LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . pjo

X.

THEY DID THEIR summons after dark, at a twenty-foot-long pit in front of the septic tank. The tank was bright yellow, with a smiley face and red words painted on the side: HAPPY FLUSH DISPOSAL CO. It didn't quite go with the mood of summoning the dead.

The moon was full. Silver clouds drifted across the sky.

"Minos should be here by now," Nico said, frowning. "It's full dark."

"Maybe he got lost," Percy said hopefully.

Nico poured root beer and tossed barbecue into the pit, then began chanting in Ancient Greek. Immediately the bugs in the woods stopped chirping. Around Mia's neck, her necklace and ring started to grow colder, freezing against her neck, and she took her necklace off and put it in her pocket, shivering.

Mia wanted it to stop. Despite the increasing power that she felt from the nighttime and the feeling of spirits she could control if she really wanted to rising up from the ground, she didn't want to be any part of this.

The first spirits appeared, and she knew that she had to stay. Sulfurous mist seeped out of the ground. Shadows thickened into human forms. One blue shade drifted to the edge of the pit and knelt to drink.

"Stop him!" Nico said, momentarily breaking his chant. "Only Bianca may drink!"

Percy drew Riptide. The ghosts retreated with a collective hiss at the sight of his celestial bronze blade. But it was too late to stop the first spirit. He had already solidified into the shape of a bearded man in white robes. A circlet of gold wreathed his head, and even in death his eyes were alive with malice.

"Minos!" Nico said. "What are you doing?"

"My apologies, master," the ghost said, though he didn't sound very sorry. "The sacrifice smelled so good, I couldn't resist." He examined his own hands and smiled. "It is good to see myself again. Almost in solid form—"

"You are disrupting the ritual!" Nico protested. "Get—"

The spirits of the dead began shimmering dangerously bright, and Nico had to take up the chant again to keep them at bay.

"Yes, quite right, master," Minos said with amusement. "You keep chanting. I've only come to protect you from these liars who would deceive you."

He looked at Mia, and she stiffened. "Oh, look at who we have here. The daughter of—"

Shut up, she immediately thought, emphasizing it, and Minos's mouth shut.

But she played the part of the innocent girl who didn't know who her mother was. "You know who my mother is?" She asked, turning her lips into a pout. "Can you tell me?"

Stop paying attention to me, Mia ordered, willing that thought to Minos.

It seemed to work, as he then turned to Percy. "Percy Jackson . . . my, my. The sons of Poseidon haven't improved over the centuries, have they?"

"We're looking for Bianca di Angelo," Percy said. Well, at least he wasn't getting distracted. "Get lost."

The ghost chuckled. "I understand you once killed my Minotaur with your bare hands. But worse things await you in the maze. Do you really believe Daedalus will help you?"

The other spirits stirred in agitation. Annabeth drew her knife and helped Percy keep them away from the pit. Grover got so nervous he clung to Tyson's shoulder.

"Daedalus cares nothing for you, half-bloods," Minos warned. "You can't trust him. He is old beyond counting, and crafty. He is bitter from the guilt of murder and is cursed by the gods."