The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus #2)(119)

“I don’t see you on the list,” Thanatos said. “Pluto gives me specific orders for escaped souls, you see. For some reason, he has not issued a warrant for yours. Perhaps he feels your life is not finished, or it could be an oversight. If you’d like me to call and ask—”

“No!” Hazel yelped. “That’s okay.”

“Are you sure?” Death asked helpfully. “I have video conferencing enabled. I have his Skype address here somewhere...”

“Really, no.” Hazel looked as if several thousand pounds of worry had just been lifted from her shoulders. “Thank you.”

“Urgg,” Alcyoneus mumbled.

Frank hit him over the head again.

Death looked up from his iPad. “As for you, Frank Zhang, it isn’t your time, either. You’ve got a little fuel left to burn. But don’t think I’m doing either of you a favor. We will meet again under less pleasant circumstances.”

The cliff was still crumbling, the edge only twenty feet away now. Arion whinnied impatiently. Frank knew they had to leave, but there was one more question he had to ask.

“What about the Doors of Death?” he said. “Where are they? How do we close them?”

“Ah, yes.” A look of irritation flickered across Thanatos’s face. “The Doors of Me. Closing them would be good, but I fear it is beyond my power. How you would do it, I haven’t the faintest idea. I can’t tell you exactly where they are. The location isn’t…well, it’s not entirely a physical place. They must be located through questing. I can tell you to start your search in Rome. The original Rome. You will need a special guide. Only one sort of demigod can read the signs that will ultimately lead you to the Doors of Me.”

Cracks appeared in the ice under their feet. Hazel patted Arion’s neck to keep him from bolting.

“What about my brother?” she asked. “Is Nico alive?”

Thanatos gave her a strange look—possibly pity, though that didn’t seem like an emotion Death would understand. “You will find the answer in Rome. And now I must fly south to your Camp Jupiter. I have a feeling there will be many souls to reap, very soon. Farewell, demigods, until we meet again.”

Thanatos dissipated into black smoke.

The cracks widened in the ice under Frank’s feet.

“Hurry!” he told Hazel. “We’ve got to take Alcyoneus about ten miles due north!”

He climbed onto the giant’s chest and Arion took off, racing across the ice, dragging Alcyoneus like the world’s ugliest sled.

It was a short trip.

Arion rode the glacier like a highway, zipping across the ice, leaping crevices, and skidding down slopes that would’ve made a snowboarder’s eyes light up.

Frank didn’t have to knock out Alcyoneus too many times, because the giant’s head kept bouncing and hitting the ice. As they raced along, the half-conscious Golden Boy mumbled a tune that sounded like “Jingle Bells.”

Frank felt pretty stunned himself. He’d just turned into an eagle and a bear. He could still feel fluid energy rippling through his body, like he was halfway between a solid and liquid state.

Not only that: Hazel and he had released Death, and both of them had survived. And Percy…Frank swallowed down his fear. Percy had gone over the side of the glacier to save them.

The son of Neptune shall drown.

No. Frank refused to believe Percy was dead. They hadn’t come all this way just to lose their friend. Frank would find him—but first they had to deal with Alcyoneus.

He visualized the map he had been studying on the train from Anchorage. He knew roughly where they were going, but there were no signs or markers on top of the glacier. He’d just have to take his best guess.

Finally Arion zoomed between two mountains into a valley of ice and rocks, like a massive bowl of frozen milk with bits of Cocoa Puffs. The giant’s golden skin paled as if it were turning to brass. Frank felt a subtle vibration in his own body, like a tuning fork pressed against his sternum. He knew he’d crossed into friendly territory—home territory.

“Here!” Frank shouted.

Arion veered to one side. Hazel cut the rope, and Alcyoneus went skidding past. Frank leaped off just before the giant slammed into a boulder.

Immediately Alcyoneus jumped to his feet. “What? Where? Who?”

His nose was bent in an odd direction. His wounds had healed, though his golden skin had lost some of its luster. He looked around for his iron staff, which was still back at Hubbard Glacier. Then he gave up and pounded the nearest boulder to pieces with his fist.

“You dare take me for a sleigh ride?” He tensed and sniffed the air. “That smell…like snuffed-out souls. Thanatos is free, eh? Bah! It doesn’t matter. Gaea still controls the Doors of Death. Now, why have you brought me here, son of Mars?”

“To kill you,” Frank said. “Next question?”

The giant’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve never known a child of Mars who can change his form, but that doesn’t mean you can defeat me. Do you think your stupid soldier of a father gave you the strength to face me in one-on-one combat?”

Hazel drew her sword. “How about two on one?”

The giant growled and charged at Hazel, but Arion nimbly darted out of the way. Hazel slashed her sword across the back of the giant’s calf. Black oil spouted from the wound.