TERRIFIED . . . annabeth chase

thirty five.

THE CURRENT GRABBED her like a fist and pulled her into the deep. Struggling was useless. Val clamped her mouth shut, forcing herself not to inhale, but she could barely keep from panicking. She couldn't see anything but a torrent of bubbles. She could only hear her own thrashing and the dull roar of the rapids.

She'd just about decided this was how she would die: drowning in a swimming hole on an island that didn't exist. Then, as suddenly as she'd been pulled under, she was thrust to the surface. She found herself at the center of a whirlpool, able to breathe but unable to break free. Piper was near her.

A few yards away, Jason broke the surface and gasped, his sword in one hand. He swung wildly, but there was nothing to attack.

Twenty feet to Val's right, Achelous rose from the water. "I'm really sorry about this," he said.

Jason lunged toward him, summoning the winds to lift him out of the river, but Achelous was quicker and more powerful. A curl of water slammed into Jason and sent him under once more.

"Stop it!" Piper screamed.

She got Achelous's attention.

"I'm afraid I can't stop," said the river god. "I can't let Hercules have my other horn. It would be mortifying."

"There's another way!" Val said. "You don't have to kill us!"

Jason clawed his way to the surface again. A miniature storm cloud formed over his head. Thunder boomed.

"None of that, son of Jupiter," Achelous chided. "If you call lightning, you'll just electrocute your girlfriend."

The water pulled Jason under again.

"Let him go!" Val said persuasively, looking at Piper and smirking. "I promise I won't let Hercules get the horn!"

Achelous hesitated. He cantered over to her, his head tilting to the left. "I believe you mean that."

"I do!" Val promised. "Hercules is despicable. But, please, first let my friend go."

The water churned where Jason had gone under.

Achelous looked down at her through his bifocals. His expression softened. "I see. You would be my Deianira. You would be my bride to compensate for my loss."

"What?" Val wasn't sure if she'd heard him right. The whirlpool was literally making her head spin. "Uh, actually I was thinking—"

"Oh, I understand," Achelous said. "You were too modest to suggest this in front of your friends. You are right, of course. I would treat you much better than your beloved would. I could make things right after all these centuries. I could not save Deianira, but I could save you."

Val looked over at Piper, panicking. The Aphrodite child also stared at her with panic. Wonderful.

"You would have to let your friends die," Achelous continued. "Hercules would be angry, but I can protect you from him. We could be quite happy together. Let's start by letting that Jason fellow drown, eh? Then your friend right there."

Val could barely hold it together, but she had to concentrate. She masked her fear and her anger. She was love in a mortal form. She had to use the tools she was given from Cupid.

Go, Val mouthed to Piper. Before he drowns you.

She smiled as sweetly as she could and raised her arms. "Lift me up, please."

Achelous's face brightened. He grabbed Val hands and pulled her out of the whirlpool.

She used her momentum, swinging one leg over Achelous's back. Then she locked her ankles around his neck, wrapped one arm around his throat, and drew one of her knives with the other. She pressed the blade under the river god's chin.