here with boxes of the stuff piled up. I was cold and it felt like icy fingers were tracing my spine. I had the dizzying sense of déjà vu and realized that this was the room I’d dreamt about three days ago.
“Hello?” I called. My voice echoed back to me sounding lost and scared. “Is anyone here?”
A deep growl rumbled in answer and I pulled the barrette from my hair and opened it so my sword popped out. The blade cast a soft glow and I saw a giant dog snarling in the corner. It was tall and thin, a greyhound with sharp teeth poking from its lips. My eyes widened and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to hurt a dog but something in my gut told me that it was either me or him.
“Sit,” I tried commanding it. My voice creaked on the single word and the dog’s growling intensified. “Crap!”
I knew it was stupid, but I took off running. The greyhound barked once and shot after me like I was nothing more than a bunny. I slipped through the door with it snapping at my heels. I didn’t want to risk other people getting hurt so instead of running toward the elevators, I booked it toward where the security guard had pointed out the restrooms. I raced toward the hopefully empty bathroom just as someone was coming out of the men’s room. “Hey! No dogs allowed,” a guy in a blue business suit hollered.
I chose to ignore him, running faster down the hallway.
The dog’s bark was my only warning before it sprang at me. Its paws rammed into my shoulders and I fell face first to the tile floor. I felt it tug at my shirt as I tried to scramble away. Even though I didn’t want to, I knew something had to be done. My sword was still in my hand so I twisted around to my back and swung it in a wide arch. The dog yipped as the Celestial bronze cut a thin scratch along its nose and I got up to run again when it released me.
Another minute of running and I was already tired. I’d thought I was in shape from swimming but I was definitely wrong. I turned a corner and ran into a dead end. I spun around to try and backtrack but the tall greyhound stood in my way. I was panting, out of breath and figured that now was probably the best time to actually fight instead of just run. I jabbed at the big dog but it was smart. It watched me, waiting for an opening, and as I brought my arm down to try and land another blow, its jaws latched onto my wrist. I cried out in pain but the dog ignored me and began dragging me back down the hall. I did my best to stay on my feet but it was hard with my right arm latched in a dog’s snout.
We didn’t run into anyone until the grey dog nudged open the door that was marked security as far as I could tell. A half dozen hard metal chairs were arranged looking toward a big wooden desk and most of the chairs were taken. The dog released me and I stumbled into the room just as the door closed with a click. Nico tried to stand but a giant man wearing a security uniform pointed a sword at him, forcing him back down. None of these security guards looked anything like the kind one that had tried to help me earlier and my best guess was that they were imposters- or maybe something caused by the Mist.
“Looks like I’m just in time for a party,” I said before I could stop myself. I didn’t let my sword drop from my hand even though I knew I should probably check my wrist. I mean, the dog hadn’t bitten that hard, but I needed a first aid kit at least.
“Naida, I’m so pleased to meet you,” the woman sitting comfortably behind the desk said easily. “I see you’ve met Laelaps. I hope he wasn’t too hard on you. He always catches his prey, you know.”
I met the gorgeous woman’s gaze even though she radiated raw power. She looked familiar but I knew I’d never seen her before. “Good to know.”
She frowned a little. “I do apologize, dear. And here I thought that you’d be the easy one to catch but you proved a challenge compared to your friends. I’m Mnemosyne. My daughters brought you here but don’t hold that against them. They didn’t know that I was hired to capture you. You’ve been a pest to my employer, Naida. He can’t really risk you freeing the Fates. But don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. Just sleep, dear, and it will all be over soon.”
I opened my mouth to ask her what the hell she was talking about but my eyes suddenly drooped and I felt so sleepy. I felt my body slumping over and was just conscious enough to register Nico shoving out of his chair and pushing past his guard to catch my limp form.

Notes

a million thank yous to Evil espresso drinks and tmcar1