The angels pulled up in front of the dragon and hovered there, swords at the ready.
The hockey ox grunted. “No clearance. ”
“’Scuse me?” Leo said.
“You have no flight plan on file,” explained the groovy love god. On top of his other problems, he had a French accent so bad Leo was sure it was fake. “This is restricted airspace. ”
“Destroy them?” The ox showed off his gap-toothed grin.
The dragon began to hiss steam, ready to defend them. Jason summoned his golden sword, but Leo cried, “Hold on!
Let’s have some manners here, boys. Can I at least find out who has the honor of destroying me?”
“I am Cal!” the ox grunted. He looked very proud of himself, like he’d taken a long time to memorize that sentence.
“That’s short for Calais,” the love god said. “Sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than two syllables—”
“Pizza! Hockey! Destroy!” Cal offered.
“—which includes his own name,” the love god finished.
“I am Cal,” Cal repeated. “And this is Zethes! My brother!”
“Wow,” Leo said. “That was almost three sentences, man! Way to go. ”
Cal grunted, obviously pleased with himself.
“Stupid buffoon,” his brother grumbled. “They make fun of you. But no matter. I am Zethes, which is short for Zethes. And the lady there—” He winked at Piper, but the wink was more like a facial seizure. “She can call me anything she likes. Perhaps she would like to have dinner with a famous demigod before we must destroy you?”
Piper made a sound like gagging on a cough drop. “That’s … a truly horrifying offer. ”
“It is no problem. ” Zethes wiggled his eyebrows. “We are a very romantic people, we Boreads. ”
“Boreads?” Jason cut in. “Do you mean, like, the sons of Boreas?”
“Ah, so you’ve heard of us!” Zethes looked pleased. “We are our father’s gatekeepers. So you understand, we cannot have unauthorized people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons, scaring the silly mortal peoples. ”
He pointed below, and Leo saw that the mortals were starting to take notice. Several were pointing up—not with alarm, yet—more with confusion and annoyance, like the dragon was a traffic helicopter flying too low.
“Which is sadly why, unless this is an emergency landing,” Zethes said, brushing his hair out of his acne-covered face, “we will have to destroy you painfully. ”
“Destroy!” Cal agreed, with a little more enthusiasm than Leo thought necessary.
“Wait!” Piper said. “This is an emergency landing. ”
“Awww!” Cal looked so disappointed, Leo almost felt sorry for him.
Zethes studied Piper, which of course he’d already been doing. “How does the pretty girl decide this is an emergency, then?”
“We have to see Boreas. It’s totally urgent! Please?” She forced a smile, which Leo figured must’ve been killing her; but she still had that blessing of Aphrodite thing going on, and she looked great. Something about her voice, too—Leo found himself believing every word. Jason was nodding, looking absolutely convinced.
Zethes picked at his silk shirt, probably making sure it was still open wide enough. “Well … I hate to disappoint a lovely lady, but you see, my sister, she would have an avalanche if we allowed you—”
“And our dragon is malfunctioning!” Piper added. “It could crash any minute!”
Festus shuddered helpfully, then turned his head and spilled gunk out of his ear, splattering a black Mercedes in the parking lot below.
“No destroy?” Cal whimpered.
Zethes pondered the problem. Then he gave Piper another spasmodic wink. “Well, you are pretty. I mean, you’re right. A malfunctioning dragon—this could be an emergency. ”
“Destroy them later?” Cal offered, which was probably as close to friendly as he ever got.
“It will take some explaining,” Zethes decided. “Father has not been kind to visitors lately. But, yes. Come, faulty dragon people. Follow us. ”
The Boreads sheathed their swords and pulled smaller weapons from their belts—or at least Leo thought they were weapons. Then the Boreads switched them on, and Leo realized they were flashlights with orange cones, like the ones traffic controller guys use on a runway. Cal and Zethes turned and swooped toward the hotel’s tower.
Leo turned to his friends. “I love these guys. Follow them?”
Jason and Piper didn’t look eager.
“I guess,” Jason decided. “We’re here now. But I wonder why Boreas hasn’t been kind to visitors. ”
“Pfft, he just hasn’t met us. ” Leo whistled. “Festus, after those flashlights!”
As they got closer, Leo worried they’d crash into the tower. The Boreads made right for the green gabled peak and didn’t slow down. Then a section of the slanted roof slid open, revealing an entrance easily wide enough for Festus. The top and bottom were lined with icicles like jagged teeth.