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“And it’s only a fifteen-minute walk from the manse,” Grover added. “We go in, get our spirits, and get out.”

“You make it sound like a bank heist,” I said.

Hecuba barked, nearly startling me out of my socks.

“Thanks, Hecuba.” Grover scratched her behind the ear. “She says she’ll be with us the whole way. She and Nope will do their best to herd the ghosts. Her advice is to stay focused on what you want from the spirits. Keep your goal clearly in your mind. Otherwise, the dead will fade away, or worse, they’ll go berserk.…”

“Devour our souls, et cetera,” I guessed. “Good to know.”

Nope looked up at me with a big grin, like devouring souls sounded fun to him.

“Also, Gale made us this.” Annabeth pushed a mixing bowl toward me. Inside were three pasty globs of yellow goo. Except for the color, they reminded me a little too much of our anti-beast-breath concoction from yesterday.

“Please don’t tell me we have to eat it,” I said. “I don’t need to see anybody else throwing up toenails.”

“It goes on our skin,” Annabeth said. “Should keep the dead at bay, at least for a while.”

“But that’s not enough to cover all three of us.”

Gale chittered for a few seconds, giving us her professional opinion.

Grover translated. “She says you don’t have to cover yourself. Magic lotion is like bug repellent. If you just dab your wrists and either side of your neck, it will do the job.”

I made a note to try that with repellent next time I was at camp. We had some epic-size mosquitos in the woods.

“Good work, Gale,” I said. “You really came through.”

She preened, looking quite pleased with herself.

It was enough to make me feel almost confident. A few days ago, I could barely imagine surviving our twice-daily walks with the pets. Now Hecuba and Gale were our friends—part of our team.

“Thank you,” I told the animals. “It’s an honor to be summoning dead New Yorkers with you.”

“Nope!” said Nope.

“And you, buddy,” I agreed. “You’re going to terrify them with cuteness.”

“Nope!” agreed the hellpuppy.

I looked at Annabeth’s map. I tried to stay positive as I thought about what we were going to do.

“I got some intel at school,” I said. “I saw the way Hecate uses her torches.”

I told them what I’d seen in the counselor’s office—how the goddess held her torches outstretched to summon the dead, then crossed her arms over her chest to turn the spirits to dust.

When I told them what I’d learned about my mom, Annabeth put her hand over her mouth. “Oh my gods. Sally as a witch?”

Grover nodded. “She would have crushed that.” Then he looked at me and added hastily, “But I’m glad you were born, of course.”

When I told them about Eudora’s past career, Hecuba’s ears went back. She whined plaintively. Gale scrambled over to her and put her paws around the hellhound’s neck. It was kind of heartbreaking.

“You liked Eudora,” I guessed.

Hecuba whimpered.

“Yeah,” I said. “I think Eudora liked you both, too. She misses you. And the school.”

Gale gave me a stern look, like,Dude, stop making my friend cry.