89. Percy Sits On The Hot Seat

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"What were you thinking?" Clarisse cradled Silena's head in her lap.

Silena tried to swallow, but her lips were dry and cracked. "Wouldn't . . . listen. Cabin would . . . only follow you."

"So you stole my armor," Clarisse said in disbelief. "You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol; you stole my armor and pretended to be me." She glared at her siblings. "And none of you noticed?"

The Ares campers developed a sudden interest in their combat boots.

"Don't blame them," Silena said. "They wanted to . . . to believe I was you."

"You stupid Aphrodite girl," Clarisse sobbed. "You charged a drakon? Why?"

"All my fault," Silena said, a tear streaking the side of her face. "The drakon, Charlie's death . . . camp endangered—"

"Stop it!" Clarisse said. "That's not true."

Silena opened her hand. In her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm, the mark of Kronos.

A cold fist closed around Y/N's heart. "You were the spy."

Silena tried to nod. "Before . . . before I liked Charlie, Luke was nice to me. He was so . . . charming. Handsome. Later, I wanted to stop helping him, but he threatened to tell. He promised . . . he promised I was saving lives. Fewer people would get hurt. He told me he wouldn't hurt . . . Charlie."

"And you believed him," Y/N muttered.

"He lied to me."

He felt a hand holding his. He met Annabeth's eyes. Her face was chalky. She looked like somebody had just yanked the world out from under her feet. He understood her. He didn't know what to think anymore.

Behind them, the battle raged.

Clarisse scowled at her cabinmates. "Go, help the centaurs. Protect the doors. GO!"

They scrambled off to join the fight.

Silena took a heavy, painful breath. "Forgive me."

"You're not dying," Clarisse insisted.

"Charlie . . ." Silena's eyes were a million miles away. "See Charlie . . ."

Those were her last words.

Clarisse held her and wept. Chris put a hand on her shoulder.

Finally Percy closed Silena's eyes.

"We have to fight." Percy's voice was brittle. "She gave her life to help us. We have to honor her."

Clarisse sniffled and wiped her nose. "She was a hero, understand? A hero." She stared at Y/N.

He looked away. He didn't know what to think. Ever since he'd learned that a spy was hiding in their midst, he'd decided to loathe him. The spy could only be the vilest and most evil person alive. But now he found the spy was none other than Silena Beauregard, whom he'd never have described as vile or evil. She was kind, caring, brave. He was utterly confused.

Percy said, "Come on."

Y/N picked up his sword. He'd think about all that later. One more dilemma wouldn't stop him from ending it once and for all with Luke. "Kronos is going to pay."


If Y/N had had to point at who drove the enemy away from the Empire State Building, no doubt he would've pointed at Clarisse. Even without her armor or spear, she was a demon. She rode her chariot straight into the Titan's army and crushed everything in her path.

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She was so inspiring, even the panicked centaurs started to rally. The Hunters scrounged arrows from the fallen and launched volley after volley into the enemy. The Ares cabin slashed and hacked, which was their favorite thing. The monsters retreated toward 35th Street.

Clarisse drove to the drakon's carcass and looped a grappling line through its eye sockets. She lashed her horses and took off, dragging the drakon behind the chariot like a Chinese New Year dragon. She charged after the enemy, yelling insults and daring them to cross her. As she rode, she was literally glowing. An aura of red fire flickered around her.

"The blessing of Ares," Ethan said. "I've never seen it in person before."

For the moment, Clarisse was as invincible as Percy was. The enemy threw spears and arrows, but nothing hit her.

"I AM CLARISSE, DRAKON-SLAYER!" she yelled. "I will kill you ALL! Where is Kronos? Bring him out! Is he a coward?"

"Clarisse!" Annabeth yelled. "Withdraw!"

"What's the matter, Titan lord?" she yelled. "BRING IT ON!"

There was no answer from the enemy. Slowly, they began to fall back behind a dracaenae shield wall, while Clarisse drove in circles around Fifth Avenue, daring anyone to cross her path. The two-hundred-foot-long drakon carcass made a hollow scraping noise against the pavement, like a thousand knives.

Meanwhile, campers tended their wounded, bringing them inside the lobby. Long after the enemy had retreated from sight, Clarisse kept riding up and down the avenue with her horrible trophy, demanding that Kronos meet her battle.

Chris said, "I'll watch her. She'll get tired eventually. I'll make sure she comes inside."

"What about the camp?" Y/N asked. "Is anybody left there?"

Chris shook his head. "Only Argus and the nature spirits. Peleus the dragon's still guarding the tree."

"They won't last long," he said. "But I'm glad you came."

Chris nodded sadly. "I'm sorry it took so long. I tried to reason with Clarisse. I said there's no point in defending camp if you guys die. All our friends are here. I'm sorry it took Silena. . . ."

"My Hunters will help you stand guard," Thalia said. "Y/N, Annabeth said you should go to Olympus. They'll need you up here—to set up the final defense."


The doorman had disappeared from the lobby. His book was facedown on the desk and his chair was empty. The rest of the lobby, however, was jam-packed with wounded campers, Hunters, and satyrs.

Connor and Travis Stoll met Y/N by the elevators.

"Is it true?" Connor asked. "About Silena?"

Y/N simply nodded.

Travis shifted uncomfortably. "Um, I also heard—"

"It's true," he said to end the story.

"Right," Travis mumbled. "Listen, we figure the Titan's army will have trouble getting up the elevator. They'll have to go up a few at a time. And the giants won't be able to fit at all."

"That's our only real advantage," he said gravely. "Any way to disable the elevator?"

"It's magic," Travis said. "Usually you need a key card, but the doorman vanished. That means the defenses are crumbling. Anyone can walk into the elevator and head straight up."

"Then we have to keep them away from the doors," he said. "Except that we need reinforcements, else they'll just keep coming and eventually overwhelm us. Problem is, there are no reinforcements. No way to bottle them up in the lobby."

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