The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5)(53)

The chamber shook again. More cracks appeared in the walls. Piper glanced at the stone carvings above the doorways: the scowling twin faces of Fear and Panic.

‘My brothers,’ Piper said, ‘sons of Aphrodite … I give you a sacrifice.’

At the feet of Ares, she set her cornucopia. The magic horn had become so attuned to her emotions it could amplify her anger, love or grief and spew forth its bounty accordingly. She hoped that would appeal to the gods of fear. Or maybe they would just appreciate some fresh fruits and vegetables in their diets.

‘I’m terrified,’ she confessed. ‘I hate doing this. But I accept that it’s necessary.’

She swung her blade and took off the bronze statue’s head.

‘No!’ Mimas yelled.

Flames roared up from the statue’s severed neck. They swirled around Piper, filling the room with a firestorm of emotions: hatred, bloodlust and fear, but also love – because no one could face battle without caring for something: comrades, family, home.

Piper held out her arms and the makhai made her the centre of their whirlwind.

We will answer your call, they whispered in her mind. Once only, when you need us, destruction, waste, carnage shall answer. We shall complete your cure.

The flames vanished along with the cornucopia, and the chained statue of Ares crumbled into dust.

‘Foolish girl!’ Mimas charged her, Annabeth at his heels. ‘The makhai have abandoned you!’

‘Or maybe they’ve abandoned you,’ Piper said.

Mimas raised his hammer, but he’d forgotten about Annabeth. She jabbed him in the thigh and the giant staggered forward, off balance. Piper stepped in calmly and stabbed him in the gut.

Mimas crashed face-first into the nearest doorway. He turned over just as the stone face of Panic cracked off the wall above him and toppled down for a one-ton kiss.

The giant’s cry was cut short. His body went still. Then he disintegrated into a twenty-foot pile of ash.

Annabeth stared at Piper. ‘What just happened?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘Piper, you were amazing, but those fiery spirits you released –’

‘The makhai.’

‘How does that help us find the cure we’re looking for?’

‘I don’t know. They said I could summon them when the time comes. Maybe Artemis and Apollo can explain –’

A section of the wall calved like a glacier.

Annabeth stumbled and almost slipped on the giant’s severed ear. ‘We need to get out of here.’

‘I’m working on it,’ Piper said.

‘And, uh, I think this ear is your spoil of war.’

‘Gross.’

‘Would make a lovely shield.’

‘Shut up, Chase.’ Piper stared at the second doorway, which still had the face of Fear above it. ‘Thank you, brothers, for helping to kill the giant. I need one more favour – an escape. And, believe me, I am properly terrified. I offer you this, uh, lovely ear as a sacrifice.’

The stone face made no answer. Another section of the wall peeled away. A starburst of cracks appeared in the ceiling.

Piper grabbed Annabeth’s hand. ‘We’re going through that doorway. If this works, we might find ourselves back on the surface.’

‘And if it doesn’t?’

Piper looked up at the face of Fear. ‘Let’s find out.’

The room collapsed around them as they plunged into the dark.

XXI

Reyna

AT LEAST THEY DIDN’T END UP ON ANOTHER CRUISE SHIP.

The jump from Portugal had landed them in the middle of the Atlantic, where Reyna had spent her whole day on the lido deck of the Azores Queen, shooing little kids off the Athena Parthenos, which they seemed to think was a waterslide.

Unfortunately, the next jump brought Reyna home.

They appeared ten feet in the air, hovering over a restaurant courtyard that Reyna recognized. She and Nico dropped onto a large birdcage, which promptly broke, dumping them into a cluster of potted ferns along with three very alarmed parrots. Coach Hedge hit the canopy over a bar. The Athena Parthenos landed on her feet with a THUMP, flattening a patio table and flipping a dark green umbrella, which settled onto the Nike statue in Athena’s hand, so the goddess of wisdom looked like she was holding a tropical drink.

‘Gah!’ Coach Hedge yelled. The canopy ripped and he fell behind the bar with a crash of bottles and glasses. The satyr recovered well. He popped up with a dozen miniature plastic swords in his hair, grabbed the soda gun and served himself a drink.

‘I like it!’ He tossed a wedge of pineapple into his mouth. ‘But next time, kid, can we land on the floor and not ten feet above it?’

Nico dragged himself out of the ferns. He collapsed into the nearest chair and waved off a blue parrot that was trying to land on his head. After the fight with Lycaon, Nico had discarded his shredded aviator jacket. His black skull-pattern T-shirt wasn’t in much better shape. Reyna had stitched up the gashes on his biceps, which gave Nico a slightly creepy Frankenstein look, but the cuts were still swollen and red. Unlike bites, werewolf claw marks wouldn’t transmit lycanthropy, but Reyna knew firsthand that they healed slowly and burned like acid.

‘I’ve gotta sleep.’ Nico looked up in a daze. ‘Are we safe?’