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“Grover, what about you?” Annabeth asked. “That means you’re doingallthe walking.”

“Oh, I don’t mind. Fresh air!”

You don’t seefresh airon a lot of Tripadvisor reviews for Manhattan, but I appreciated Grover’s enthusiasm.

We packed our stuff for school, got the pets geared up in their heavy-metal and Hello Kitty accoutrements, then headed out to escort Annabeth to SODNYC. As we locked up, the door knockers told us: 1) to have a great day, 2) we would die in agony, and 3) PORK BELLIES! Honestly, I’d had stranger multiple-choice tests.

We were more prepared for Hecuba’s and Gale’s walking habits this time, so we weren’t surprised when Hecuba led us on a series of high-speed, high-terror sprints through traffic, stopping to smell all the things and then pee on them. Annabeth had even found a pair of sneakers in one of Hecate’s closets, which seemed to help. I just hoped the shoes didn’t end up being cursed. I didn’t want Annabeth to accidentally float to the moon or bust out in a fit of Irish line dancing.

As for Gale, we found out she had a strange affinity for drugstores. Every time we passed one, the polecat tried to tug Grover inside. Maybe she realized she needed some anti-gas medicine in the worst way. Or maybe Duane Reade was having a sale on chicken carcasses.

By the time we reached SODNYC, I was feeling almost optimistic about our chances of surviving through Halloween. We were laughing and having fun, which I’ll take any Tuesday morning of a school week.

It felt good. Almostdomestic. Just three besties and their magical rent-a-pets enjoying life. I didn’t say anything, because that would jinx it, but we could totally make it to Friday night…right?

“Have a good day at school, dear,” I told Annabeth.

“Thanks, Mom!” She gave me a big wet kiss.

“You guys and your public displays of affection,” Grover grumbled.

On cue, Annabeth and I got on either side of him, wrapped him in a hug, and kissed him on either cheek with a bigMmm-whah!

“Much better,” he muttered, blushing hard.

“See you this afternoon,” Annabeth told us, handing me Hecuba’s leash. I wished her borrowed sneakers could magically grow bigger to fit me, but no such luck. Then she was off.

Grover and I headed back toward the manse. We had some trouble on Third Avenue when Hecuba decided to attack a Lil Zeus Greek food cart, but I managed to pull her off before she killed the cook or devoured his meat supply. Dude wasn’t too happy. He yelled something in Greek at me—maybePlease control your rhinoceros—but I couldn’t be too mad at Hecuba. For one thing, the food smelled good. For another, anything labeledZeussent me into attack mode, too.

Back at Gramercy Park, I realized I had about twenty minutes to make the forty-minute trip to school. Fortunately, my first-period teacher was pretty lax about attendance.

“You sure you’ll be okay?” I asked Grover at the front door once the pets were safely back inside.

“Oh, yeah!” His eye twitched. “I got a ton to do. Going to send out the party invitations for Friday, play with the animals, maybe bake a cake. We’ll pick you up at AHS. Then we can have a nice walk home over the Queensboro Bridge!”

“Okay,” I said. “Don’t forget to put the ice cream potion stuff in the—”

“Freezer, I know! I’ll be fine,’kay? Thanks, bye!”

He closed the door.

“He’ll do well!” one of the door knockers assured me.

“He’ll ruin everything!” said another.

“RAINFOREST CAFÉ!” said the third.

Hmm…probably nothing to worry about. It wasn’t until I got to the subway that I realized I wasn’t sure which door knocker had said that Grover would ruin everything—the truth-teller or the liar. I tried to put it out of my mind. Grover was smart. He was responsible. He’d been my protector for years, and we’d both grown wiser over that time. I knew I could trust him to do the right thing.

I made it to school late enough for the secretary to give me a disappointed sigh, but not late enough to get a full scolding. I considered that a win.

On the way to class, I saw my counselor, Eudora, again. She was creeping down the hall on tiptoe. When she spotted me, she froze like a polecat in headlights.

“Is she gone?” she stage-whispered.

“Um…you mean Hecate?”

“She can’t see me!” She dove into the nearest room and locked the door behind her. I waited to see if she would come back out, since she’d just shut herself in the janitor’s closet. She didn’t. I was already late, so I decided to keep going. At some point, though, I was going to have to find out why the Nereid was so terrified of Hecate. I mean, aside from the obvious reason that the goddess was terrifying.