The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus, #4)

by Rick Riordan

To my wonderful readers: Sorry about that last cliff-hanger. Well, no, not really. HAHAHAHA. But seriously, I love you guys.

The Greeks invented tragedy. They knew the greatest heroes didn’t get happy endings.

Annabeth pressed her lips to Percy’s ear. “I love you.

She wasn’t sure he could hear her—but if they were going to die she wanted those to be her last words.

Annabeth dies trying to keep her boyfriend, the son of Poseidon, from drowning.

She laughed, and the sound sent a shock wave through the water. The wailing faded to background noise. Annabeth wondered if anyone had ever laughed in Tartarus before—just a pure, simple laugh of pleasure. She doubted it.

“This place smells like my ex-stepfather.

“The Phlegethon?” He shinnied along the ledge. They’d made it roughly a third of the way down the cliff—still high enough up to die if they fell. “Sounds like a marathon for hawking spitballs.

maybe the smaller figure of Nike came to life and busted out some ninja moves.

“Nothing,” he muttered. “We were just cuddling.

“I communed with the dead last night.” He just tossed that line out there, like he was saying he got a text from a buddy.

Easy translation, since most of the coach’s sentences involved the word kill.

“Give me back our stuff, and I’ll tell you a joke with a good punch line.

Jason flew in like Peter Pan, electricity sparking around him and his gold sword steaming.

Wow. When he started looking back on the war with Kronos as the good old days—that was sad.

Keep climbing, he told himself. Cheeseburgers, his stomach replied. Shut up, he thought. With fries, his stomach complained.

Reborn in Tartarus for two seconds, only to be eaten.

broomerang?).

The plan had three phases: dangerous, really dangerous, and insanely dangerous.

“I—I had the weirdest nightmare about popcorn.”

“Hecate sent us halfway across Italy so you could tell us to eat barley?

They picked their way across the ashen wasteland as red lightning flashed overhead in the poisonous clouds. Just another lovely day in the dungeon of creation.

Monsters are zits on the skin of Tartarus,

“Percy, wake me for second watch. Don’t be a hero.” He gave her that smirk she’d come to love. “Who, me?” He kissed her, his lips parched and feverishly warm. “

“I don’t have an I’m-planning-something look.” “Yeah, you totally do. Your eyebrows knit and your lips press together and

Annabeth didn’t mind making Percy a little uneasy. You had to keep your boyfriend on his toes.

If she opened her mouth, she might scream again, and that would be undignified. She was a daughter of Athena, not some shrill girlie victim in a horror movie.

“I will call him Small Bob,” said Bob. “He is a good monster.”

“Only a thousand times?” Percy murmured. “Oh, good…I thought we were in trouble.

Piper, who stood frozen in place, gaping at the arrow that had almost pierced her nose the hard way.

my mom told me not to accept curses from strangers.

If a tree falls in the forest and crushes a demon, does the tree get cursed?

They could jump and hope for the best, but he doubted “the best” ever happened in Tartarus.

“Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce.

She’d probably have bad reception on a pegasus flying over the Atlantic.

Coach Hedge looked like he was about to launch into a major speech about the evils of cartoon Dalmatians, but Jason decided he didn’t want to know.

“He wasn’t a total villain,” Jason said. “Yeah, he persecuted Christians, but otherwise he was a good

He faltered when he looked at Leo, who was mimicking taking notes with an air pencil. “Go on, Professor Grace!” he said, wide-eyed. “I wanna get an A on the test.”

JASON FIRST SAW THE ANGEL AT THE ICE CREAM CART.

like he was dismissing a juice-box-induced

Where you least expect me, Cupid answered. As Love always is.

I am the god of love. I am never fair.

Love is on every side, Cupid said. And no one’s side. Don’t ask what Love can do for you.

Love is no game! It is no flowery softness! It is hard work—a quest that never ends. It demands everything from you—especially the truth. Only then does it yield rewards.

Love was the most savage monster of all.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say Love always makes you happy.” His voice sounded smaller, much more human. “Sometimes it makes you incredibly sad. But at least you’ve faced it now. That’s the only way to conquer me.”

Figure out a way to break the cycle! Find another fate.

The thought of a blazing satyr screaming, “Die, scumbag!” as he attacked Gaea was almost enough to make Piper laugh— almost.

But Aphrodite wasn’t rational. She ruled through emotions.

Mortals did superhuman feats in the name of love all the time.