"Carter."

I was dreading this day to come, but as always, the gods just loved to spring stuff on me like this.

"Percy? Is that you?" Speaking through gritted teeth, I dodged the flurry of fangs and claws, my khopesh barely missing the monster's massive yellow eye. "I'm kinda busy!"

"Hurry, there's something you need to see. It's an emergency."

I sighed, of course it was an emergency, I was tempted to ask the monster if I could have a five minute break before it killed me...But of course that'll never happen.

I'd just have to come back to this later.

Stumbling backwards, I took out my rope and threw it at the creature, yelling, "Tas!" Instantly, the monster became a tangle of limbs and rope.

Dragging it into an alley, I hoped no mortal would see it and think it was some kind of abused animal and let it go. But Percy needed me, and I was more than curious at what my strange ally was up to.

You see, last summer, I had met Percy while tracking down a giant Alligator that somehow got its hands on an amulet that made it into the son of sobek. Percy had been tracking the same thing and we defeated it together. I gave him a hieroglyph that lets him call on me once, if it were an emergency.

But I still didn't totally trust the guy, I mean, I don't even know where he came from.

I knew where he was immediately, a little place on Long Island, right next to the coast. I wondered if that was the location of his mysterious camp.

First, I'd need to call Sadie to meet me there, I really hoped this didn't turn out to be some kind of trap.