Chapter Text
Inside, Liam flopped back against the seat, smiling as the driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "Morning, John," Liam said happily. "We're picking up Elijah first, right?" John laughed, adjusting his cap as the limo smoothly drove away from the curb. "Of course we are. The kid would throw a huge tantrum if we left him behind again."
"How was your summer, kid?" John asked, looking at Liam in the mirror. Liam's smile grew bigger. "Oh, it was wild," he said, swinging his legs with excitement. "We went on that mission to get bloodfruit, right? But, surprise, there were vampires there. And Elijah was already there, just hanging out like it was no big deal. Then boom, Zed, Addison, Eliza, and Willa show up, and suddenly we're all at this old camp solving these crazy riddles like some cheesy movie. Also, I think Nova’s dating that vampire guy Victor now. And Ray? Oh man, he and this vampire girl were arguing so much it was basically flirting in disguise. But we all had to act like we didn’t know each other. It was so funny."
Liam leaned forward with excitement. "Okay, but how was your summer?" John chuckled, gripping the wheel tighter as the limo turned a corner. "Oh, just your typical demigod chaos," he said casually. "Piper, Jason, and Annabeth got into some trouble with a rogue harpy that stole Jason’s favorite hoodie. Long story short, Piper charmed it into singing Disney songs while Annabeth set up a net trap using Jason’s shoelaces. It took three days to get that hoodie back."
The limo stopped in front of Shadyside’s tall iron gates, where Elijah was already bouncing with impatience, a duffel bag over his shoulder and his Darkstone necklace glowing softly in the morning sun. Before the car even fully stopped, Elijah yanked the door open and jumped inside, just missing Liam’s face with his knee. "You’re late," he panted, throwing his bag onto the seat.
Liam rolled his eyes. "By five minutes," he said. "Still counts." "Does not." "Does too." John sighed. "Kids, settle down." Elijah shrugged and jumped into the car. "Vera’s been going on about your brother’s ‘dumb face’ ever since we returned to Shadyside," Elijah said, raising an eyebrow. "Honestly, it’s annoying." Liam chuckled. "Well, Ray has been grumbling about ‘evil vampires’ for as long as I can remember." John laughed and looked back at them. "Well, it seems like those two have a lot in common." Elijah and Liam stared at him. "Huh?" Liam said, "I’m pretty sure they’re mortal enemies trying to get each other’s blood."
Elijah blinked slowly at Liam. "John." "Yeah?" "Are you saying Ray and Vera...like each other?" John smiled at them through the rearview mirror. "I’m just saying, mortal enemies make for great love stories." Liam and Elijah exchanged shocked looks. "Ew," they said together.