LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . pjo

IX.

MIA HATED IT here.

She spent hours tied up alongside her friends, a gag in her mouth as Geryon and Eurytion started up a barbecue. It reminded her of her time captured at Mount Tamalpais, which never gave her good memories.

Finally, Percy barreled through the door, his face twisting into an angry look as soon as he saw them tied up.

"Let my friends go," he said. "We had a deal."

"Ah, I've been thinking about that. The problem is, if I let them go, I don't get paid."

"You promised!"

Geryon made a tsk-tsk noise. "But did you make me swear on the River Styx? No you didn't. So it's not binding. When you're conducting business, sonny, you should always get a binding oath."

Percy drew his sword. Orthus growled. One head leaned down next to Grover's ear and bared its fangs.

"Eurytion," Geryon said, "the boy is starting to annoy me. Kill him."

Eurytion studied Percy.

"Kill him yourself," Eurytion said.

Geryon raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Eurytion grumbled. "You keep sending me out to do your dirty work. You pick fights for no good reason, and I'm getting tired of dying for you. You want to fight the kid, do it yourself."

It was the most un-Areslike thing Mia had ever heard a son of Ares say.

Geryon threw down his spatula. "You dare defy me? I should fire you right now!"

"And who'd take care of your cattle? Orthus, heel."

The dog immediately stopped growling at Grover and came to sit by the cowherd's feet.

"Fine!" Geryon snarled. "I'll deal with you later, after the boy is dead!"

He picked up two carving knives and threw them at Percy. He deflected one with his sword. The other impaled itself in the picnic table an inch from Eurytion's hand.

Percy went on the attack. Geryon parried his first strike with a pair of red-hot tongs and lunged at his face with a barbecue fork. He got inside Geryon's next thrust and stabbed him right through the middle chest.

"Aghhh!" He crumpled to his knees. Mia waited for him to disintegrate, the way monsters usually do. But instead he just grimaced and started to stand up. The wound in his chef's apron started to heal.

"Nice try, sonny," he said. "Thing is, I have three hearts. The perfect backup system."

He tipped over the barbecue, and coals spilled everywhere. One landed next to Annabeth's face, and she let out a muffled scream. Tyson strained against his bonds, but even his strength wasn't enough to break them.

Percy jabbed Geryon in the left chest, but he only laughed. Percy stuck him in the right stomach. No good.

So, naturally, Percy ran into the house.

"Coward!" Geryon cried. "Come back and die right!"

The living room walls were decorated with a bunch of gruesome hunting trophies — stuffed deer and dragon heads, a gun case, a sword display, and a bow with a quiver.

Geryon threw his barbecue fork, and it thudded into the wall right next to Percy's head. He drew two swords from the wall display. "Your head's gonna go right there, Jackson! Next to the grizzly bear!"

Percy dropped Riptide and grabbed the bow off the wall. He notched an arrow.

Mia's heart dropped. Percy was a terrible shot — worse than even her, who rarely picked up a bow unless she needed to. If he was doing archery, they were all doomed.