A 1

Piper couldn’t shake the feeling that Bacchus was meant to help them. The giant twins were in
Rome. They were keeping something the demigods needed—something in that bronze jar. Whatever
it was, she got the feeling it held the answer to sealing the Doors of Death—the key to endless death.
She also felt sure they could never defeat the giants without Bacchus’s help. And if they couldn’t do
that in five days, Rome would be destroyed, and Hazel’s brother, Nico, would die.
On the other hand, if the vision of Bacchus offering her a silver goblet was false, maybe the other
visions didn’t have to come true either—especially the one of her, Percy, and Jason drowning. Maybe
that was just symbolic.
The blood of a female demigod, Gaea had said, and the blood of a male. Piper, my dear, choose which hero
will die with you.
“She wants two of us,” Piper murmured.
Everyone turned to look at her.
Piper hated being the center of attention. Maybe that was strange for a child of Aphrodite, but
she’d watched her dad, the movie star, deal with fame for years. She remembered when Aphrodite had
claimed her at the bonfire in front of the entire camp, zapping her with a magic beauty-queen
makeover. That had been the most embarrassing moment of her life. Even here, with only six other
demigods, Piper felt exposed.
They’re my friends, she told herself. It’s okay.
But she had a strange feeling…as if more than six sets of eyes were watching her.
“Today on the highway,” she said, “Gaea told me that she needed the blood of only two
demigods—one female, one male. She—she asked me to choose which boy would die.”
Jason squeezed her hand. “But neither of us died. You saved us.”
“I know. It’s just…Why would she want that?”