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He nodded to the other spire that looked like the king-size granite body bag. Was Leo imagining it, or had<br />
it grown taller since they‘d gotten here?<br />
―That, Jason,‖ Hera said, ―is the king of the giants being reborn.‖<br />
―Gross,‖ Piper said.<br />
―Indeed,‖ Hera said. ―Porphyrion, the strongest of his kind. Gaea needed a great deal of power to raise<br />
him again —my power. For weeks I‘ve grown weaker as my essence was used to grow him a new form.‖<br />
―So you‘re like a heat lamp,‖ Leo guessed. ―Or fertilizer.‖<br />
<strong>The</strong> goddess glared at him, but Leo didn‘t care. This old lady had been making his life miserable since he<br />
was a baby. He totally had rights to rag on her.<br />
―Joke all you wish,‖ Hera said in a clipped tone. ―But at sundown, it will be too late. <strong>The</strong> giant will awake.<br />
He will offer me a choice: marry him, or be consumed by the earth. And I cannot marry him. We will all be<br />
destroyed. And as we die, Gaea will awaken.‖<br />
Leo frowned at the giant‘s spire. ―Can‘t we blow it up or something?‖<br />
―Without me, you do not have the power,‖ Hera said. ―You might as well try to destroy a mountain.‖<br />
―Done that once today,‖ Jason said.<br />
―Just hurry up and let me out!‖ Hera demanded.<br />
Jason scratched his head. ―Leo, can you do it?‖<br />
―I don‘t know.‖ Leo tried not to panic. ―Besides, if she‘s a goddess, why hasn‘t she busted herself out?‖<br />
Hera paced furiously around her cage, cursing in Ancient Greek. ―Use your brain, Leo Valdez.<br />
I picked you because you‘re intelligent. Once trapped, a god‘s power is useless. Your own father trapped me<br />
once in a golden chair. It was humiliating! I had to beg—beg him for my freedom and apologize for throwing him<br />
off Olympus.‖<br />
―Sounds fair,‖ Leo said.<br />
Hera gave him the godly stink-eye. ―I‘ve watched you since you were a child, son of Hephaestus, because<br />
I knew you could aid me at this moment. If anyone can find a way to destroy this abomination, it is you.‖<br />
―But it‘s not a machine. It‘s like Gaea thrust her hand out of the ground and …‖ Leo felt dizzy. <strong>The</strong> line of<br />
their prophecy came back to him: <strong>The</strong> forge and dove shall break the cage.―Hold on. I do have an idea. Piper,<br />
I‘m going to need your help. And we‘re going to need time.‖<br />
<strong>The</strong> air turned brittle with cold. <strong>The</strong> temperature dropped so fast, Leo‘s lips cracked and his breath<br />
changed to mist. Frost coated the walls of the Wolf House. Ventirushed in —but instead of winged men, these<br />
were shaped like horses, with dark storm-cloud bodies and manes that crackled with lightning. Some had silver<br />
arrows sticking out of their flanks. Behind them came red-eyed wolves and the six-armed Earthborn.<br />
Piper drew her dagger. Jason grabbed an ice-covered plank off the pool floor. Leo reached into his tool<br />
belt, but he was so shaken up, all he produced was a tin of breath mints. He shoved them back in, hoping<br />
nobody had noticed, and drew a hammer instead.<br />
One of the wolves padded forward. It was dragging a human-size statue by the leg. At the edge of the<br />
pool, the wolf opened its maw and dropped the statue for them to see—an ice sculpture of a girl, an archer with<br />
short spiky hair and a surprised look on her face.<br />
―Thalia!‖ Jason rushed forward, but Piper and Leo pulled him back. <strong>The</strong> ground around Thalia‘s statue<br />
was already webbed with ice. Leo feared if Jason touched her, he might freeze too.<br />
―Who did this?‖ Jason yelled. His body crackled with electricity. ―I‘ll kill you myself!‖<br />
From somewhere behind the monsters, Leo heard a girl‘s laughter, clear and cold. She stepped out of the<br />
mist in her snowy white dress, a silver crown atop her long black hair. She regarded them with those deep<br />
brown eyes Leo had thought were so beautiful in Quebec.<br />
“Bon soir, mes amis,” said Khione, the goddess of snow. She gave Leo a frosty smile. ―Alas, son of<br />
Hephaestus, you say you need time? I‘m afraid time is one tool you do not have.‖<br />
AFTER THE FIGHT ON MOUNT DIABLO, Jason didn‘t think he could ever feel more afraid or devastated.<br />
Now his sister was frozen at his feet. He was surrounded by monsters. He‘d broken his golden sword and<br />
replaced it with a piece of wood. He had approximately five minutes until the king of the giants busted out and<br />
destroyed them. Jason had already pulled his biggest ace, calling down Zeus‘s lightning when he‘d fought<br />
Enceladus, and he doubted he‘d have the strength or the cooperation from above to do it again. Which meant<br />
his only assets were one whiny imprisoned goddess, one sort-of girlfriend with a dagger, and Leo, who<br />
apparently thought he could defeat the armies of darkness with breath mints.<br />
On top of all this, Jason‘s worst memories were flooding back. He knew for certain he‘d done many<br />
dangerous things in his life, but he‘d never been closer to death than he was right now.
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