Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
"Percy." He glanced at Annabeth like he didn't want to say anything bad in front of her, but I
could tell he wasn't bringing good news. "Mrs. O'Leary just came back with Grover. I think you
should talk to him."
71
71
Grover was having a snack in the living room. He was dressed for battle in an armored shirt
made from tree bark and twist ties, with his wooden cudgel and his reed pipes hanging from his belt.
The Demeter cabin had whipped up a whole buffet in the hotel kitchens—everything from
pizza to pineapple ice cream. Unfortunately, Grover was eating the furniture. He'd already chewed
the stuffing off a fancy chair and was now gnawing the armrest.
"Dude," I said, "we're only borrowing this place."
"Blah-ha-ha!" He had stuffing all over his face. "Sorry, Percy. It's just . . . Louis the Sixteenth
furniture. Delicious. Plus I always eat furniture when I get—"
"When you get nervous," I said. "Yeah, I know. So what's up?"
He clopped on his hooves. "I heard about Annabeth. Is she . . .?"
"She's going to be fine. She's resting."
Grover took a deep breath. "That's good. I've mobilized most of the nature spirits in the
city—well, the ones that will listen to me, anyway." He rubbed his forehead. "I had no idea acorns
could hurt so much. Anyway, we're helping out as much as we can."
He told me about the skirmishes they'd seen. Mostly they'd been covering uptown, where we
didn't have enough demigods. Hellhounds had appeared in all sorts of places, shadow-traveling
inside our lines, and the dryads and satyrs had been fighting them off. A young dragon had
appeared in Harlem, and a dozen wood nymphs died before the monster was finally defeated.
As Grover talked, Thalia entered the room with two of her lieutenants. She nodded to me
grimly, went outside to check on Annabeth, and came back in. She listened while Grover completed
his report—the details getting worse and worse.
"We lost twenty satyrs against some giants at Fort Washington," he said, his voice trembling.
"Almost half my kinsmen. River spirits drowned the giants in the end, but . . ."
Thalia shouldered her bow. "Percy, Kronos's forces are still gathering at every bridge and
tunnel. And Kronos isn't the only Titan. One of my Hunters spotted a huge man in golden armor
mustering an army on the Jersey shore. I'm not sure who he is, but he radiates power like only a
Titan or god."
I remembered the golden Titan from my dream—the one on Mount Othrys who erupted into
flames.
"Great," I said. "Any good news?"
Thalia shrugged. "We've sealed off the subway tunnels into Manhattan. My best trappers
took care of it. Also, it seems like the enemy is waiting for tonight to attack. I think Luke"—she
caught herself—"I mean Kronos needs time to regenerate after each fight. He's still not comfortable
with his new form. It's taking a lot of his power to slow time around the city."
Grover nodded. "Most of his forces are more powerful at night, too. But they'll be back after
sundown."
I tried to think clearly. "Okay. Any word from the gods?"
Thalia shook her head. "I know Lady Artemis would be here if she could. Athena, too. But
Zeus has ordered them to stay at his side. The last I heard, Typhon was destroying the Ohio River
valley. He should reach the Appalachian Mountains by midday."
"So at best," I said, "we've got another two days before he arrives."
Jake Mason cleared his throat. He'd been standing there so silently I'd almost forgotten he
was in the room.
"Percy, something else," he said. "The way Kronos showed up at the Williamsburg Bridge,
like he knew you were going there. And he shifted his forces to our weakest points. As soon as we
deployed, he changed tactics. He barely touched the Lincoln Tunnel, where the Hunters were
strong. He went for our weakest spots, like he knew."
"Like he had inside information," I said. "The spy."
"What spy?" Thalia demanded.
I told her about the silver charm Kronos had shown me, the communication device.
"That's bad," she said. "Very bad."