LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . hoo

XXII.

MIA KNEW FEAR, but this was different.

Waves of terror crashed over her. Her joints turned to jelly. Her heart refused to beat.

Her worst memories crowded her mind — Luke forcing her to join him, killing her father, seeing Tartarus and all of its horrors. Worst of all, Sophia's death. Because, of course, that would always be her worst memory.

Paralyzed, she watched as the giant raised his sledgehammer to smash them flat. Then she was on the ground next to Annabeth, Piper on top of both of them.

The hammer cracked the floor, stone shrapnel flying through the air.

The giant chuckled. "Oh, that wasn't fair!" He hefted his sledgehammer again.

"Mia, Annabeth, get up!" Piper helped them to their feet. She pulled them towards the far end of the room, but Annabeth moved sluggishly, her eyes wide and unfocused. Mia was barely conscious, but she listened to Piper and made her feet keep moving as fast as the memories were inside her brain.

"I'm here," Piper promised, filling her voice with reassurance. "We will get out of this."

The giant laughed. "A child of Aphrodite leading a child of Athena and a child of Persephone! Now I've seen everything. How would you defeat me, girl? With makeup and fashion tips?"

The giant lumbered towards them. Fortunately, he was slow and carrying a heavy hammer.

"Trust me, guys," Piper said.

"A – a plan," Annabeth stammered. "I go left. You go right. Mia, face him head-on. If we —"

"Annabeth, no plans."

"W-what?"

"No plans. Just follow me!"

The giant swung his hammer, but they dodged it easily. Piper leaped forward and slashed her sword across the back of the giant's knee. As the giant bellowed in outrage, Mia into the nearest tunnel, feeling Piper and Annabeth's life forces behind her. Immediately they were engulfed in total darkness.

"Fools!" the giant roared somewhere behind them. "That is the wrong way!"

"Keep moving." Piper said. "It's fine. Come on."

Mia couldn't see anything, even with her enhanced vision. She barrelled ahead anyway, trusting her emotions. From what the shadows told her, the space around them must have been a vast cavern. She went in the direction that made her fear the sharpest.

"Piper, it's like the House of Night," Annabeth said. "We should close our eyes."

"No!" Piper said. "Keep them open. We can't try to hide."

The giant's voice came from somewhere in front of them. "Lost forever. Swallowed by the darkness."

Annabeth froze, and Mia turned and ran back to her and Piper.

"Why did we just plunge in?" Annabeth demanded. "We're lost. We did what he wanted us to! We should have bided our time, talked to the enemy, figured out a plan. That always works!"

"Annabeth, I never ignore your advice." Piper kept her voice soothing. "But this time I have to. We can't defeat this place with reason. You can't think your way out of your emotions."

The giant's laughter echoed like a detonating depth charge. "Despair, Annabeth Chase! I am Mimas, born to slay Hephaestus. I am the breaker of plans, the destroyer of the well-oiled machines. Nothing goes right in my presence. Maps are misread. Devices break. Data is lost. The finest minds turn to mush!"

"I – I've faced worse than you!" Annabeth cried.

"Oh, I see!" The giant sounded much closer now. "Are you not afraid?"