TERRIFIED . . . annabeth chase

six.

HONESTLY, VAL DIDN'T want to meet Hermes.

Sure, he's the father of some of Val's best friends — Connor, Travis, Chris — but the information that Thanatos had given her about her curse set her on guard.

"Hello, Percy." Hermes's brow furrowed.

Percy bowed awkwardly. "Lord Hermes."

"Hello, George," he said immediately after. "Hey, Martha."

Travis and Connor gaped from beside Val. This was their dad.

"Um, Hermes," Percy said. "We need to talk to Zeus. It's important."

Hermes's eyes were steely cold. "I am his messenger. May I take a message?"

"You guys," Percy said. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defenses. See who's left in Olympus. Meet Annabeth and me back here in thirty minutes."

Silena frowned. "But—"

"That's a good idea," Annabeth said. "Val, stay here with us. Connor and Travis, you two lead."

Val faltered, frowning and pointing to herself. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Annabeth nodded, looking back at Travis and Connor. "Go."

"We're on it!" Travis said. They herded the others out of the throne room, leaving Annabeth, Percy, and Val with Hermes.

"My lord," Annabeth said. "Kronos is going to attack New York. You must suspect that. My mother must have foreseen it."

"Your mother," Hermes grumbled. He scratched his back with his caduceus. "Don't get me started on your mother, young lady. She's the reason I'm here at all. Zeus didn't want any of us to leave the front line. But your mother kept pestering him nonstop, 'It's a trap, it's a diversion, blah, blah, blah.' She wanted to come back herself, but Zeus was not going to let his number one strategist leave his side while we're battling Typhon. And so naturally he sent me to talk to you."

"But it is a trap!" Annabeth insisted. "Is Zeus blind?"

Thunder rolled through the sky.

"I'd watch the comments, girl," Hermes warned. "Zeus is not blind or deaf. He has not left Olympus completely undefended."

"But there are these blue lights—"

"Yes, yes. I saw them. Some mischief by that insufferable goddess of magic, Hecate, I'd wager, but you may have noticed they aren't doing any damage. Olympus has strong magical wards. Besides, Aeolus, the King of the Winds, has sent his most powerful minions to guard the citadel. No one save the gods can approach Olympus from the air. They would be knocked out of the sky."

Percy raised his hand. "Um . . . what about that materializing-slash-teleporting thing you guys do?"

"That's a form of air travel too, Jackson. Very fast, but the wind gods are faster. No, if Kronos wants Olympus, he'll have to march through the entire city with his army and take the elevators! Can you see him doing this?"

Hermes made it sound pretty ridiculous — hordes of monsters going up in the elevator twenty at a time, listening to "Stayin' Alive." Honestly, Val believed that they could. Even if she didn't want to believe it, but she had to stay positive.

"Maybe just a few of you could come back," Val suggested.

Hermes shook his head, but then softened when he looked at her. The gods were giving her pity. "Valentina, Typhon is our greatest enemy."

"I thought that was Kronos." Percy interjected.

The god's eyes glowed after he'd spoken. "No, Percy. In the old days, Olympus was almost overthrown by Typhon. He is the husband of Echidna—"