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

by Rick Riordan

He noticed Small Bob the cat had hidden himself in Bob’s coveralls again, which reinforced Percy’s opinion that the kitten was the smartest one in their group.

“But next time,” she said, “I want to go somewhere different on a date.” “Paris was nice,” he recalled.

It is the very breath of Tartarus, of death, of despair!” “Awesome,” Percy said. “Could we get two orders of that to go?”

Come, little fools.

He imagined the Fates up in Olympus, laughing at his wishful thinking: LOL, NOOB!

How to Fight While Partially Made of Smoke.

He decided he didn’t like that ending to the Epic Ballad of Leo.

a glittering expanse of slap-you-in-the-face death.

What was the last thing to go through Leo’s mind? The Mediterranean.

kind of a Tarzan look, if Tarzan came in extra-small Latino.

“Whenever an engine malfunctions, I like to tap-dance around it. Works every time.”

“We could even provide entertainment. You could sing and I could, like, randomly burst into flames.

“We came down here for the Tartarus tour—like, exotic destinations, you know? The Underworld is overdone. Mount Olympus is a tourist trap—”

In retrospect, her journey to Arachne’s cavern seemed like a trip to Disneyland.

She kissed his immortal nose, which made him blink.

All the nervous energy had drained right out of him, replaced by a kind of wistful sadness.

“Ships to fix!” Leo said. “Festus to check! Earth goddesses to punch in the face! What are we waiting for? Leo’s back!”

Death is close.” “The Doors of Death are close,” Annabeth corrected. “Let’s watch the phrasing.”

every battle he’d ever won had only been a temporary

Stomping on Tartarus’s heart wasn’t nearly as much fun as it sounded.

he was taking a stroll across the most dangerous circulatory system in the universe.

He wriggled his eyebrows at Frank. “Who’s your best buddy?” “Don’t answer that,” Hazel said.

“Just stick close together, and maybe we can avoid getting lost or going insane.” On that happy note, Nico led them underground.

“Hooray,” Leo said halfheartedly. “I suppose that’s our poison.

Stupid, Fai Zhang! she would probably scold. If all your friends were drinking poison, would you do it too?

“Scary room ahead,” she warned. “Don’t panic.” “Those two things don’t go together,”

As Annabeth stared up at his dark whirlpool face, she decided she’d rather die in some less memorable way—maybe falling down the stairs, or going peacefully in her sleep at age eighty, after a nice quiet life with Percy. Yes, that sounded good.

No-Longer-Small Bob

The Titan grinned, which probably would not have been Annabeth’s reaction to a threat of eternal agony.

“You’re impossible!” “Love you too!

The situation was so pathetically sad, it was almost funny.

and that was one of the many reasons she loved him, even if he was an Olympian-sized pain in the podex.

“Monsters are eternal,” she told him, trying to keep herself from sobbing. “We will remember you and Damasen as heroes, as the best Titan and the best giant. We’ll tell our children. We’ll keep the story alive. Someday, you will regenerate.” Bob ruffled her hair. Smile lines crinkled around his eyes. “That is good. Until then, my friends, tell the sun and the stars hello for me. And be strong.

He’s probably gonna turn into a kangaroo and do some marsupial jujitsu on their ugly faces.

“I figure the universe is basically like a machine. I don’t know who made it, if it was the Fates, or the gods, or capital-G God, or whatever. But it chugs along the way it’s supposed to most of the time. Sure, little pieces break and stuff goes haywire once in a while, but mostly…things happen for a reason. Like you and me meeting.

“Be a good boy and let the women talk.”

That’s pretty freaking heroic.” Reyna shrugged. “Says the demigod who fell into Tartarus and found his way back.” “He had help,” Annabeth said. “Oh, obviously,” Reyna said. “Without you, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag.” “True,” Annabeth agreed. “Hey!” Percy complained.