Death's Touch | Jason Grace

Eleven

The Amazon jail was at the top of a storage aisle, sixty feet in the air.

Kinzie led her up three different ladders to a metal catwalk, then tied Cary's and Hazel's hands loosely behind their backs and pushed them along past crates of rien

A hundred feet ahead, under the harsh glow of fluorescent lights, a row of chain-link cages hung suspended from cables. Percy and Frank were in two of the cages, talking to each other in hushed tones. Next to them on the catwalk, three bored-looking Amazon guards leaned against their spears and gazed at little black tablets in their hands like they were reading.

Cary thought the tablets looked too thin for books. Then it occurred to her they might be some sort of tiny—what did modern people call them?—Amazon Kindles.

"Get moving, girls," Kinzie ordered, loud enough for the guards to hear. She prodded Hazel and Cary in the backs with her sword.

The girls walked as slowly as they could, but their minds were racing. They needed to come up with a brilliant rescue plan. So far they had nothing. Kinzie had made sure they could break her bonds easily, but they'd still be empty-handed against three trained warriors, and they had to act before they put them in cages.

She passed a pallet of crates marked 24-CARAT BLUE TOPAZ RINGS, then another labeled SILVER FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS. An electronic display next to the friendship bracelets read: People who bought this item also bought GARDEN GNOME SOLAR PATIO LIGHT and FLAMING SPEAR OF DEATH. Buy all three and save 12%!

Cary and Hazel froze. Gods of Olympus, they were stupid.

Silver. Topaz. Hazel sent out her senses, searching for precious metals, and her brain almost exploded from the feedback. She was standing next to a six-story-tall mountain of jewelry. But in front of her, from here to the guards, was nothing but prison cages.

"What is it?" Kinzie hissed. "Keep moving! They'll get suspicious."

"Make them come here," Cary muttered over her shoulder.

"Why—"

"Please."

The guards frowned in their direction.

"What are you staring at?" Kinzie yelled at them. "Here's the third and fourth prisoners. Come get her."

The nearest guard set down her reading tablet. "Why can't you walk another thirty paces, Kinzie?"

"Um, because—"

"Ooof!" Hazel fell to her knees and tried to put on her best seasick face. "I'm feeling nauseous! Can't... walk. Amazons... too... scary."

Cary stumbled and fell down, wearing an expression of fear and nausea.

"There you go," Kinzie told the guards. "Now, are you going to come take the prisoner, or should I tell Queen Hylla you're not doing your duty?"

The nearest guard rolled her eyes and trudged over. Cary had hoped the other two guards would come too, but she'd have to worry about that later.

The first guard grabbed Hazel's arm. "Fine. I'll take custody of the prisoner. But if I were you, Kinzie, I wouldn't worry about Hylla. She won't be queen much longer."

"We'll see, Doris." Kinzie turned to leave. Cary and Hazel waited until her steps receded down the catwalk.

The guard Doris pulled on their arms. "Well? Come on."

Hazel concentrated on the wall of jewelry next to her: forty large boxes of silver bracelets. "Not... feeling so good."

"You are not throwing up on me," Doris growled. She tried to yank Hazel and Cary to their feet, but the girls went limp, like kids throwing a fit in a store. Next to them, the boxes began to tremble.