The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4)(83)

“And me?” Piper hated to ask. “Why am I still alive and unfrozen?”

Khione glanced at her brothers with annoyance. “Zethes has claimed you, for one thing.”

“I kiss magnificently,” Zethes promised. “You will see, beautiful one.”

The idea made Piper’s stomach churn.

“But that is not the only reason,” Khione said. “It is because I hate you, Piper. Deeply and truly. Without you, Jason would have stayed with me in Quebec.”

“Delusional, much?”

Khione’s eyes turned as hard as the diamonds in her circlet. “You are a meddler, the daughter of a useless goddess. What can you do alone? Nothing. Of all the seven demigods, you have no purpose, no power. I wish you to stay on this ship, adrift and helpless, while Gaea rises and the world ends. And just to be sure you are well out of the way…”

She gestured to Zethes, who plucked something from the air—a frozen sphere the size of a softball, covered in icy spikes.

“A bomb,” Zethes explained, “especially for you, my love.”

“Bombs!” Cal laughed. “A good day! Bombs and muffins!”

“Uh…” Piper lowered her dagger, which seemed even more useless than usual. “Flowers would’ve been fine.”

“Oh, it will not kill the pretty girl.” Zethes frowned. “Well…I am fairly sure of this. But when the fragile container cracks, in…ah, roughly not very long…it will unleash the full force of the northern winds. This ship will be blown very far off course. Very, very far.”

“Indeed.” Khione’s voice prickled with false sympathy. “We will take your friends for our statue collection, then unleash the winds and bid you good-bye! You can watch the end of the world from…well, the end of the world! Perhaps you can charmspeak the fish, and feed yourself with your silly cornucopia. You can pace the deck of this empty ship and watch our victory in the blade of your dagger. When Gaea has arisen and the world you knew is dead, then Zethes can come back and retrieve you for his bride. What will you do to stop us, Piper? A hero? Ha! You are a joke.”

Her words stung like sleet, mostly because Piper had had the same thoughts herself. What could she do? How could she save her friends with what she had?

She came close to snapping—flying at her enemies in a rage and getting herself killed.

She looked at Khione’s smug expression and she realized the goddess was hoping for that. She wanted Piper to break. She wanted entertainment.

Piper’s spine turned to steel. She remembered the girls who used to make fun of her at the Wilderness School. She remembered Drew, the cruel head counselor she had replaced in Aphrodite’s cabin; and Medea, who had charmed Jason and Leo in Chicago; and Jessica, her dad’s old assistant, who had always treated her like a useless brat. All her life, Piper had been looked down upon, told she was useless.

It has never been true, another voice whispered—a voice that sounded like her mother’s. Each of them berated you because they feared you and envied you. So does Khione. Use that!

Piper didn’t feel like it, but she managed a laugh. She tried it again, and the laughter came more easily. Soon she was doubled over, giggling and snorting.

Calais joined in, until Zethes elbowed him.

Khione’s smile wavered. “What? What is so funny? I have doomed you!”

“Doomed me!” Piper laughed again. “Oh, gods…sorry.” She took a shaky breath and tried to stop giggling. “Oh, boy…okay. You really think I’m powerless? You really think I’m useless? Gods of Olympus, your brain must have freezer burn. You don’t know my secret, do you?”

Khione’s eyes narrowed.

“You have no secret,” she said. “You are lying.”

“Okay, whatever,” Piper said. “Yeah, go ahead and take my friends. Leave me here…useless.” She snorted. “Yeah. Gaea will be really pleased with you.”

Snow swirled around the goddess. Zethes and Calais glanced at each other nervously.

“Sister,” Zethes said, “if she really has some secret—”

“Pizza?” Cal speculated. “Hockey?”

“—then we must know,” Zethes continued.

Khione obviously didn’t buy it. Piper tried to keep a straight face, but she made her eyes dance with mischief and humor.

Go ahead, she dared. Call my bluff.

“What secret?” Khione demanded. “Reveal it to us!”

Piper shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She pointed casually toward the prow. “Follow me, ice people.”

SHE PUSHED BETWEEN THE BOREADS, which was like walking through a meat freezer. The air around them was so cold, it burned her face. She felt like she was breathing pure snow.

Piper tried not to look down at Jason’s frozen body as she passed. She tried not to think about her friends below, or Leo shot into the sky to a place of no return. She definitely tried not to think about the Boreads and the snow goddess who were following her.

She fixed her eyes on the figurehead.

The ship rocked under her feet. A single gust of summer air made it through the chill, and Piper breathed it in, taking it as a good omen. It was still summer out there. Khione and her brothers did not belong here.

Piper knew she couldn’t win a straight fight against Khione and two winged guys with swords. She wasn’t as clever as Annabeth, or as good at problem solving as Leo. But she did have power. And she intended to use it.