The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #3)

by Rick Riordan

One lunged at Bianca, and I thought she was a goner, but she whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest. The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge. “How did you do that?” Zoë asked. “I don’t know,” Bianca said nervously. “Lucky stab?” “Well, do it again!”

Susususu

“Follow me!” Thalia slowed down—I didn’t have time to ask why—but I pulled her along and she reluctantly followed.

She’d turned as white as ice. We were at the edge of the bridge. Below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about seventy feet below. The boar was right behind us. “Come on!” I said. “It’ll hold our weight, probably.” “I can’t!” Thalia yelled. Her eyes were wild with fear.

I looked at Thalia. “You’re afraid of heights.” Now that we were safely down the mountain, her eyes had their usual angry look. “Don’t be stupid.” “That explains why you freaked out on Apollo’s bus. Why you didn’t want to talk about it.”

Bianca took a shaky breath. “I…I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can’t remember…” Suddenly I had a really bad thought. I remembered what Bianca had told me about Nico and her staying in a hotel for a while. I met Grover’s eyes, and I got the feeling he was thinking the same thing.

Omg im an idiot

“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!”

Oh, gods…what was I going to tell Nico? I wanted to believe that Bianca was still alive somewhere. But I had a bad feeling that she was gone for good.

How convenient

“I hate naiads,” Zoë grumbled. A stream of water squirted up from the back of the boat and hit Zoë in the face. “She-devils!” Zoë went for her bow. “Whoa,” I said. “They’re just playing.” “Cursed water spirits. They’ve never forgiven me.” “Forgiven you for what?” She slung her bow back over her shoulder. “It was a long time ago. Never mind.”

“You made this,” I said. “Who told thee?” “I had a dream about it.” She studied me. I was sure she was going to call me crazy, but she just sighed. “It was a gift. And a mistake.” “Who was the hero?” I asked. Zoë shook her head. “Do not make me say his name. I swore never to speak it again.” “You act like I should know him.” “I am sure you do, hero. Don’t all you boys want to be just like him?”

?? Hercules???

I concentrated hard and snapped my fingers. “You don’t see a sword,” I told the girl. “It’s just a ballpoint pen.” She blinked. “Um…no. It’s a sword, weirdo.” “Who are you?” I demanded. She huffed indignantly. “Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

Then Grover had a brilliant, totally Grover-like idea. “Burrito fight!” he yelled, and flung his Guacamole Grande at the nearest skeleton.

cannonballs. Grover’s lunch hit the skeleton and knocked his skull clean off his shoulders.

“Get us out of here!” Thalia yelled. Both angels looked down at her. “Zeus’s kid?” “Yes!” “Could I get a please, Miss Zeus’s Kid?” an angel asked. “Please!” The angels looked at each other and shrugged. “Could use a stretch,” one decided.

“We automatons gotta have some fun once in a while, right?” our statue said. “Those mechanics took us over to the de Young Museum and introduced us to these marble lady statues, see. And—” “Hank!” the other statue Chuck cut in. “They’re kids, man.” “Oh, right.” If bronze statues could blush, I swear Hank did.

I bet your PARDON