Uh, normally she doesn’t judo-flip people.

The truth hit him. Jason wasn’t quite Roman anymore. His time at Camp Half-Blood had changed him. Reyna had recognized that. Apparently, so did the undead legionnaires. If Jason no longer gave off the right...

Leo lowered his screwdriver. He looked at the ceiling and shook his head like, What am I gonna do with this guy? “I try very hard to be annoying,” Leo said. “Don’t insult my ability...

Yes, Jason Grace.” Favonius arched an eyebrow. “I fell in love with a dude. Does that shock you?

The giant raised his fist, and a voice cut through the dream. “Leo!” Jason was shaking his shoulder. “Hey, man, why are you hugging Nike?” Leo’s eyes fluttered open. His arms were wrapped around the...

Please tell me your master isn’t Aeolus.””That airhead?” Favonius snorted. “No, of course not.””He means Eros.” Nico’s voice turned edgy. “Cupid, in Latin.”Favonius smiled. “Very good, Nico di Angelo. I’m glad to see you again,...

Way to go, Zhang. Now you can order Octavian to fall on his sword.

Oh, yeah? Me too. Let’s see whose friend gets here first.

Dude.” Jason gave Percy a bear hug.”Back from Tartarus!” Leo whooped. “That’s my peeps!

But in his heart, he wanted to be at Camp Half-Blood. The months he’d spent there with Piper and Leo had felt more satisfying, more right than all his years at Camp Jupiter. Besides, at...

Frank, how did you do that?” Jason yelled.Frank’s head swam with pain. He forced himself not to pass out. “I’m the ranking Roman officer,” he said. “They- uh, they don’t recognize you. Sorry.”Jason grimaced, but...

Atlantis?’ Jason asked.’That’s a myth,’ Percy said.’Uh…don’t we deal in myths?”No, I mean it’s a MADE-UP myth. Not like, an actual true myth.”So this is why Annabeth is the brains of the operation, huh?

He’d gone from sixteen to seventy-five in a matter of seconds, but the old-man smell happened instantly, like boom. Congratulations! You stink!

All aboard for one last trip.

Commander Tool Belt” Jason said.”Bad Boy Supreme” Piper said.”Chef Leo the Tofu Taco Expert.”They laughed and told stories about Leo valdez, their best friend. They stayed on the roof until dawn rose, and Piper started...

So now I get the scepter?” Jason asked.Cupid laughed. Unfortunately, you could not wield it. Only a child of the Underworld can summon the dead legions. And only an officer of Rome can lead them.

Really? That would be a first. I’m the son of Hades, Jason. I might as well be covered in blood or sewage, the way people treat me. I don’t belong anywhere. I’m not even from...

Jason hated being an old man.

Nico drew his sword. His smile was even more unsettling than his scowl.”Underground,” he said. “My favorite place.”Underground was not Jason’s favorite place.

We were surrounded by thirty-foot-tall giants who were about to kill us. Then the sky opened up, and the gods descended.””Grandad,” the kids said, “you are full of schist.” “I’m not kidding!” he protested.

That makes absolutely no sense.

Jason’s fingers itched to draw his sword. He’d met plenty of scary demigods, but he was starting to realize that Nico di Angelo–as pale and gaunt as he looked–might be more than he could handle.

I don’t feel that way anymore,” Nico muttered. “I mean… I gave up on Percy. I was young and impressionable, and I- I don’t…”His voice cracked, and Jason could tell the guy was about to...

Nico’s voice was like broken glass. “I- I wasn’t in love with Annabeth.””You were jealous of her,” Jason said. “That’s why you didn’t want to be around her. Especially why you don’t want to be...

Please?

According to Festus, our flying table, Buford, made it back safely while we were in Charleston, so those eagles didn’t get him. Unfortunately, he lost the laundry bag with your pants.””Dang it!” Frank Barked, which...

Is this guy Love or Death?” Jason growled.Ask your friends, Cupid said. Frank, Hazel, and Percy met my counterpart, Thanatos. We are not so different. Except Death is sometimes kinder.

Jason’s heart lifted when he saw Nico di Angelo on the front lines with the Greeks, slashing his way through a crowd of two-headed men.

About five meters ahead, Nico was swinging his black sword with one hand, holding the scepter of Diocletian aloft with the other. He kept shouting orders at the legionnaires, but they paid him no attention.Of...

Your destiny grows clearer, Jason Grace. When the choice comes again- storm or fire- remember me. And do not despair.

Percy looked at his friends. “I’m getting tired of this guy’s shirt.””Combat time?” Piper grabbed her horn of plenty.”I hate wonder bread,” Jason said.Together, they charged.

Nico, you can do this,” Jason said. “It might be embarrassing, but it’s for the scepter.”Nico didn’t look convinced. In fact he looked like he was going to be sick. But he squared his shoulders...

Too bad Jason wasn’t a metal automaton. At least then Leo would have some idea of how to help his best friend. But with humans … Leo felt helpless. They broke way too easily.

Still hiding, Cupid said, smashing another skeleton to pieces. You do not have the strength.”Nico,” Jason managed to say, “it’s okay. I get it.”Nico glanced over, pain and misery washing across his face.”No you don’t,”...

Jason decided there was nothing in the world scarier than a gang of bat-wielding grannies.

People lie. Promises are broken.

Images flashed through his mind. He saw Nico and his sister on a snowy cliff in Maine, Percy Jackson protecting them from a manticore. Percy’s sword gleamed in the dark. He’d been the first demigod...

He scowled at Jason. “And please, I don’t like being touched. Don’t ever grab me again.

Nico drank from the chalice, then offered it to Jason. “You asked me about trust, and taking a risk? Well, here you go, son of Jupiter. How much do you trust me?”Frank wasn’t sure what...

Nothing?” Favonius cried. “The one you care for most… plunged into Tartarus, and you still will not allow the truth?”Suddenly Jason felt like he was eavedropping. The one you care for most.

Very good, Jason Grace,” Notus said. “You are a son of Jupiter, yet you have chosen your own path- as all the greatest demigods have done before you. You cannot control your parentage, but you...

That is exactly how people beat Chinese handcuffs. They turn into iguanas.

Love is on every side, Cupid said. And no one’s side. Don’t ask what Love can do for you.”Great,” Jason said. “Now he’s spouting greeting card messages.

Yeah, okay. But, Nico, you do choose how to live your life. You want to trust somebody? Maybe take a risk that I’m really your friend and I’ll accept you. It’s better than hiding.

Jason always tried to build a good relationship with his team. He’d learned the hard way that if somebody was going to have your back in a fight, it was better if you found some...

How about you start from the top—of the story, not the backpack.

He was making a brave attempt, but Jason could see the sadness lingering in his eyes. Something had happened to him… something to do with Calypso.

Nico knelt and picked it up. He regarded Jason, as if waiting for an attack. “If the others found out-” “If the others found out,” Jason said, “you’d have that many more people to back...

Oh, he’s not like that,” said Favonius.Jason flinched. “You can read my mind?””I don’t need to.” Favonius tossed his bronze hoop in the air. “Everyone has the wrong impression of Cupid… until they meet him.

No,” Frank said. “I’m only a centurion.”Jason cursed in Latin. “He means he can’t control a whole legion. He’s not of high enough rank.”Nico swung back his black sword at another gryphon. “Well, then, promote...