There was a ball pit the size of a house, a climbing structure that looked like a giant hamster habitat, a bumper-car course, and a ticket-exchange station with oversize stuffed animals for prizes.
The whole place smelled of pizza, pretzels, and industrial cleaner. And it was packed with families.
“I get it now,” said Annabeth, shivering. “This place does give me the heebie-jeebies.”
“I’ve been here a few times.” Grover’s expression was a combination of anxiety and hunger . . . which, come to think of it, was his usual expression. “I’ve never found the other end of the place.”
I looked at the happy kids running around obliviously and the parents who seemed just as thrilled to play games they probably remembered from their own childhoods.
“Okay,” I said, inching back toward the front door. “I’m getting strong Lotus Casino vibes in here . . . like low-rent Lotus Casino, but still . . .”
I didn’t have to explain what I meant. Years ago, we’d gotten stuck in a Vegas casino that offered a thousand reasons to never leave. We’d just barely escaped.
“It’s not a trap,” Grover said. “At least, I’ve never had any trouble leaving. These families . . . they come and go. They don’t seem to be stuck in time.”
He had a point. I didn’t spot anybody with bell-bottoms or 1950s haircuts, which was a good sign. A family walked by, their arms full of stuffed-animal prizes, and left the building with no problem.
“Then . . . what’s the catch?” Annabeth asked. “There’s always a catch.”
I nodded in agreement. I’d never walked into any establishment run by a Greek god, monster, or other immortal being that didn’t have a nasty downside. The more interesting the place looked, the more dangerous it was.
“I don’t know,” Grover admitted. “I usually just get licorice and leave. I keep a low profile.”
He frowned at me, as if worried I might do something high-profile like burn the place down. Honestly, that hurt. Just because I’ve been known to burn places down, blow things up, and unleash apocalyptic disasters wherever I go . . . that doesn’t mean I’m totally irresponsible.
“And you’re sure Hebe is here?” I asked.
“No, but . . .” Grover wriggled his shoulders. “You know that feeling you get when there’s a god around and you can’t see them, but you kind of feel like there’s a swarm of dung beetles on the back of your neck?”
“Not exactly . . .” I said.
“Also,” said Annabeth, “dung beetles is oddly specific.”
Grover brushed the metaphorical poop bugs off his neck. “Anyway, I’ve got that feeling now. We could ask the staff if Hebe’s around. If we can find someone.”
We moved into the arcade. I kept my hand at my side, ready to draw out Riptide, my pen-sword, though there didn’t seem to be much to fight except grade-school kids and video game bosses. I half expected the robot iguana band to charge us with banjo bayonets, but they just kept playing their programmed songs.
“Oh, my gods,” Annabeth said. “Stackers. I haven’t played that since . . .”
Her thoughts seemed to drift away. She’d been at Camp Half-Blood since she was seven years old, so she must have been reliving a really early memory. It made sense to me that she would like a game where you had to place one block on top of another. She was all about building and architecture.
As we approached the candy station, I felt a pang in my abdomen. Not because I was hungry, but because the smell reminded me so much of my mom’s old workplace, Sweet on America. I used to love going there during the summer and watching her help people pick out candy. I guess it was a pretty hard job, and it didn’t pay much, but my mom never failed to make people smile. They always left happy, with just the right mix of treats, which made my mom seem like a superhero to me.
Of course, she was still a superhero to me for a lot of reasons. But back when I was seven or eight, having a mom who was the candy lady felt like the coolest thing ever. She used to bring me free samples when she came home, and this place had all my old favorites: blueberry saltwater taffy, blue sour laces, blue . . . well, everything. It’s amazing my tongue hadn’t turned permanently violet.
Grover sniffed at the rows of licorice ropes, which came in so many colors they reminded me of Paul’s tie rack. （Paul loves wearing funky ties to school. He says it keeps his students awake.）
A group of adults walked past, giggly and teary-eyed, reminiscing about their favorite treats and games from back in the day.