"No, no sneaking. We still have to do that ourselves. But he's a shapeshifter and can easily hide in plain sight." That's the easiest way to explain it; Frank's gotten more open about using his power, but she feels weird describing it in details. Yes hello, my friend can transform into just about any animal! "I can bring him to meet you for sure, if he's interested, but only after we get a handle on what we're doing."

But she nods at Nilin; until they get a better understanding of what's going on, she still doesn't want to bring anyone else in yet. It'd be different if Percy were still here - they have no secrets, and there's no way her disappearance for that long could go flimsily unexplained to him.

Annabeth squints down here Bucky points, eyebrows furrowing. "That'll be an issue. Should we talk to Evandau about it? Unless these talismans," and she runs her fingers over her own, "can mask our entrance through the barrier, too?"