TERRIFIED . . . annabeth chase

forty seven.

"AND YOUR FRIEND Annabeth is with you!" Kelli hissed with laughter. "Oh, yeah, I totally remember her."

Kelli touched her own sternum, probably where Annabeth had stabbed her in the past. Val had heard the stories. "What's the matter, daughter of Athena? Don't have your weapon? Bummer. I'd use it to kill you. Though your friend over there has some pretty knives I'd like to kill you with."

Kelli looked at Val and smirked. "The cursed one. Your name is everywhere, daughter of Death. I wonder how far it'll travel once your blood's dripping down that pretty neck of yours . . ."

Val shivered, trying to think. She, Percy, and Annabeth stood shoulder to shoulder, ready to fight. But none of them were in good shape for battle. Annabeth was empty-handed. They were hopelessly outnumbered. There was nowhere to run. No help coming. Fighting was a long shot.

That left Annabeth's favorite tactics: trickery, talk, delay.

"So . . ." Percy started, "I guess you're wondering what we're doing in Tartarus."

Kelli snickered. "Not really. I just want to kill you."

That would've been it, but Val chimed in.

"Too bad," she pouted. "Because you have no idea what's going on in the mortal world."

The other empousai circled, watching Kelli for a cue to attack; but the ex-cheerleader only snarled, crouching out of reach of Percy's sword.

"We know enough," Kelli said. "Gaea has spoken."

"You're heading toward a major defeat." Annabeth sounded so confident, even Val was impressed. She glanced at the other empousai, one by one, then pointed accusingly at Kelli. "This one claims she's leading you to a victory. She's lying. The last time she was in the mortal world, Kelli was in charge of keeping my friend Luke Castellan faithful to Kronos. In the end, Luke rejected him. He gave his life to expel Kronos. The Titans lost because Kelli failed. Now Kelli wants to lead you to another disaster."

The other empousai muttered and shifted uneasily.

"Enough!" Kelli's fingernails grew into long black talons. She glared at Annabeth as if imagining her sliced into small pieces.

Val was pretty sure Kelli had had a thing for Luke Castellan. Luke had that effect on girls — even herself, at one point — and she wasn't sure bringing up his name was such a good idea.

"The girl lies," Kelli said. "So the Titans lost. Fine! That was part of the plan to wake Gaea! Now the Earth Mother and her giants will destroy the mortal world, and we will totally feast on demigods!"

The other vampires gnashed their teeth in a frenzy of excitement.

"The demigods have united!" Annabeth yelled. "You'd better think twice before you attack us. Romans and Greeks will fight you together. You don't stand a chance!"

The empousai backed up nervously, hissing, "Romani."

Val guessed they'd had experience with Camp Jupiter before, and it hadn't worked out well for them.

"Yeah, you bet Romani." Percy bared his forearm and showed them the brand he'd gotten at Camp Jupiter — the SPQR mark, with the trident of Neptune. "You mix Greek and Roman, and you know what you get? You get BAM!"

He stomped his foot, and the empousai scrambled back. One fell off the boulder where she'd been perched.

Val snickered until they recovered quickly and closed in again.

"Bold talk," Kelli said, "for three demigods lost in Tartarus. Lower your sword, Percy Jackson, and I'll kill you quickly. Believe me, there are worse ways to die down here."