ｔｈｅ　ｔｉｔａｎｓ　ｃｕｒｓｅ

THE FIRST THING LUCIA REGISTERED WAS THE PAIN. Her throat was scratchy and raw, her chest ached and her head felt like someone grabbed two cymbals and slammed them against her ears. When she managed to sit up from where she was her stomach turned, and she grabbed the closest thing to her.

"Careful Luz" Percy whispered, his hand reached for hers untangling it from his shirt to cradle in his own.

"What happened" She croaked

"You used too much energy out there Lu" Grover said, Lucia blinked realizing she was in the bed of a moving pickup truck. While Zoe sat inside with Thalia, Percy and Grover were next to her. "Too much in too little time."

"I didn't know I could do that....the light and the yelling. it's like... it just came out of me."

"The blessing from Apollo," Grover explained "The rest of it was probably set off from... by the..."

It was like someone threw cold water in Lucia's face, waking her up and forcing her into a cruel reality.

"Luz?" Percy asked, he drew circles on her palm

Lucia's other hand squeezed around something. She looked down to see she held the little figurine that had cost Bianca her life. She couldn't even tell what god it was supposed to be.

Neeks would know.

Nico.

Nico.

oh, gods how was she supposed to tell Nico.

Lucia wished she could ignorantly believe Bianca was still alive out there, but she knew she was gone for good. And with her, she took part of Lucia that she would never get back.

"It should've been me," Lucia whispered. "I should've gone into the giant."

"Don't say that!" Grover panicked. "It's bad enough Annabeth is gone, and now Bianca. Do you think I could stand it if..." He sniffled.

"Grover's right." Percy kept drawing circles. Unlike Grover, he spoke to her calmly "Your life matters too. Plus do you think anybody else would want to be our best friend?"

Lucia stayed silent. it hurt her too much to think and come up with a response. no matter what Grover and Percy told her, deep down she would always wish it were her.

"Ah, Grover..." Percy frowned "Don't cry"

Grover wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy like he had on war paint. "I'm... I'm okay."

Grover was lying. Ever since the encounter in New Mexico—whatever had happened when that wild wind blew through—he seemed really fragile, even more, emotional than usual. Lucia could tell Percy was hesitant to talk to him about it, because he might start bawling.

Usually, Lucia would be able to set aside her emotions to comfort him, but she couldn't. All she could think about was bronze, flying sparks, the figurine in her hand, and screaming out Bianca's name but getting no response.

All she could think about was that she lost her friend.

☼

THE TOW TRUCK RAN OUT OF GAS AT THE EDGE OF A RIVER CANYON. That was just as well because the road dead-ended.

Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?"

Lucia scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below them.

"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river."

Lucia watched as Grover signaled to a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face.

"That's a goat path," Percy said.

"So?" he asked.

"The rest of us aren't goats."

"We can make it," Grover said. "I think."

"No," Percy said. "I, uh, think we should go farther upstream."

Grover said, "But—"

"Come on," He said. "A walk won't hurt us."

Lucia saw as Percy glanced towards Thalia who looked relieved. She wondered what that was about as they continued upstream.

They followed the river about half a mile before coming to an easier slope that led down to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, but Percy decided they should leave a stack of golden drachmas on the counter and a note saying IOU two canoes.

"We need to go upstream," Zoe said. It was the first time Lucia heard her speak since the junkyard, she sounded just as bad as Lucia did, like somebody with the flu. "The rapids are too swift."

"Leave that to me," Percy said. They put the canoes in the water.

Thalia and Grover got into one, while Percy, Lucia, and Zoe got into another one. Lucia had to reassure Zoe that she would sit in between them just to convince her to get on.

As it turned out, Percy didn't even need to control the currents. As soon as they got into the river, Lucia looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of teenage girls staring at her.

"Percy, there are girls in the river..."

"Naiads" Percy explained

"Oh"

Lucia remembered vaguely what Naiads were from The Odyssey, but back when she was reading it for class (It's really easy to download illegal audiobooks onto a divine Ipod) she expected older mystical beings. Instead, they looked like regular teenage girls, the kind you'd see in any mall, except for the fact that they were underwater. They made a bubbling sound that may have been giggling.

"We're heading upstream," Percy told them. "Do you think you could—"

Before He could even finish, the naiads each chose a canoe and began pushing them up the river. They started so fast that Grover fell into his canoe with his hooves sticking up in the air.

"I hate naiads," Zoe grumbled.

A stream of water squirted up from the back of the boat and hit Zoe in the face.

"She-devils!" Zoe went for her bow.

"Whoa," Percy said. "They're just playing."

"Cursed water spirits. They've never forgiven me."

"Forgiven you for what?" Lucia asked

She slung her bow back over her shoulder. "It was a long time ago. Never mind."

They sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of them.

"What happened to Bianca wasn't either of your faults," Percy told her. "It was my fault. I let her go."

Lucia stayed silent looking forward, suddenly she was very interested in Zoe's braid.

Zoe's shoulders slumped. "No, Percy. I pushed her into going on the quest. I was too anxious. She was a powerful half-blood. She had a kind heart, as well. I... I thought she would be the next lieutenant."

"But you're the lieutenant." Percy reminded

She gripped the strap of her quiver. She looked more tired than Lucia had ever seen her. "Nothing can last forever, Percy. Over two thousand years I have led the Hunt, and my wisdom has not improved. Now Artemis herself is in danger."

"Look, you can't blame yourself for that."

"If I had insisted on going with her—"

"You think you could've fought something powerful enough to kidnap Artemis? There's nothing you could have done."

Zoe didn't answer.

The cliffs along the river were getting taller. Long shadows fell across the water, making it a lot colder, even though the day was bright.

Lucia watched as Percy took Riptide out of his pocket. Zoe looked at the pen, and her expression was pained.

"You made this," He said.

"Who told thee?"

"We had a dream about it."

Zoe glanced at Lucia

"Yeah...we did.."

She studied them. Lucia was sure she was going to call them crazy, but she just sighed. "It was a gift. And a mistake."

"Who was the hero?" Lucia asked.

Zoe shook her head. "Do not make me say his name. I swore never to speak it again."

"You act like we should know him," Percy said

"I am sure you do, hero. Don't all you boys want to be just like him?"

Her voice was so bitter. Lucia could tell Zoe had gotten seriously hurt by this Hero. So she decided not to press too much on the subject of his identity.

"Your mother was a water goddess?" Percy asked.

"Yes, Pleione. She had five daughters. My sisters and I. The Hesperides."

"Those were the girls who lived in a garden at the edge of the West. With the golden apple tree and a dragon guarding it." Lucia remembered

Percy turned towards her "But you didn't know the Naiads?"

"Well sue me for not looking at random girls in a river and immediately thinking ah yes water nymph"

Lucia got splashed in the face, the canoe rocked a little

"Easy!" Lucia yelled, she wasn't in the best mood. "Before I boil-"

Percy set a hand on her mouth before turning to Zoe to allow her to speak

"Yes, " Zoe said wistfully. "The dragon he's named Ladon."

"But weren't there only four sisters'?" Lucia muffled against Percy's hand

"There are now. I was exiled. Forgotten. Blotted out as if I never existed."

"Why?" Percy asked, he then cringed pulling his hand away from Lucia. "Did you lick me?!"

Zoe pointed to Percy's pen. "Because I betrayed my family and helped a hero. You won't find that in the legend either. He never spoke of me. After his direct assault on Ladon failed, I gave him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but he took all the credit."

"But—"

Lucia looked ahead and noticed they were slowing down. She realized quickly that this was as far as they could take them. The river was blocked. A dam the size of a football stadium stood in their path.

"Hoover Dam," Thalia said. "It's huge."

They stood at the river's edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs. People were walking along the top of the dam. They were so tiny they looked like fleas.

The naiads had left with a lot of grumbling—not in words they could understand, but it was obvious they hated this dam blocking up their nice river. Their canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake of the dam's discharge vents.

"Seven hundred feet tall," Percy said. "Built in the 1930s."

"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia said.

Graver sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States."

Lucia stared at them. "How do you know all that?"

"Annabeth," Percy said. "She liked architecture."

"She was nuts about monuments," Thalia said.

"Spouted facts all the time." Grover sniffled. "So annoying."

"I wish she were here," Percy said.

"We can come back with her" Lucia promised

The others smiled. Zoe was still looking at them strangely, but they didn't seem to care.

"We should go up there," Lucia continued. "For her sake. Just to say we've been."

"You are mad," Zoe decided. "But that's where the road is." She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "And so, sightseeing it is."

They had to walk for almost an hour before they found a path that led up to the road. It came up on the east side of the river. Then they straggled back toward the dam. It was cold and windy on top. On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below, and water that churned from the dam's vents.

Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn't say anything, but Lucia had a feeling he smelled monsters.

"How close are they?" Lucia asked him.

He shook his head. "Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us... the scent can probably carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that."

Lucia didn't either. It was already Wednesday, only two days until winter solstice, and they still had a long way to go. They didn't need any more monsters,

"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia said.

"You've been here before?" Lucia asked.

"Once. To see the guardians." She pointed to the far end of the dam.

Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings.

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built," Thalia said. "A gift from Athena."

Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues' feet.

"What are they doing?" Percy asked.

"Rubbing the toes," Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."

"Why?"

She shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."

"When you were here last, did they talk to you or anything?" Percy asked

Thalia's expression darkened. She could tell that she'd come here before hoping for exactly that—some kind of sign from her dad. Some connection. "No. They don't do anything. They're just big metal statues."

Lucia thought about the last big metal statue they'd run into.

"Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoe said. "We should eat while we can."

Grover cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"

Zoe blinked. "Yes. What is funny?"

"Nothing," Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam french fries."

Even Thalia smiled at that. "And I need to use the dam restroom."

Maybe it was the fact that they were so tired and strung out emotionally, but Percy started cracking up, and Lucia, Thalia, and Grover joined in, while Zoe just looked at them. "I do not understand."

"I want to use the dam water fountain," Grover said.

"And..." Thalia tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam T-shirt."

Lucia busted up, and she probably would've kept laughing all day, but then she heard a noise:

"Moooo."

The smile melted off her face. She wondered if the noise was just in her head, but Grover had stopped laughing too. He was looking around, confused. "Did I just hear a cow?"

"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed.

"No," Grover said. "I'm serious."

Zoe listened. "I hear nothing."

Thalia was looking at Percy. "Percy, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Percy said. "You guys go ahead. I'll be right in."

"What's wrong?" Lucia asked

"Nothing," He said. "I... I just need a minute. To think."

"Can I come?" Lucia frowned

"I think he wants to think alo--" Grover started

"Yeah, you can come with sunlight."

Lucia smiled. They hesitated, but Percy must've looked upset because they finally went into the visitor center without them. As soon as they were gone, Percy held Lucia's wrist and jogged to the north edge of the dam and looked over.

"You didn't need to think did you," Lucia decided

"Moo."

Lucia saw something about thirty feet below in the lake, she could see it clearly: She'd heard of sea cows, like manatees and stuff, but this was a cow with the back end of a serpent. The front half was a calf—a baby, with black fur and big, sad brown eyes and a white muzzle—and its back half was a black-and-brown snaky tail with fins running down the top and bottom, like an enormous eel.

"Her name is Bessie," Percy mentioned

"Hi Bessie" She smiled down "I'm Lucia"

"Moooooo" She moo'd happily

Percy looked around. There were groups of kids running along the dam. A lot of senior citizens. Some families. But nobody seemed to be paying Bessie any attention yet.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"Moo!"

Her voice was urgent like she was trying to warn him of something.

"How did you get here?" He asked.

Percy briefly explained how she saved her back at camp. But they were thousands of miles from Long Island, hundreds of miles inland. There was no way she could've swum all the way here. And yet, here she was.

Bessie swam in a circle and butted her head against the side of the dam. "Moo!"

She wanted him to come with her. She was telling him to hurry.

"I can't," He told her. "My friends are inside."

She looked at him with her sad brown eyes. Then she gave one more urgent "Mooo!," did a flip, and disappeared into the water.

Percy hesitated. Something was wrong. She was trying to tell him that. "I'm going to follow her" he went to jump over the side. "Stay here Luz" but then he tensed. He looked down the dam road to the east and saw two men walking slowly toward them. They wore gray camouflage outfits that flickered over skeletal bodies.

"Go!" Lucia went to push him toward Bessie but he climbed off the railing and grabbed her wrist

They passed through a group of kids and pushed them aside. A kid yelled, "Hey!" One of the warriors turned, his face changing momentarily into a skull.

"Ah!" the kid yelled, and his whole group backed away. The pair ran to the visitor center.

Percy and Lucia were almost to the stairs when they heard tires squeal. On the west side of the dam, a black van swerved to a stop in the middle of the road, nearly plowing into some old people.

The van doors opened and more skeleton warriors piled out. They were surrounded.

They bolted down the stairs and through the museum entrance. The security guard at the metal detector yelled, "Hey, You two!" But they didn't stop.

They ran through the exhibits and ducked behind a tour group. They looked for their friends, but They couldn't find them anywhere.

Where was the dam snack bar?

"Stop!" The metal-detector guy yelled.

There was no place to go but into an elevator with the tour group. They ducked inside just as the door closed.

"We'll be going down seven hundred feet," our tour guide said cheerfully. She was a park ranger, with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail and tinted glasses. Lucia guessed she hadn't noticed that they were being chased. "Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, the elevator hardly ever breaks."

"Does this go to the snack bar?" Percy asked her.

A few people behind them chuckled. The tour guide looked at Percy. Something about her gaze made Lucia's skin tingle.

"To the turbines, young man," the lady said. "Weren't you listening to my fascinating presentation upstairs?"

"Of course he was ma'am!." Lucia faked enthusiasm "Is there another way out of the dam?"

"It's a dead-end," a tourist behind them said. "For heaven's sake. The only way out is the other elevator."

The doors opened.

"Go right ahead, folks," the tour guide told us. "Another ranger is waiting for you at the end of the corridor."

They didn't have much choice but to go out with the group.

"And young man," the tour guide called. Percy looked back and Lucia followed. She'd taken off her glasses. Her eyes were startlingly gray, like storm clouds. "There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it."

The doors closed with the tour guide still inside, leaving them alone.

grey eyes?

Before They could think too much about the woman in the elevator, a ding came from around the corner. The second elevator was opening, and They heard an unmistakable sound—the clattering of skeleton teeth.

"Lucia. They only want me, go find the snack bar."

"Stop being such a Kelp Head!." She smacked him lightly across the head. This time, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him behind the tour group, they passed through a tunnel carved out of solid rock. It seemed to run forever. The walls were moist, and the air hummed with electricity and the roar of water. They came out on a U-shaped balcony that overlooked the huge warehouse area. Fifty feet below, enormous turbines were running. It was a big room, but Lucia didn't see any other exit unless they wanted to jump into the turbines and get churned up to make electricity. She assumed they both didn't.

Another tour guide was talking over the microphone, telling the tourists about water supplies in Nevada. Lucia prayed that Thalia, Zoe, and Grover were okay. They might already be captured, or eating at the snack bar, completely unaware that Percy and Lucia were being surrounded.

They worked their way around the crowd, trying not to be too obvious about it. There was a hallway on the other side of the balcony—maybe someplace they could hide. Percy kept one hand on Riptide, ready to strike.

By the time they got to the opposite side of the balcony, their nerves were shot. Percy backed them into the little hallway and watched the tunnel they'd come from.

Then right behind them, They heard a sharp Chhh! like the voice of a skeleton. Percy uncapped Riptide and spun, slashing his sword. Lucia's eyes widened when she saw the girl he'd just tried to slice in half yelp and drop her Kleenex.

"Oh my god.'" she shouted. "Do you always kill people when they blow their nose?"

It had passed clean through her body, harmlessly.

"You're mortal!" Percy exclaimed

She looked at him in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course, I'm mortal! How did you get that sword past security?"

"I didn't—Wait, you can see it's a sword?"

The girl rolled her eyes, which were green like his. Except they were nowhere near as impressive if you asked Lucia. She had frizzy reddish-brown hair. Her nose was also red like she had a cold. She wore a big maroon Harvard sweatshirt and jeans that were covered with marker stains and little holes like she spent her free time poking them with a fork.

"Well, it's either a sword or the biggest toothpick in the world," she said. "And why didn't it hurt me? I mean, not that I'm complaining. Who are you two? And whoa, what is that you're wearing? Is that made of lion fur?"

She asked so many questions so fast, it was like she was throwing rocks at them. Percy clearly couldn't think of what to say. Lucia looked at his sleeves to see if the Nemean Lion pelt had somehow changed back to fur, but it still looked like a brown winter coat to her.

Lucia knew the skeleton warriors were still chasing them. They had no time to waste. But Percy just stared at the redheaded girl.

Lucia pulled at his arm, turning his attention back on her. Her eyes said one thing forget the redhead and let's go!

Percy nodded, He concentrated hard and snapped his fingers. "You don't see a sword," He told the girl. "It's just a ballpoint pen."

She blinked. "Um... no. It's a sword, weirdo."

"Who are you?" He demanded.

"Who cares!"

The girl huffed indignantly. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Now, are you going to answer my questions or should I scream for security?"

"No!" He said. "I mean, I'm kind of in a hurry. I'm in trouble."

"In a hurry or in trouble?"

"Both!" Lucia cried in frustration "Now unless you're going to be useful could you get lost!"

Lucia wasn't one to be rude, or mean. Especially when first meeting someone. But she was very upset and irritable all things considered.

And something about Rachel Elizabeth Dare only fueled that fire.

Rachel looked over their shoulder and her eyes widened. "Bathroom!"

"What?"

"Bathroom! Behind me! Now!"

Lucia didn't know why, but Percy listened to her. They slipped inside the boys' bathroom and left Rachel Elizabeth Dare standing outside. Later, the thought of it was incredibly embarrassing. But Lucia was also pretty sure it saved their life.

They heard the clattering, hissing sounds of skeletons as they came closer.

Lucia held on to her daggers ready to strike. Percy's grip tightened on Riptide. They were prepared to burst out and fight when Rachel Elizabeth Dare started talking in that rapid-fire machine gun way of hers.

"Oh my god! Did you see those kids? It's about time you got here. The boy tried to kill me! He had a sword, for god's sake. And the girl! she kept yelling like a maniac! You security guys let a sword-swinging lunatic and a crazed loud Maniac inside a national landmark? I mean, jeez! They ran that way toward those turbine thingies. I think they went over the side or something. Maybe they fell."

The skeletons clattered excitedly. Lucia heard them moving off.

Rachel opened the door. "All clear. But you'd better hurry."

"Crazed loud maniac?" Lucia glared,

She looked shaken. Her face was gray and sweaty. "Listen it worked!"

Percy peeked around the corner. Three skeleton warriors were running toward the other end of the balcony. The way to the elevator was clear for a few seconds.

"I owe you one, Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

"What are those things?" she asked. "They looked like—"

"Skeletons?"

She nodded uneasily.

"Do yourself a favor," Lucia said. "Forget it. Forget you ever saw us."

"Forget he tried to kill me?"

"Yeah. That, too."

"But who are you?"

"Percy—" Percy started to say. Then the skeletons turned around. "Gotta go!"

"What kind of name is Percy Gotta-go?"

They bolted for the exit.

The cafe was packed with kids enjoying the best part of the tour—the dam lunch. Thalia, Zoe, and Grover were just sitting down with their food.

We need to leave," Percy gasped. "Now!"

"But we just got our burritos!" Thalia said.

"Did you get me one?" Lucia couldn't help but ask, her stomach rumbled.

Thalia nodded, pointing towards a paper-wrapped cylinder "You like chicken?"

Zoe stood up, muttering an Ancient Greek curse. "Look!."

The cafe windows wrapped all the way around the observation floor, which gave them a beautiful panoramic view of the skeletal army that had come to kill them.

They counted two on the east side of the dam road, blocking the way to Arizona. Three more on the west side, guarding Nevada. All of them were armed with batons and pistols.

But their immediate problem was a lot closer. The three skeletal warriors who'd been chasing the pair in the turbine room now appeared on the stairs. They saw them from across the cafeteria and clattered their teeth.

"Elevator!" Grover said. They bolted in that direction, but the doors opened with a pleasant ding, and three more warriors stepped out. Every warrior was accounted for, minus the one Bianca had blasted to flames in New Mexico. They were completely surrounded.

Then Grover had a brilliant, totally Grover-like idea.

"Burrito fight!" he yelled and flung his Guacamole Grande at the nearest skeleton. Lucia couldn't help but frown at the lost food but In terms of deadly projectiles, a flying burrito seemed to be right up there with grenades and cannonballs. Grover's lunch hit the skeleton and knocked his skull clean off his shoulders. Lucia wasnt sure what the other kids in the cafe saw, but they went crazy and started throwing their burritos and baskets of chips and sodas at each other, shrieking and screaming.

The skeletons tried to aim their guns, but it was hopeless. Bodies and food and drinks were flying everywhere.

In the chaos, Lucia and Percy tackled the other two skeletons on the stairs and sent them flying into the condiment table. Then they all raced downstairs, Guacamole Grandes whizzing past their heads.

"I need a shower" Lucia complained scraping out the sour cream from her hair as they bursted outside.

"What now?" Grover asked

No one seemed to have an answer. The warriors on the road were closing in from either direction. They ran across the street to the pavilion with the winged bronze statues, but that just put their backs to the mountain.

The skeletons moved forward, forming a crescent around them. Their brethren from the cafe were running up to join them. One was still putting its skull back on its shoulders. Another was covered in ketchup and mustard. Two more had burritos lodged in their rib cages. They didn't look happy about it. They drew batons and advanced.

"Five against eleven," Zoe muttered. "And they cannot die."

"It's been nice adventuring with you guys," Grover said, his voice trembling.

Something shiny caught the corner of Lucia's eye. She glanced behind her at the statue's feet. She tapped Percy's shoulder to get his attention.

"Whoa," Percy said. "Their toes really are bright."

"Percy! Lucia!" Thalia said. "This isn't the time for this!."

But Percy couldn't help staring at the two giant bronze guys with tall bladed wings like letter openers.

They were weathered brown except for their toes, which shone like new pennies from all the times people had rubbed them for good luck.

"Thalia," Percy said suddenly. "Pray to your dad."

She glared at me. "He never answers."

"Just this once," He pleaded. "Ask for help. I think... I think the statues can give us some luck."

Six skeletons raised their guns. The other five came forward with batons. Fifty feet away. Forty feet.

"Do it!" Percy yelled.

"No!" Thalia said. "He won't answer me."

"This time is different!"

"Who says?"

He hesitated. "Athena, I think."

Thalia scowled like she was sure he'd gone crazy.

"Try it," Lucia pleaded.

Thalia closed her eyes. Her lips moved in silent prayer. Lucia put in her own prayer to Annabeth's mom, hoping Percy was right that it had been her in that elevator—that she was trying to help them save her daughter.

And nothing happened.

The skeletons closed in. Percy raised Riptide to defend himself. Thalia held up her shield. Lucia pulled out two daggers. Zoe pushed Grover behind her and aimed an arrow at a skeleton's head.

A shadow fell over them. Lucia thought maybe it was the shadow of death. Then she realized it was the shadow of an enormous wing. The skeletons looked up too late. A flash of bronze and all five of the baton-wielders were swept aside.

The other skeletons opened fire. Percy raised his lion coat for protection, shielding the brown-eyed girl next to him aswell. but they didn't need it. The bronze angels stepped in front of them all and folded their wings like shields. Bullets pinged off of them like rain off a corrugated roof. Both angels slashed outward, and the skeletons went flying across the road.

"Man, it feels good to stand up!" the first angel said. His voice sounded tinny and rusty, like he hadn't had a drink since he'd been built.

"Will ya look at my toes?" the other said. "Holy Zeus, what were those tourists thinking?"

As stunned as Lucia was by the angels, She was more concerned with the skeletons. A few of them were getting up again, reassembling, bony hands groping for their weapons.

"Trouble!" Percy said.

"Get us out of here!" Thalia yelled.

Both angels looked down at her. "Zeus's kid?" Yes! "Could I get a please, Miss Zeus's Kid?" an angel asked. "Please!"

The angels looked at each other and shrugged.

"Could use a stretch," one decided.

And the next thing Lucia knew, one of them grabbed Thalia, Percy, and her, the other grabbed Zoe and Grover, and they flew straight up, over the dam and the river, the skeleton warriors shrinking to tiny specks below them and the sound of gunfire echoing off the sides of the mountains.