A 1

Her fortune cookie was still in Leo’s tool belt, waiting to be opened. Soon you will face a problem
you cannot solve, though I could help you…for a price.
Leo wished he could pluck that memory out of his head and shove it in his tool belt. It was taking
up too much space. “We’ve all got weaknesses,” he said. “Me, for instance. I’m tragically funny and
good-looking.”
Frank snorted. “You might have weaknesses. But your life doesn’t depend on a piece of firewood.”
“No,” Leo admitted. He started thinking: if Frank’s problem were his problem, how would he
solve it? Almost every design flaw could be fixed. “I wonder…”
He looked across the room and faltered. The three American tourists were coming their way; no
more circling or sneaking. They were making a straight line for Raphael’s tomb, and all three were
glaring at Leo.
“Uh, Frank?” Leo asked. “Has it been ten minutes yet?”
Frank followed his gaze. The Americans’ faces were angry and confused, like they were
sleepwalking through a very annoying nightmare.
“Leo Valdez,” called the guy in the ROMA shirt. His voice had changed. It was hollow and metallic.
He spoke English as if it was a second language. “We meet again.”
All three tourists blinked, and their eyes turned solid gold.
Frank yelped. “Eidolons!”
The manatees clenched their beefy fists. Normally, Leo wouldn’t have worried about getting
murdered by overweight guys in floppy hats, but he suspected the eidolons were dangerous even in
those bodies, especially since the spirits wouldn’t care whether their hosts survived or not.
“They can’t fit down the hole,” Leo said.
“Right,” Frank said. “Underground is sounding really good.”