I sat there, frozen, trying to reboot my brain. A knot began to grow in my stomach. A meteor could've smacked into the earth and completely demolished Western Civilization, and I wouldn't have noticed.

"No," I finally said. "The Olympians cancelled that oath last summer. The prophecy was already fulfilled. Why are they bothering with me now?" I sounded whiny even to myself, but I felt as if it was partially justified.

"You were born when the oath was still in place," Chiron explained. "As far as Lord Zeus and some of the other gods see it, your birth was in violation the sacred oath. To them, it is the principle of the matter."

"But that isn't—"

"Fair?" Dionysus interrupted. He chuckled cruelly under his breath. "So predictable. What's the cliché, Chiron? Whoever said life was fair? Well, it's the truth, girl, and you better get used to it."

I clenched my fist and ignored him. "Chiron," I pleaded. "I don't— you've got to convince them otherwise."

The old centaur looked miserable. "I'm afraid that this is a matter out of my control, child. I am sorry."

I didn't respond—I didn't trust myself to speak. Instead, my eyes focused past the volley ball pit towards Thalia's pine tree. The Golden Fleece sparkled beautifully in the sun. The other campers talked about the story of Thalia before—how the daughter of Zeus sacrificed herself to save her friends Annabeth, Percy's friend Grover, and another demigod Luke, the son of Hermes. Before she died, Zeus turned her into a pine tree to preserve her life force.

The story bothered me. First off, the only reason that Thalia died was because Hades sent a swarm of monster to attack her and her friends because she was born in spite of the oath that the big three made. Plus, instead of saving Thalia's life or killing the monsters, the almighty king of the gods decided to turn his daughter into a Christmas tree. I understood the gods were restricted from interfering with the lives of their children too much, but that still seemed pretty cold.

But turning into a pine tree seemed a lot less harsh than what I was facing.

Chiron continued, "The Olympian council is meeting in a few days—Lord Zeus has requested your presence."

"Why would he want to see me?" I asked bitterly. "And why should I go?"

"Formalities, really," Dionysus said, thumbing through the magazine. "Zeus is big on formalities."

The gods are calling a meeting to discuss my death, but of course let's do this properly, like we're civilized.

"I can decide not to go, right?" I asked. "Attendance isn't mandatory or anything?"

Dionysus looked up from his magazine to frown at me. "I wouldn't ignore a direct summon from Zeus, girl, if I were you. You wouldn't like the consequences."

I didn't see what consequence would be worse than death, but I just sighed nodded. "All right." I got up to leave and was halfway down the step when Chiron stopped me.

"Kaia, the council may not vote against you," he said. "As you said, the prophecy was fulfilled last summer, and your death won't gain them a thing. You have nothing to fear."

Nothing to fear. I didn't believe it. But I nodded as if I did.

Chiron smiled at me reassuringly, but his eyes betrayed him. He looked at me as if seeing a ghost.

I was as good as dead.

I knew that Percy had gone though the same thing and the Olympians voted to keep him alive, but that was different. Percy had a string of accomplishments behind him at that point. I hadn't done anything. Other than the Amphisbaenae, I never faced a monster. I wasn't a hero. What good was I to a bunch of moody Olympian gods?

I thought about the gods who might want to see me dead. Maybe Zeus. Dionysus? Definitely. Would Hera vote with her husband? Probably. Artemis might vote in my favor since she's the protector of young maidens, but who would side with her?

Would Poseidon even vote in my favor? Would he spare me, or vote against me to try to make up for his "mistake?" I wasn't sure.

I didn't go back to the beach—I didn't want to see Hayden yet, and I wasn't sure that she was even still there. I decided to go down to the lake where the canoe races were held. Sitting, I untied my shoes and dangled my feet in. The cool water helped ease my nerves.

At the bottom of the lake, some girls—Naiads—sat at the bottom, weaving baskets. Their dark hair floated around their heads, very Ariel-like.

Life at the bottom of the lake looked very serene. For a moment, I considered going down there to escape my fate. Maybe I would be safe down there, weaving baskets and reenacting The Little Mermaid for the rest of my life. Then again, that didn't sound like fun, especially if I had to act out the sequel.

I racked my brain for ideas that would save my life, but I couldn't think. My mind was cluttered with anger, sadness and fear. I wanted to scream, punch something, pick a fight with anyone. In the end, I knew that there was no way out of this. I had to face the council of the gods.

For a while, I sat there, absent-mindedly making circles in the water with my feet until the conch horn blew. Dinner was lonely without Percy. I didn't talk much at the campfire. When Hayden asked me what was up I lied and told her I was fine. But she knew better, and I knew I had to tell her the truth.

When I told Hayden the next day, she turned as white as a ghost. Her eyes went round and she was silent for a while.

"No…" she finally said. "No, they can't do that."

"They're gods Hayden," I said softly. "They can do what they want."

We just finished another lesson at the beach, but my heart wasn't in it. I sat on the sand, hugging my knees to my chest.

"There has to be something we can do," Hayden said, pacing back and forth in front of me. "We can make an appeal. I can talk to Dionysus. He's a little nicer to children of Thetis, he might listen."

Hope swelled in my chest like a small candle and sputtered out as just as quickly. "Yeah, but he has a special dislike for the children of Poseidon. Face it, Hayden, there's nothing we can do."

Hayden fumed, pale eyes blazing. "Aren't you mad? How can you be so calm?"

I sighed and a shudder ran through my body. "I'm not calm, Hayden. I can't stand this either. I can't… I don't want to die. I—" I blinked back the tears that were threatening to escape. I couldn't cry. Not now.

Hayden's eyes soften. She crouched put a hand on a hand on my shoulder. "Hey. It'll be okay. You never know, the gods may not even vote against you. Don't worry too much."

I didn't see how I could not worry. In a few days, I would be on my way to the Empire State Building. My fate was in the hands of the gods. I could die and my family… they wouldn't even know what really happened to me.

No. I'm not going to think about this now. I can't.

Then when?

Never. If I don't think about it, then it's not real.

That's stupid.

"I know!"

Hayden jumped. "What?"

"Nothing," I mumbled under my breath. Great, now I'm going crazy. What else can go wrong?

I just jinxed myself, didn't I? I thought dryly.

"I don't want to think about this now," I said as I stood. "I wanna blow off some steam."

Hayden looked up at me, warily. "All right, Kaia. What do you have in mind?"

I wanted to prove myself just once before I died. I would face a monster, like a real hero. Hayden agreed to come with me for help. Besides, you shouldn't go into the woods alone.

We searched alongside the creek, our weapons at the ready. I was so focused on spotting a monster that I didn't see the dryad emerge halfway out of her tree until we were face-to-face. I stumbled back.

The tree girl shot daggers at me with her unnaturally green eyes. "What are you, stupid?"

I said something snide and smart like, "I, well, uh…"

She rolled her eyes. Even her sclera was tinted green. "Of course you are. If you weren't, you wouldn't be heading in that direction."

She waved down the stream where we were heading.

"What's in that direction?" Hayden asked.

The dryad sighed, exasperated. "Isn't it obvious? Look."

She pointed at our feet. We stood in the middle of a giant foot track the size of a car door with long, pointed toes.

I perked up excitedly. "Perfect! That's just what we wanted."

The dryad made a face, like she was confused why we wanted a monster to shred us into lunch meat. She quickly recovered.

"Good," she said. "You got what you wanted. Yippee. Now stop bothering me and go away."

"But we weren't—" I started.

"Shoo!" And she melded back into her tree.

I turned to Hayden. "Well she was just peachy."

"I heard that!" the dryad barked inside the tree.

Hayden rolled her eyes, muttering something about touchy dryads, and readied her Ono. "Come on. Let's go."

We headed down the stream, following the tracks that the drakon left behind. They led us into an open clearing. As soon as we spotted the tail of the drakon, we both ducked behind a tree. Hopefully there were no crabby dryads connected to these two.

I peeked around the tree, and immediately regretted it. The monster was easily the size of a school bus. Its scales were the color of rust and dead grass. I remembered hearing that most drakons could spit acid, others could blow fire, and very few did neither.

Please, I silently prayed. Please don't let this be the fire-breathing or acid-spitting kind. Thank you in advance.

Staring at it, my heart started to do jumping jacks. "I wish finding it wasn't so easy," I muttered.

"We don't have to do this," Hayden said.

I shook my head. "No. I'm going through with this."

She looked like she wanted to protest, but she swallowed it back. "You remember the plan?"

I nodded.

Hayden turned her gaze back to the monster. Her eyes narrowed. "Okay."

She burst into the clearing, yelling and grabbing the drakon's attention. It roared, lumbering towards her and spitting green acid, but Hayden was too quick. She rolled out of the way and swung her axe at the monster's side. A drakon's hide was as strong as celestial bronze, but Hayden managed to draw blood.

They kept fighting. The drakon spat acid and charged her, but Hayden kept dodging, drawing its attention away from where I was.

I crept out from behind the trees, my back to the creek while I was facing the monster's scaly hide. I tried to bend the water to my will, but it wouldn't move but a few feet above the surface. I panicked, but quickly realized that that was the problem. I was too nervous to do this now.

I was about to forget it and charge into battle with Hayden when it all went wrong.

The monster sprayed acid at her. When she moved to jump out of the way, the drakon's tail grabbed her by the leg and dangled her upside down like a rag doll.

Hayden grunted and hacked at the serpent's tail, but to no avail. It stared at her, hissing sourly as if it were laughing at her fruitless attempt to get free.

Rage boiled inside of me, replacing the fear that was already there. I felt a familiar tug in my stomach.

"Hey!" I yelled at it, effectively getting the drakon's attention. I used all of my will power to summon the water and channeled it up the monster nostrils. It snarled indignantly and tossed Hayden aside. She hit a tree with a harsh thud.

My blood roared in my ears. I stared in horror at where Hayden lied, then towards the drakon that.

I yelled in defiance and charged at the monster. It seemed surprised for a split second before it roared at me and slithered towards me, spitting acid.

I dodged to the right, getting closer to the monster than what was smart. The drakon swiveled its head at me, but before it could melt me into a demigod puddle, I stabbed it right in its eye.

The drakon howled in pain so loudly that it blew back the branches on the trees. I was sure that anyone near the forest definitely heard it.

Something moaned behind me. I turned and almost sobbed in relief. Hayden was conscious. She was bruised and bleeding a little from her temple, but she was alive.

I shouldn't have lost focused. Hayden cried out in warning, but it was too late. The drakon's tail was already in motion, hitting me in the stomach and sending me flying into the brook. By sheer luck, I managed to avoid skewering myself with my sword—it landed point down beside me in the water.

The monster loomed over me. If a serpent could look triumphant, them this one looked downright cocky. But it must've been stupid or forgetful.

My hand shot forwards and stream of water hit it with the force of a water hose. Not very strong, but it was enough to disorient it long enough for me to grab my sword and scramble up.

I sprayed the drakon again, this time aiming for his other eye, but I guess it learned its lesson because it dodged. It lunged at me, getting a hold of my right arm, and sank its fangs into my bicep.

Whit hot pain coursed through my arm, setting it on fire. I cried and fell back. My arm was bleeding badly. Everything blurred and doubled and swayed as black spots danced at the edge of my vision. I tried to force myself to focus, but I couldn't. It was if I were on the other side of a cotton ball veil.

Though fuzzy vision, the serpent slithered hovered above me. Suddenly it lurched sideways, roaring indignantly. Hayden was on the attack again, trying to gouge out the drakon's other eye. But I could tell that she was getting tired quickly, and being thrown against a tree didn't help.

Shakily, I stood. My arm was numb and cold, but I didn't dare look at it. The cold feeling was starting to spread. I had to finish this.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Hey, you stupid snake! Over here!"

It swiveled its head and slithered at me with speed as if remembering, "Oh, yeah. I did want to kill her." I gulped and wished that I had thought of something other than taunting it.

The drakon struck out at me, but I managed to parry its fangs away weakly with my sword. I slashed at its good eye, but the drakon just backed away, spitting acid at me. I rolled away, but put too much weight on my injured arm. I yelped and fell to my side. Hayden was yelling from somewhere around me, but I couldn't make out what she was saying.

With difficulty, I managed to get to my knees. But the monster was already towering over me, ready to strike. It reeled back, opening its maw, hissing and dripping acid from its fangs.

My next move was purely by instinct. As the drakon was about to bite me in half, I lunged up with my sword with all my might. I felt a sickening shlunk! as my sword pierced the roof of the drakon's mouth.

Its eyes went wide in shock. Then, the monster exploded in a shower of yellow dust.

It was silent for a second—the only noise was my heavy panting.

Hayden stared at me, wide eyed. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. "Kai, your arm."

I looked at my injured arm and felt woozy again. I stumbled, but Hayden rushed forward before I had the chance to fall.

"The water," she said. "Come on."

She helped me towards the creek and I put my arm in. Instantly, the pain subsided. When I gathered the courage to look at my arm again, I saw that the two holes where the drakon's fangs had gotten me were slowly closing up. They turned into small bumpy scars a little lighter than the rest of my skin before fading completely.

I looked back at Hayden. "Did not know I could do that."

Hayden's shoulders relaxed. "At least it didn't get your other arm. That would've been a mess."

I chuckled. "Good thing I'm left handed then."

She laughed short at that.

"That was a close call," I said. "I would have been monster chow if it weren't for you."

"What are friends for if they won't keep your secrets and go out monster hunting with you?"

I laughed. We both leaned back and stared up at the sky. A Pegasus flew over us and I thought about my classes with Butch. I was getting better at it, I was only a kind of frightened instead of pants wettingly terrified now, and I did pretty well on the chariots.

"You think Pegasus—y'know, the original—is still out there somewhere?" I asked Hayden.

"Maybe. But he's a free spirit. Children of Poseidon are pretty restless."

"That explains a lot."

I glanced over to where the yellow remains of the drakon lay. A breeze came through, sweeping up some of the dust. An odd feeling of satisfaction washed over me. I fought a monster. It didn't matter if I was bitten or that I had help—it was still an amazing feat. I did that. I faced a monster, and I had survived.

Exhaling, I basked in the sunlight, trying to enjoy this feeling for as long as I could. I looked at Hayden, who looked like she was doing the same thing. Her eyes were closed.

"Hey, Hayden?" I said.

"Hm?"

"You've done that before? Y'know. Kill a monster."

She faltered, eyes opening. "Yeah. I have. A lot."

"Was it ever scary?"

She was silent. That answered everything.

After a moment, she spoke again. "My dad taught me to fight—taught me to use my powers as a legacy of Plu—Hades." A sideways glance my way. I couldn't place the look in her eye. Nervousness?

She continued. "Hades gives us different gifts. The members of my family sometimes have the power to control the dead or travel through the use of shadows. Some can even summon precious gems from the earth and make earthquakes. I can't do that, but I've always been able to tell different jewels and rocks apart."

"That's why you aced geology last year."

"Yeah. That and I actually studied."

"Boooo."

Hayden elbowed me playfully. "Anyway, Dad said as a legacy of Hades and the child of Thetis, I would be more powerful than the average demigod, even though Thetis is kind of a minor goddess. Dad… he told me…"

Hayden stared up at the cloudless sky, her eyes getting misty like they usually do when she talked about her dad.

I'd thought for a while that her dad must've been killed by a monster, but I never gathered the courage to ask to confirm my suspicion. I didn't want to tear open old wounds. So I settled on an easier question to ask.

"You always hesitate when you say Hades's name," I said. "Were you gonna say his Roman name…Pluto, right?"

Hayden flinched. "Kaia…"

"The gods were the same in Roman times," I said, recalling something I heard in Greek class. "They were just called something else, but I guess their Roman names sound more familiar to us, since they named the planets after them. Is that why you almost call Hades Pluto?"

"Yeah. That makes sense." But she didn't sound so sure.

I was about to ask her a follow up question when a roar in the distance interrupted the peace.

Hayden sat up. "Maybe we should go."

"Good idea."

Today is the day…

I stood in the doorway, looking at my cabin room for the last time. No, not the last time. I would return to camp and continue my training. And when I was ready, I would go back to my home.

That made me think: would I be able to go back to school my normal life? After living at camp, knowing I was a half-blood, and knowing that the gods were real, could I be normal again?

Of course I could, my inner voice said. I'm still me. Nothing's changed.

But I wasn't so sure.

Before I left my cabin, I stuffed some of my money into my sock so I wouldn't lose it as easily (a trick my grandfather taught me). Mom once told me to never leave my home without having some money with me. I was sure I wouldn't need it, but you never know.

For the last few days, I tried to go about my schedule as if everything were normal. I participated in the canoe race and even played volleyball with the Satyrs and the kids from the Apollo cabin.

I read more in Ancient Greek class than usual. I think I've read more in the past few weeks at Camp Half-Blood than I've had before in my entire life. Ancient Greek was a lot easier and less migraine-inducing than English. I wondered what my friends back at school would say if they saw me reading willingly. They'd probably laugh in disbelief and give themselves an aneurism in the process.

But, someone, somehow, found out that the gods were voting whether or not to axe me off (probably a gossipy satyr). Eventually the whole camp knew. People muttered under their breath as I passed by them during breakfast. I caught enough to know that I was the hot topic of the day.

Camp activities before lunch were uncomfortable. You'd think after Poseidon claimed me that I'd be used to people staring and talking about me like I couldn't hear them.

Midday, I met Hayden and Argus on top of Half-Blood Hill—Chiron had given the thumbs up for her to tag along with me. She wore a purple skirt and black leggings with her camp T-shirt, along with her favorite combat boots. Her lavender bag that held her axe was at her side.

"Haven't seen those in a while," I said.

Hayden grinned. "I decided to bring them out. You never know when a steel-toe kick to the head will come in handy."

The ride into the city was silent for a while except for the easy listening radio Argus put on. "Raindrops keep falling on my head…"

I stared out the window, the countryside a big blur. A tightly wound ball of dread was building in my stomach; every time the van hit a bump on the road, I thought of Mrs. Tot.

Hayden put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile. Having her along relieved some of the stress that I'd been carrying. During the ride, Hayden and I chatted, which cheered me up. She talked about Halloween, and how she'd convince Chiron and Mr. D to have a Halloween themed party at the camp. I told her good luck with convincing Mr. D of anything, then I realized that the god of partying wouldn't be too hard to persuade.

Halloween was Hayden's favorite time of the year. She loved the costumes, the atmosphere, the excess amount of candy that made the two of us bounce off the walls. She loved horror films and made me watch them, but I didn't mind. We both loved Alien, since I was into sci-fi. Hayden loved movies like Psycho, Night of the Living Dead, and the Exorcist, anything spooky and unorthodox. She knows every line and song from the nightmare before Christmas word for word.

"Must be the Hades genes," I joked. "It all makes sense now."

Hayden nudged me playfully with her elbow.

The countryside blended into the city. Buildings and landmarks that were familiar to me seemed almost alien. Hayden and I only arrived at camp about a month or so ago, but it seemed like a century ago when we came to camp to find refuge. It seemed rather cruel that I was leaving the security of camp into the dangers of the normal world.

We were discussing the possibilities of Halloween costumes when a brown blur flew past my window.

The van violently lurched then sank in the back. I could hear the bumper screeching against the pavement from inside, a thousand times worse than nails on a chalkboard.

All of Argus's eyes widened in alarm. He managed to pull the van over, while drivers sped past us, honking their horns and flipping us the bird. I missed the city.

"What was that?" I asked.

Argus didn't answer. He didn't speak much, which I guess was on account of the rumored eyeball on the tip of his tongue. Must hurt like Hades if he ever accidently bit his tongue. He motioned for us to get out of the van.

We did. When I got a good look at the van, my jaw dropped. The two back tires were gone. Somehow someone managed to steal the tires while we were driving. Taking them if we were stuck in traffic would be one thing, but this?

"How the heck did that happen?" I asked.

"A harpy?" Hayden guessed. "They've been known to steal things."

"Okay… but why the tires?"

She shrugged. "Harpies are kleptos. Who knows?"

My ADHD conjured up a frightening image: a harpy with the withered old face of a hag, dressed like little Bo Peep, swinging cheerfully on a tire swing as the song "Swing, swing" played. I shuddered and tried to shake that thought away.

"Okay," I said. "So now what?"

"We walk." Hayden looked to Argus, who nodded in confirmation. "But first, we've got to send an Iris Message back to camp. Let find a fountain."

I've heard of Iris Messages back at camp. The goddess would apparently send messages for demigods if she wasn't too busy. How we accomplish that with a fountain and a rainbow, I had no idea. But I guess I could chalk it up to magic, like everything else.

We walked to Central Park—which was only a few blocks away from where we broke down. Hayden took the lead, clutching her bag the whole way. I thought of my sword strapped to my belt, and hoped that it looked inconspicuous through the Mist, like a baseball bat or something else slightly less threatening.

The deeper we headed into the park, the scarcer the crowds became. By the time we got to the Bethesda Terrace, there was no one around but a family with two toddlers and a lady snapping pictures of the fountain from the top of the stairs.

I've been here before on fieldtrips to the city, but I've never paid much attention to the fountain and instead goofed off with my friends. In the center of the pool stood the fountain with the statue of an eight foot angel at the top. Beneath her feet were four cherubs.

Hayden took her axe out of her bag and held it upside down. She created a mist curtain with one hand while she mumbled some words that I could quite understand. I swear I saw one of Argus's eyes widen a bit, like he read her lips and knew what she said. I didn't think much about that until later.

The jewel at the base glowed blindingly white hot. It subsided and the jewel was now crystal clear glass prism. When the sunlight hit it, a rainbow appeared, its larger reflection appearing in the mist.

She looked between me and Argus. "Got a drachma?"

"Only about twenty dollars," I said.

Hayden sighed. "Iris won't take mortal money. It has no value to the gods."

Luckily, Argus had one. He handed it to Hayden. She thanked him and held the drachma up.

"O goddess, please accept our offering." Hayden tossed it at the misty rainbow and it vanished.

For a second, nothing happened. Then, an image started to form—the side of a baby blue farm house. A familiar looking middle-aged man in a wheelchair sat near the railing, looking out into what I knew was a valley. Chiron appeared clearly in the mist and I had to pick my jaw up from the ground. I swear it looked as though he were right in front of us behind a misty screen.

"Okay," I said. "That is wicked awesome."

Chiron wasn't a jumpy kind of person, but he tensed at the sound of my voice. He looked surprise to see us—although, not surprised the he could see us.

I explained what happened, with Hayden chiming in to add the details I forgot. Chiron said that he would send the camp harpies to install new tires and bring the van back to camp. In the mean time we should just go ahead and hail a taxi.

So we were back on the street, wading through sidewalk traffic.

The Empire State Building loomed ahead. Somewhere above it was Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. I guess the Mist was thick around the godly city, because the sky above was clear and normal, no magical floating city of gods to be seen.

I was about to ask Hayden how exactly we were supposed to get to Mount Olympus when my stomach growled, sounding suspiciously like Chewbacca.

Hayden raised an eyebrow at me. "Was that you?"

"You heard that?"

"They heard it up on Mount Olympus. I'm surprised it didn't cause an earthquake."

"Well, I am the child of the Earthshaker. We left before we got any lunch. I'm starving, aren't you?" I looked around for a hotdog stand. Sure enough, there was one on the corner without a line.

I asked Argus if it was okay if we grabbed a hotdog from the stand. He nodded, and pointed to the curb, letting us know that's where he'll wait for us and try to catch our ride.

The vacant hotdog stand was manned by an old woman. There looked like there was at least a ten foot diameter of empty space around her, like people instinctually parted around her, but I couldn't tell why. She looked like a kind old grandma; a little pudgy with dyed blue hair that looked faded. Hayden's eyes narrowed, but if she thought that anything strange about it, she didn't say anything.

"Two hotdogs, please," I said in my polite made-for-adults voice.

The old woman smiled. Her name tag read "Ethel." "What a polite child you are. They don't make children like that anymore. So polite."

We told her what toppings and condiments we wanted. She just smiled blankly, muttering under her breath. Hayden shifted uncomfortably on her feet. I placed the money on the counter.

"You girls must be hungry," Ethel said.

"Yes ma'am," I said.

"You two must know there's no such thing as a free lunch, hmm?"

I frowned, confused. "Uh, we do, ma'am."

"Excellent." Ethel placed the hotdogs on the counter. I noticed her eyes for the first time that her eyes were bright yellow—unnaturally yellow. I wondered if she wore colored contacts or something.

What old lady you know wears colored contacts?

Next to me, Hayden's hand crept into her bag. Her eyes were as hard as diamonds.

"I can't give you your food," she said, "not yet. Not until you answer my question."

I had no idea what she was talking about and, honestly, Ethel was freaking me out.

"No thanks." My voice sounded steely, even to myself. "We just want our food."

"I can't do that."

I glared at her. "Then I want my money back."

I reached for the money and Ethel grabbed my hand, holding it in place on the counter. But it wasn't an old woman's hand on mine—it was the massive paw of a lion. Large black claws dug into my skin, drawing blood.

My eyed went wide. I tried to wretch my hand back but Ethel held my hand still, claws going deeper. I realized that if she wanted to, she could rip my hand apart faster than I could blink. I stopped wiggling.

"Good girl," the Sphinx purred. "Now are you paying attention?"

I looked back at Argus, but his eyes—only two of them visible— were busy looking for a taxi. I thought about speaking up to draw his attention, but I had no idea if Argus was a fighter. I didn't want to endanger him if not.

Hayden glowered at the Sphinx. "Let her go."

"No, I—"

"You're making me mad—"

"And you are testing my patience!" the monster snapped. "I have a special riddle for the two of you; all you need to do is answer it. If you can do that, then you get to eat. But if you don't, well… I eat."

She ran her tongue over her lips. I shivered.

Hayden's stare was deadly cold. "Answer a question. That's all we have to do?

The Sphinx nodded."

"Fine. What is it?"

"There are two sisters: one gives birth to the other and she, in turn, gives birth to the first. What are their names?"

"Gross," I murmured.

"Is that your final answer?"

"No!" Hayden cried. "Can we have a minute?"

Before the monster could answer, Hayden turned to me, whispering, "I've never heard this one. I only thought that the Sphinx told one riddle about—"

"Man?" the Sphinx cut off, sneering. "Well, everyone's heard that one. We can't very well ask the same riddle over and over now, can we?"

"I don't suppose we get a hint now, do we?" I asked dryly.

"No hints!" Her nails dug in a little deeper.

"Okay!" I said, a little squeakier than I would like to admit. "No hints! Got it. Hayden, isn't there a myth like this?"

Hayden's face was pale. I could almost see the gears turning in her head to come up with an answer. "I… I don't—"

"You give up?" the Sphinx asked.

"No," I said. I racked at my brain, but nothing came, just a stupid idea. "I know!"

Hayden looked at me. "You do?"

I gave her a look that said "just work with me here." I glanced at her hand in her bag, hoping that she understood. Thank the gods she did. Get ready for a fight.

"I do. The answer is, absolutely, without nary of a doubt, indisputably—"

"Stop stalling!"

"The answer is… Selene the moon goddess and her sister…Ios? No! Eos, goddess of the dawn. Right?"

Hayden's eyes widened. "Of course! They're the two sisters. Eos is like day, Selene is sort of like night. The lead into each other, like birth. "

I exhaled, glad that all that reading finally paid off. I was feeling pretty smart, and a little proud of myself, until Ethel said, "Incorrect."

My stomach dropped into the underworld.

"The answer," she went on, "is Hemera and Nyx, of course. Day and night. You were half right, but I don't count partial credit. Now, it is lunch time."

Sweat trickled down my temple. I'd be devoured before I could even get to my sword.

Hayden's brow knit together, deep in thought. She looked confused. "How can that even be the answer? Hemera is the daughter of Nyx, not her sister. That's common sense."

Ethel glowered at her. "You dare to challenge my knowledge?"

"I do! Your knowledge is weak and your question is invalid."

"Enough! Since you did not answer correctly, then I will—"

In a blink, Hayden grabbed a dagger from her bag. She stabbed the monster in the wrist, narrowly missing my fingers.

The Sphinx roared in pain. The cry turned into something more high pitch and shrill—it was so loud that I was sure that they heard it all the way in Jersey. The sound sent my heart into a gallop.

Hayden grabbed my hand. "Come on!"

I didn't argue. Hayden and I sprinted down the street, leaving the Sphinx and the Empire State building behind us.