❝In a fight, they're lethal. Around each other, they melt❞
"I'm fine." I said, trying to hide the frown and tears that threatened to spill.
Percy looked at me once.
"I'm not going anywhere, unless you tell me what's wrong," he declared and I would h...
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Percy and I were on our way out when he spotted Hermes in a side courtyard of the palace. He was staring at an Iris-message in the mist of a fountain.
Percy glanced at me. "I'll meet you at the elevator."
"You sure?" I studied his face. This is something he needed to do on his own. "Yeah, you're sure."
I was waiting for Percy at the elevator. I spotted him but waved a hand in front of my nose. "Ew Perce. Why do you spell like smoke?"
"Long story," Percy said. Together we made our way down to the street level. Neither of us said a word. The music was awful—Neil Diamond or something. I should've made that part of my gift from the gods: better elevator tunes.
When we got into the lobby, we found his mother and Paul arguing with the bald security guy, who'd returned to his post.
"I'm telling you," Percy's mom yelled, "we have to go up! My son—" Then she saw us and her eyes widened. "Percy!"
She hugged her son tightly.
"We saw the building lit up blue," she said. "But then you didn't come down. You went up hours ago!"
"She was getting a bit anxious," Paul said drily.
"I'm all right," Percy promised as his mom hugged me. "Everything's okay now."
"Mr. Blofis," I said with a grin, "that was wicked sword work."
Paul shrugged. "It seemed like the thing to do. But Percy, is this really... I mean, this story about the six hundredth floor?"
"Olympus," Percy said. "Yeah."
Paul looked at the ceiling with a dreamy expression. "I'd like to see that."
"Paul," Sally chided. "It's not for mortals. Anyway, the important thing is we're safe. All of us."
I was about to relax. Everything felt almost perfect. Percy and I were okay. His mom and Paul had survived. Olympus was saved.
But the life of a demigod is never so easy. Just then Nico ran in from the street, and his face told me something was wrong.
"It's Rachel," he said. "I just ran into her down on 32nd Street."
I frowned. "What's she done this time?"
"It's where she's gone," Nico said. "I told her she would die if she tried, but she insisted. She just took Blackjack and—"
"She took my pegasus?" Percy demanded.
Nico nodded. "She's heading to Half-Blood Hill. She said she had to get to camp."
