The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4)(28)

Her baleful eyes held Annabeth’s. “I wonder what happens if a demigod is killed in Tartarus. I doubt it’s ever happened before. Let’s find out.”

Percy sprang, slashing Riptide in a huge arc. He cut one of the demons in half, but Kelli dodged and charged Annabeth. The other two empousai launched themselves at Percy. One grabbed his sword arm. Her friend jumped on his back.

Percy tried to ignore them and staggered toward Annabeth, determined to go down defending her if he had to; but Annabeth was doing pretty well. She tumbled to one side, evading Kelli’s claws, and came up with a rock in her hand, which she smacked into Kelli’s nose.

Kelli wailed. Annabeth scooped up gravel and flung it in the empousa’s eyes.

Meanwhile Percy thrashed from side to side, trying to throw off his empousa hitchhiker, but her claws sank deeper into his shoulders. The second empousa held his arm, preventing him from using Riptide.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kelli lunge, raking her talons across Annabeth’s arm. Annabeth screamed and fell.

Percy stumbled in her direction. The vampire on his back sank her teeth into his neck. Searing pain coursed through his body. His knees buckled.

Stay on your feet, he told himself. You have to beat them.

Then the other vampire bit his sword arm, and Riptide clattered to the ground.

That was it. His luck had finally run out. Kelli loomed over Annabeth, savoring her moment of triumph. The other two empousai circled Percy, their mouths slavering, ready for another taste.

Then a shadow fell across Percy. A deep war cry bellowed from somewhere above, echoing across the plains of Tartarus, and a Titan dropped onto the battlefield.

PERCY THOUGHT HE WAS HALLUCINATING. It just wasn’t possible that a huge, silvery figure could drop out of the sky and stomp Kelli flat, trampling her into a mound of monster dust.

But that’s exactly what happened. The Titan was ten feet tall, with wild silver Einstein hair, pure silver eyes, and muscular arms protruding from a ripped-up blue janitor’s uniform. In his hand was a massive push broom. His name tag, incredibly, read BOB.

Annabeth yelped and tried to crawl away, but the giant janitor wasn’t interested in her. He turned to the two remaining empousai, who stood over Percy.

One was foolish enough to attack. She lunged with the speed of a tiger, but she never stood a chance. A spearhead jutted from the end of Bob’s broom. With a single deadly swipe, he cut her to dust. The last vampire tried to run. Bob threw his broom like a massive boomerang (was there such a thing as a broomerang?). It sliced through the vampire and returned to Bob’s hand.

“SWEEP!” The Titan grinned with delight and did a victory dance. “Sweep, sweep, sweep!”

Percy couldn’t speak. He couldn’t bring himself to believe that something good had actually happened. Annabeth looked just as shocked.

“H-how…?” she stammered.

“Percy called me!” the janitor said happily. “Yes, he did.”

Annabeth crawled a little farther away. Her arm was bleeding badly. “Called you? He—wait. You’re Bob? The Bob?”

The janitor frowned when he noticed Annabeth’s wounds. “Owie.”

Annabeth flinched as he knelt next to her.

“It’s okay,” Percy said, still woozy with pain. “He’s friendly.”

He remembered when he’d first met Bob. The Titan had healed a bad wound on Percy’s shoulder just by touching it. Sure enough, the janitor tapped Annabeth’s forearm and it mended instantly.

Bob chuckled, pleased with himself, then bounded over to Percy and healed his bleeding neck and arm. The Titan’s hands were surprisingly warm and gentle.

“All better!” Bob declared, his eerie silver eyes crinkling with pleasure. “I am Bob, Percy’s friend!”

“Uh…yeah,” Percy managed. “Thanks for the help, Bob. It’s really good to see you again.”

“Yes!” the janitor agreed. “Bob. That’s me. Bob, Bob, Bob.” He shuffled around, obviously pleased with his name. “I am helping. I heard my name. Upstairs in Hades’s palace, nobody calls for Bob unless there is a mess. Bob, sweep up these bones. Bob, mop up these tortured souls. Bob, a zombie exploded in the dining room.”

Annabeth gave Percy a puzzled look, but he had no explanation.

“Then I heard my friend call!” The Titan beamed. “Percy said, Bob!”

He grabbed Percy’s arm and hoisted him to his feet.

“That’s awesome,” Percy said. “Seriously. But how did you—”

“Oh, time to talk later.” Bob’s expression turned serious. “We must go before they find you. They are coming. Yes, indeed.”

“They?” Annabeth asked.

Percy scanned the horizon. He saw no approaching monsters—nothing but the stark gray wasteland.

“Yes,” Bob agreed. “But Bob knows a way. Come on, friends! We will have fun!”

FRANK WOKE UP AS A PYTHON, which puzzled him.

Changing into an animal wasn’t confusing. He did that all the time. But he had never changed from one animal to another in his sleep before. He was pretty sure he hadn’t dozed off as a snake. Usually, he slept like a dog.

He’d discovered that he got through the night much better if he curled up on his bunk in the shape of a bulldog. For whatever reason, his nightmares didn’t bother him as much. The constant screaming in his head almost disappeared.