Rick Riordan
The Titan’s Curse - 03
"No! I mean… that's not what I meant."
She made a tsk-tsk sound. "Percy, I'm on your side. I'm the reason you're here, after all."
I stared at her. "What?"
"The poisoned T-shirt the Stoll brothers gave Phoebe," she said. "Did you think that was an
accident? Sending Blackjack to find you? Helping you sneak out of the camp?"
"You did that?"
"Of course! Because really, how boring these Hunters . are! A quest for some monster, blah
blah blah. Saving Artemis. Let her stay lost, I say. But a quest for true love—"
"Wait a second, I never said—"
"Oh, my dear. You don't need to say it. You do know Annabeth was close to joining the
Hunters, don't you?"
I blushed. "I wasn't sure—"
"She was about to throw her life away! And you, my dear, you can save her from that. It's so
romantic!"
"Uh…"
"Oh, put the mirror down," Aphrodite ordered. "I look fine."
I hadn't realized I was still holding it, but as soon as I put it down, I noticed my arms were
sore.
"Now listen, Percy," Aphrodite said. "The Hunters are your enemies. Forget them and
Artemis and the monster. That's not important. You just concentrate on finding and saving
Annabeth."
"Do you know where she is?"
Aphrodite waved her hand irritably. "No, no. I leave the details to you. But it's been ages
since we've had a good tragic love story."
"Whoa, first of all, I never said anything about love. And second, what's up with tragic!"
"Love conquers all," Aphrodite promised. "Look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything
come between them?"
"Didn't they start the Trojan War and get thousands of people killed?"
"Pfft. That's not the point. Follow your heart."
"But… I don't know where it's going. My heart, I mean."
She smiled sympathetically. She really was beautiful. And not just because she had a pretty
face or anything. She believed in love so much, it was impossible not to feel giddy when she talked
about it.
"Not knowing is half the fun," Aphrodite said. "Exquisitely painful, isn't it? Not being sure who
you love and who loves you? Oh, you kids! It's so cute I'm going to cry."
"No, no," I said. "Don't do that."
"And don't worry," she said. "I'm not going to let this be easy and boring for you. No, I have
some wonderful surprises in store. Anguish. Indecision. Oh, you just wait."
"That's really okay," I told her. "Don't go to any trouble."
"You're so cute. I wish all my daughters could break the heart of a boy as nice as you."
Aphrodite's eyes were tearing up. "Now, you'd better go. And do be careful in my husband's
territory, Percy. Don't take anything. He is awfully fussy about his trinkets and trash."
"What?" I asked. "You mean Hephaestus?"
But the car door opened and Ares grabbed my shoulder, pulling me out of the car and back
into the desert night.
My audience with the goddess of love was over.
"You're lucky, punk." Ares pushed me away from the limo. "Be grateful."
"For what?"
"That we're being so nice. If it was up to me—"
"So why haven't you killed me?" I shot back. It was a stupid thing to say to the god of war,
but being around him always made me feel angry and reckless.
Ares nodded, like I'd finally said something intelligent.
"I'd love to kill you, seriously," he said. "But see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is that
you might start the biggest war in history. I can't risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodite thinks
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