The Demigod Diaries (The Heroes of Olympus)(7)

Hal frowned. He motioned for us to follow him back to his computer. He hunched over the keyboard and typed: What goat?

I didn’t see any point in keeping it a secret. I told him how we’d followed Zeus’s glowing Pepsi-dispensing goat into Richmond, and how she had pointed us to this house.

Hal looked baffled. He typed: I’ve heard of Amaltheia, but don’t know why she would bring you here. The other demigods were attracted to the mansion because of the treasure. I assumed you were, too.

“Treasure?” Thalia asked.

Hal got up and showed us his walk-in closet. It was full of more supplies collected from unfortunate demigods—coats much too small for Hal, some old-fashioned wood-and-pitch torches, dented pieces of armor, and a few Celestial bronze swords that were bent and broken. Such a waste. I needed another sword.

Hal rearranged boxes of books, shoes, a few bars of gold, and a small basket full of diamonds that he didn’t seem interested in. He unearthed a two-foot-square metal floor safe and gestured at it like: Ta-da.

“Can you open it?” I asked.

Hal shook his head.

“Do you know what’s inside?” Thalia asked.

Again, Hal shook his head.

“It’s trapped,” I guessed.

Hal nodded emphatically, then traced a finger across his neck.

I knelt next to the safe. I didn’t touch it, but I held my hands close to the combination lock. My fingers tingled with warmth as if the box were a hot oven. I concentrated until I could sense the mechanisms inside. I didn’t like what I found.

“This thing is bad news,” I muttered. “Whatever’s inside must be important.”

Thalia knelt next to me. “Luke, this is why we’re here.” Her voice was full of excitement. “Zeus wanted me to find this.”

I looked at her skeptically. I didn’t know how she could have such faith in her dad. Zeus hadn’t treated her any better than Hermes treated me. Besides, a lot of demigods had been led here. All of them were dead.

Still, she fixed me with those intense blue eyes, and I knew this was another time Thalia would get her way.

I sighed. “You’re going to ask me to open it, aren’t you?”

“Can you?”

I chewed my lip. Maybe next time I teamed up with someone, I should choose someone I didn’t like so much. I just couldn’t say no to Thalia.

“People have tried to open this before,” I warned. “There’s a curse on the handle. I’m guessing whoever touches it gets burned to a pile of ashes.”

I looked up at Hal. His face turned as gray as his hair. I took that as a confirmation.

“Can you bypass the curse?” Thalia asked me.

“I think so,” I said. “But it’s the second trap I’m worried about.”

“The second trap?” she asked.

“Nobody’s managed to trigger the combination,” I said. “I know that because there’s a poison canister ready to break as soon as you hit the third number. It’s never been activated.”

Judging from Hal’s wide eyes, this was news to him.

“I can try to disable it,” I said, “but if I mess up, this whole apartment is going to fill with gas. We’ll die.”

Thalia swallowed. “I trust you. Just…don’t mess up.”

I turned to the old man. “You could maybe hide in the bathtub. Put some wet towels over your face. It might protect you.”

Hal shifted uneasily. The snakeskin fabric of his suit rippled as if it were still alive, trying to swallow something unpleasant. Emotions played across his face—fear, doubt, but mostly shame. I guess he couldn’t stand the idea of cowering in a bathtub while two kids risked their lives. Or maybe there was a little demigod spirit left in him after all. He gestured at the safe like: Go ahead.

I touched the combination lock. I concentrated so hard I felt like I was dead-lifting five hundred pounds. My pulse quickened. A line of sweat trickled down my nose. Finally I felt gears turning. Metal groaned, tumblers clicked, and the bolts popped back. Carefully avoiding the handle, I pried open the door with my fingertips and extracted an unbroken vial of green liquid.

Hal exhaled.

Thalia kissed me on the cheek, which she probably shouldn’t have done while I was holding a tube of deadly poison.

“You are so good,” she said.

Did that make the risk worth it? Yeah, pretty much.

I looked into the safe, and some of my enthusiasm faded. “That’s it?”

Thalia reached in and pulled out a bracelet.

It didn’t look like much, just a row of polished silver links.

Thalia latched it around her wrist. Nothing happened.

She scowled. “It should do something. If Zeus sent me here—”

Hal clapped his hands to get our attention. Suddenly his eyes looked almost as crazy as his hair. He gesticulated wildly, but I had no idea what he was trying to say. Finally he stamped his snakeskin boot in frustration and led us back to the main room.

He sat at his computer and started to type. I glanced at the clock on his desk. Maybe time traveled faster in the house, or maybe time just flies when you’re waiting to die, but it was already past noon. Our day was half over.

Hal showed us the short novel he’d written: You’re the ones!! You actually got the treasure!! I can’t believe it!! That safe has been sealed since before I was born!! Apollo told me my curse would end when the owner of the treasure claimed it!! If you’re the owner—