The Demigod Diaries (The Heroes of Olympus)(24)

Suddenly I understood what Annabeth was planning, and I felt like I was trying to swallow a quarter. “No,” I said. “Too dangerous.”

Annabeth raised her eyebrow. “Percy, you know I rock at grabber-arm games.”

That was true. I’d taken her to the arcade at Coney Island, and we’d come back with a sackful of stuffed animals. But this crane was massive.

“Don’t worry,” she promised. “I’ve supervised bigger equipment on Mount Olympus.”

My girlfriend: sophomore honors student, demigod, and—oh, yeah—head architect for redesigning the palace of the gods on Mount Olympus in her spare time.

“But can you operate it?” I asked.

“Cakewalk. Just lure him over there. Keep him occupied while I grab him.”

“And then what?”

She smiled in a way that made me glad I wasn’t the giant.

“You’ll see. If you can snag the caduceus while he’s distracted, that would be great.”

“Anything else?” I asked. “Would you like fries and a drink, maybe?”

“Shut up, Percy.”

“DEATH!” Cacus stormed up the steps and onto the High Line. He spotted us and lumbered over with slow, grim determination.

Annabeth ran. She reached the crane and leaped over the side of the railing, shinnying down the metal arm like it was a tree branch. She disappeared from view.

I raised my sword and faced the giant. His red velour robe was in tatters. He’d lost his slippers. His ginger hair was plastered to his head like a greasy shower cap. He aimed his glowing bazooka.

“George, Martha,” I called, hoping they could hear me. “Please change out of laser mode.”

We’re trying, dear! Martha said.

My stomach hurts, George said. I think he bruised my tummy.

I backed up slowly down the dead end tracks, edging toward the crane. Cacus followed. Now that he had me trapped, he seemed in no hurry to kill me. He stopped twenty feet away, just beyond the shadow of the crane’s hook. I tried to look cornered and panicked. It wasn’t hard.

“So,” Cacus growled. “Any last words?”

“Help,” I said. “Yikes. Ouch. How are those? Oh, and Hermes is a way better salesman than you.”

“Gah!” Cacus lowered the caduceus laser.

The crane didn’t move. Even if Annabeth could get it started, I wondered how she could see her target from down below. I probably should’ve thought of that sooner.

Cacus pulled the trigger, and suddenly the caduceus changed form. The giant tried to zap me with a credit card–swiping machine, but the only thing that came out was a paper receipt.

Oh, yeah! George yelled in my mind. One for the snakes!

“Stupid staff!” Cacus threw down the caduceus in disgust, which was the chance I’d been waiting for. I launched myself forward, snatched the staff, and rolled under the giant’s legs.

When I got to my feet, we’d changed positions. Cacus had his back to the crane. Its arm was right behind him, the claw perfectly positioned above his head.

Unfortunately, the crane still wasn’t moving. And Cacus still wanted to kill me.

“You put out my fire with that cursed sewage,” he growled. “Now you steal my staff.”

“Which you wrongfully stole,” I said.

“It doesn’t matter.” Cacus cracked his knuckles. “You can’t use the staff either. I’ll simply kill you with my bare hands.”

The crane shifted, slowly and almost silently. I realized there were mirrors fixed along the side of the arm—like rearview mirrors to guide the operator. And reflected in one of those mirrors were Annabeth’s gray eyes.

The claw opened and began to drop.

I smiled at the giant. “Actually, Cacus, I have another secret weapon.”

The giant’s eyes lit up with greed. “Another weapon? I will steal it! I will copy it and sell the knockoffs for a profit! What is this secret weapon?”

“Her name is Annabeth,” I said. “And she’s one of a kind.”

The claw dropped, smacking Cacus on the head and knocking him to the ground. While the giant was dazed, the claw closed around his chest and lifted him into the air.

“Wh—what is this?” The giant came to his senses twenty feet up. “Put me down!”

He squirmed uselessly and tried to blow fire, but only managed to cough up some mud.

Annabeth swung the crane arm back and forth, building momentum as the giant cursed and struggled. I was afraid the whole crane would tip over, but Annabeth’s control was perfect. She swung the arm one last time and opened the claw when the giant was at the top of his arc.

“Aahhhhhhhhh!” The giant sailed over the rooftops, straight over Chelsea Piers, and began falling toward the Hudson River.

“George, Martha,” I said. “Do you think you could manage laser mode just once more for me?”

With pleasure, George said.

The caduceus turned into a wicked high-tech bazooka.

I took aim at the falling giant and yelled, “Pull!”

The caduceus blasted its beam of blue light, and the giant disintegrated into a beautiful starburst.

That, George said, was excellent. May I have a rat now?

I have to agree with George, Martha said. A rat would be lovely.