The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5)(41)

Reyna’s dogs crouched, ready to spring. The coach gripped his baseball bat, though for once he didn’t look anxious to swing.

Nico reached for the hilt of his sword.

‘Don’t bother,’ muttered Coach Hedge. ‘These guys are only hurt by silver or fire. I remember them from Pikes Peak. They’re annoying.’

‘And I remember you, Gleeson Hedge.’ The werewolf’s eyes glowed lava red. ‘My pack will be delighted to have goat meat for dinner.’

Hedge snorted. ‘Bring it on, mangy boy. The Hunters of Artemis are on their way right now, just like last time! That’s a temple of Diana over there, you idiot. You’re on their home turf!’

Again the wolves snarled and widened their circle. Some glanced nervously towards the rooftops.

Lycaon only glared at the coach. ‘A nice try, but I’m afraid that temple has been misnamed. I passed through here during Roman times. It was actually dedicated to the Emperor Augustus. Typical demigod vanity. Regardless, I’ve been much more careful since our last encounter. If the Hunters were anywhere close by, I would know.’

Nico tried to think of an escape plan. They were surrounded and outnumbered. Their only effective weapon was a pocketknife. The sceptre of Diocletian was gone. The Athena Parthenos was thirty feet above them at the top of the temple, and even if they could reach it they couldn’t shadow-travel until they actually had shadows. The sun wouldn’t set for hours.

He hardly felt brave, but he stepped forward. ‘So you’ve got us. What are you waiting for?’

Lycaon studied him like a new type of meat in a butcher’s display case. ‘Nico di Angelo … son of Hades. I’ve heard of you. I’m sorry I can’t kill you promptly, but I promised my employer Orion that I would detain you until he arrives. No worries. He should be here in a few moments. Once he’s done with you, I shall spill your blood and mark this place as my territory for ages to come!’

Nico gritted his teeth. ‘Demigod blood. The blood of Olympus.’

‘Of course!’ Lycaon said. ‘Spilled upon the ground, especially sacred ground, demigod blood has many uses. With the proper incantations, it can awaken monsters or even gods. It can cause new life to spring up or make a place barren for generations. Alas, your blood will not wake Gaia herself. That honour is reserved for your friends aboard the Argo II. But fear not. Your death will be almost as painful as theirs.’

The grass started dying around Nico’s feet. The marigold beds withered. Barren ground, he thought. Sacred ground.

He remembered the thousands of skeletons in the Chapel of Bones. He recalled what Hades had said about this public square, where the Inquisition had burned hundreds of people alive.

This was an ancient city. How many dead lay in the ground beneath his feet?

‘Coach,’ he said, ‘you can climb?’

Hedge scoffed. ‘I’m half goat. Of course I can climb!’

‘Get up to the statue and secure the rigging. Make a rope ladder and drop it down for us.’

‘Uh, but the pack of wolves –’

‘Reyna,’ Nico said, ‘you and your dogs will have to cover our retreat.’

The praetor nodded grimly. ‘Understood.’

Lycaon howled with laughter. ‘Retreat to where, son of Hades? There is no escape. You cannot kill us!’

‘Maybe not,’ Nico said. ‘But I can slow you down.’

He spread his hands and the ground erupted.

Nico hadn’t expected it to work so well. He had pulled bone fragments from the earth before. He’d animated rat skeletons and unearthed the odd human skull. Nothing prepared him for the wall of bones that burst skyward – hundreds of femurs, ribs and fibulas entangling the wolves, forming a spiky briar patch of human remains.

Most of the wolves were hopelessly trapped. Some writhed and gnashed their teeth, trying to free themselves from their haphazard cages. Lycaon himself was immobilized in a cocoon of rib bones, but that didn’t stop him from screaming curses.

‘You worthless child!’ he roared. ‘I will rip the flesh from your limbs!’

‘Coach, go!’ Nico said.

The satyr sprinted towards the temple. He made the top of the podium in a single leap and scrambled up the left pillar.

Two wolves broke free from the thicket of bones. Reyna threw her knife and impaled one in the neck. Her dogs pounced on the other. Aurum’s fangs and claws slipped harmlessly off the wolf’s hide, but Argentum brought the beast down.

Argentum’s head was still bent sideways from the fight in Pompeii. His left ruby eye was still missing, but he managed to sink his fangs into the wolf’s scruff. The wolf dissolved into a puddle of shadow.

Thank goodness for silver dogs, Nico thought.

Reyna drew her sword. She scooped a handful of silver coins from Hedge’s baseball cap, grabbed duct tape from the coach’s supply bag and began taping coins around her blade. The girl was nothing if not inventive.

‘Go!’ she told Nico. ‘I’ll cover you!’

The wolves struggled, causing the bone thicket to crack and crumble. Lycaon freed his right arm and began smashing through his prison of ribcages.

‘I will flay you alive!’ he promised. ‘I will add your pelt to my cloak!’

Nico ran, pausing just long enough to grab Reyna’s silver pocketknife from the ground.