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holes.
    Caves.
    â€œLet’s book,” I said.
    We ran up the alley and wound through the streets away from the center of town, leaving Zeus’s anguished cries behind.
    Just behind a shack at the edge of town, I stopped. “Wait a second.”
    â€œJack, we have to keep moving,” Cass said. “We can’t stay here. That thing is going to get loose and kill us.”
    â€œHe turned into Zeus because we got close to him—we activated him,” I said. “The same way that the other Select did, centuries ago. I’m hoping he goes back to beinga statue once we’re far enough away.”
    â€œYeah, but he killed that guy, like, centuries ago,” Cass said. “What if he doesn’t turn back into a statue until he gets the Loculus back—and then kills us?”
    â€œI say we call your dad,” Aly suggested. “He can get us out of here. This was a bad choice. We need to put an ocean between us and him.”
    I thought a moment. Leaving Routhouni now, when I knew the Massa had spotted us, didn’t seem like the best idea. We didn’t have time before one of us had another episode and we used up the last of the shard. “We’ll hide for a while up in the mountains,” I said. “That way, if Zeus escapes, we’ll see him coming. There’s a chance the Massa will come after us there; you know they’re going to want to get this Loculus. But at least we’ll be safe. For a little while.”
    â€œIf Zeus comes after us, we’re going to need more than the Loculus of Strength,” Cass said.
    â€œI’ll text Dad on the way,” I said. “Maybe he’ll have some ideas.”
    We turned and ran, leaving Zeus hanging.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
E SCAPE FROM THE N OSTRIL
    I MANAGED TO strap my flashlight to my head by making a kind of cap with leather strips. Holding the Loculus in one hand, I used the other hand to scrabble up the side of a rocky cliff. The Loculus was making this as easy as walking.
    By the time I reached the first broad ledge, Cass and Aly were way behind me. “Show-off,” Cass called up. His flashlight beam surfed up and down the scrubby mountainside.
    â€œTake your time, mortals,” I said.
    I sat, unhooked my pack, and took a look at the text Dad sent me as we were leaving Routhouni. Just as I figured, he did have some ideas about what we should do:

    I didn’t know what was in the package. I hadn’t had time to ask. But already I heard an engine roar overhead.
    From the direction of the airport came a helicopter. I stood, waving. As it hovered overhead, a bay opened in its keel. A sack, tied to the end of a sturdy rope, lowered toward me.
    He was sending us the Loculi!
    â€œHoney, we’re home,” Aly announced, her arm appearing over the rim of the ledge.
    I reached down and hauled her into the air and onto the ledge with one hand—as if I were lifting a rag doll. She sprawled in the dust.
    â€œCurb your enthusiasm, Superboy,” she said.
    â€œSorry, I’ll try a different method.” I sat on the ledge, dangling my legs just over Cass’s head. “Grab on!”
    â€œWhat?” Cass said.
    â€œMy ankle,” I said. “Go ahead.”
    When I felt his hand clutching my ankle, I rolled onto my back. Curling my legs upward, I lifted Cass high. With a scream, he sailed clear over my head and came down onto the ledge near Aly. “Welcome,” I said. “You’re just in time for Santa.”
    Cass dusted himself off and looked upward. “What the—? Why is your dad giving us those?”
    The sack was just over our heads now. I reached up and untied it. “He thinks that we’re going to change our minds. Like, we’ll take one look at the Loculi and say, ‘Hey, let’s go invisible and fly back to the airport!’”
    â€œActually, not a bad idea,” Cass said.
    â€œWe’re going to stay put and