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the doorman had disappeared from the lobby.
his book was facedown on the desk and his chair was empty. the rest of the lobby, however, was jam-packed with wounded campers, hunters, and satyrs.
connor and travis stoll met us by the elevators.
"is it true?" connor asked. "about silena?"
percy nodded. "she died a hero."
travis shifted uncomfortably. "um, i also heard—"
"that's it," i spoke up this time, my voice hard. "end of story."
"right," travis mumbled. "listen, we figure the titan's army will have trouble getting up the elevator. they'll have to go up a few at a time. and the giants won't be able to fit at all."
"that's our biggest advantage," percy said. "any way to disable the elevator?"
"it's magic," travis said. "usually you need a key card, but the doorman vanished. that means the defenses are crumbling. cythia from demeter said anyone can walk into the elevator now and head straight up."
"then we have to keep them away from the doors," percy said. "we'll bottle them up in the lobby."
"we need reinforcements," travis said. "they'll just keep coming. eventually they'll overwhelm us."
"there are no reinforcements," connor complained.
percy's gaze shifted to his dog — mrs. o'leary — who was breathing against the glass doors and smearing them with hellhound drool.
"maybe that's not true," he said.
he went outside for a little talk with his dog, while annabeth and i waited for him to return. he rejoined us, with a slightly hopeful look on his face. on the way to the elevator, we spotted grover kneeling over a fat wounded satyr.
