The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, #3)

by Rick Riordan

Percy smiled at her—that sarcastic, troublemaker smile that had annoyed her for years but eventually had become endearing. His sea-green eyes were as gorgeous as she remembered. His dark hair was swept to one side, like he’d just come from a walk on the beach. He looked even better than he had six months ago—tanner and taller, leaner and more muscular.

She’d secretly had a crush on him since they were twelve years old.

Percy smelled of ocean air. His lips were salty. Seaweed Brain, she thought giddily.

Piper twisted the feather in her hair. “Like water leaking through a dam,” she suggested. “Yeah.” Percy smiled. “We’ve got a dam hole.” “What?” Piper asked.

“Then we’re good!” Leo grinned over the top of his pinwheel. “Because we’re all crazy, right?

“Did that chicken girl just compare my ship to the Titanic?”

Other demigods could understand Latin and Greek. Leo could speak Creak and Squeak.

“I try not to think,” Leo admitted. “It interferes with being nuts.

Percy was eating a piece of pie, which for some reason was completely blue—filling, crust, even the whipped cream.

“Hmm…” Jason snapped his fingers. “I can call a friend for a ride.” Percy raised his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah? Me too. Let’s see whose friend gets here first.”

“Not the first time. Your big sister got me good once at camp.” “Yeah, but…I could have killed you.” “Or I could have killed you,” Percy said. Jason shrugged. “If there’d been an ocean in Kansas, maybe.” “I don’t need an ocean—” “Boys,” Annabeth interrupted, “I’m sure you both would’ve been wonderful at killing each other. But right now, you need some rest.”

Percy pointed his pizza slice at Jason. “You, sir, are a ray of sunshine.”

“This,” he said, “is going to be so much fun.”

“Well done, Frank Zhang,” Leo said dryly, doing his impression of Chiron the centaur. “That is exactly how people beat Chinese handcuffs. They turn into iguanas.”

Percy stood on the dock, holding Annabeth’s dagger. “You dropped this,” he said, totally poker-faced. Annabeth threw her arms around him. “I love you!”

“Hercules, huh?” Percy frowned. “That guy was like the Starbucks of Ancient Greece. Everywhere you turn—there he is.”

“Non plus ultra,” Percy said. Annabeth looked stunned. “Yeah. Nothing Further Beyond.

Once he’d even reprogrammed the electronic billboards in Times Square to read: ALL DA LADIES LUV LEO…accidentally, of course.

“We’re staying together,” he promised. “You’re not getting away from me. Never again.” Only then did she understand what would happen. A one-way trip. A very hard fall. “As long as we’re together,” she said.