Rick Riordan The Last Olympian - 05
Leneus huffed indignantly and brushed the twigs off his shirt . " Now , as I was trying to explain , young lady , your boyfriend has not sent any reports since we voted him into exile ." " You tried to vote him into exile ," I corrected . " Chiron and Dionysus stopped you ." " Bah ! They are honorary Council members . It wasn ' t a proper vote ." " I ' ll tell Dionysus you said that ." Leneus paled . " I only meant . . . Now see here , Jackson . This is none of your business ." " Grover ' s my friend ," I said . " He wasn ' t lying to you about Pan ' s death . I saw it myself . You were just too scared to accept the truth ." Leneus ' s lips quivered . " No ! Grover ' s a liar and good riddance . We ' re better off without him ." I pointed at the withered thrones . " If things are going so well , where are your friends ? Looks like your Council hasn ' t been meeting lately ." " Maron and Silenus . . . I . . . I ' m sure they ' ll be back ," he said , but I could hear the panic in his voice . " They ' re just taking some time off to think . It ' s been a very unsettling year . " It ' s going to get a lot more unsettling ," I promised . " Leneus , we need Grover . There ' s got to be a way you can find him with your magic ." The old satyr ' s eye twitched . " I ' m telling you , I ' ve heard nothing . Perhaps he ' s dead ." Juniper choked back a sob . " He ' s not dead ," I said . " I can feel that much ." " Empathy links ," Leneus said disdainfully . " Very unreliable ." " So ask around ," I insisted . " Find him . There ' s a war coming . Grover was preparing the nature spirits ." " Without my permission ! And it ' s not our war ." I grabbed him by the shirt , which seriously wasn ' t like me , but the stupid old goat was making me mad . " Listen , Leneus . When Kronos attacks , he ' s going to have packs of hellhounds . He ' s going to destroy everything in his path — mortals , gods , demigods . Do you think he ' ll let the satyrs go free ? You ' re supposed to be a leader . So LEAD . Get out there and see what ' s happening . Find Grover and bring Juniper some news . Now , GO !"
I didn ' t push him very hard , but he was kind of top-heavy . He fell on his furry rump , then scrambled to his hooves and ran away with his belly jiggling . " Grover will never be accepted ! He will die an outcast !"
When he ' d disappeared into the bushes , Juniper wiped her eyes . " I ' m sorry , Percy . I didn ' t mean to get you involved . Leneus is still a lord of the Wild . You don ' t want to make an enemy of him ." " No problem ," I said . " I ' ve got worse enemies than overweight satyrs ." Nico walked back to us . " Good job , Percy . Judging from the trail of goat pellets , I ' d say you shook him up pretty well ." I was afraid I knew why Nico was here , but I tried for a smile . " Welcome back . Did you come by just to see Juniper ?" He blushed . " Um , no . That was an accident . I kind of . . . dropped into the middle of their conversation ." " He scared us to death !" Juniper said . " Right out of the shadows . But , Nico , you are the son of Hades and all . Are you sure you haven ' t heard anything about Grover ?" Nico shifted his weight . " Juniper , like I tried to tell you . . . even if Grover died , he would reincarnate into something else in nature . I can ' t sense things like that , only mortal souls ." " But if you do hear anything ?" she pleaded , putting her hand on his arm . " Anything at all ?" Nico ' s cheeks got even brighter red . " Uh , you bet . I ' ll keep my ears open ." " We ' ll find him , Juniper ," I promised . " Grover ' s alive , I ' m sure . There must be a simple reason why he hasn ' t contacted us ." She nodded glumly . " I hate not being able to leave the forest . He could be anywhere , and I ' m stuck here waiting . Oh , if that silly goat has gotten himself hurt —" Mrs . O ' Leary bounded back over and took an interest in Juniper ' s dress . Juniper yelped . " Oh , no you don ' t ! I know about dogs and trees . I ' m gone !" She went poof into green mist . Mrs . O ' Leary looked disappointed , but she lumbered off to find another target , leaving Nico and me alone . Nico tapped his sword on the ground . A tiny mound of animal bones erupted from the dirt .
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