the_blood_of_olympus_-_rick_riordan

air and lunged at Orion. Reyna stabbed at his chest. The giant intercepted both of their attacks with his
bow.
He kicked Hylla backwards into the hood of an old Chevy. Half a dozen cats scattered from
underneath it. The giant spun, a dagger suddenly in his hand, and Reyna just managed to dodge the
blade.
She stabbed again, ripping through his leather jerkin, but only managed to graze his chest.
‘You fight well, Praetor,’ he admitted. ‘But not well enough to live.’
Reyna willed her blade to extend into a pilum. ‘My death means nothing.’
If her friends could continue their quest in peace, she was fully prepared to go down fighting. But
first she intended to hurt this giant so badly he would never forget her name.
‘What about your sister’s death?’ Orion asked. ‘Does that mean something?’
Faster than Reyna could blink, he sent an arrow flying towards Hylla’s chest. A scream built in
Reyna’s throat, but somehow Hylla caught the arrow.
Hylla slid off the hood of the car and snapped the arrow with one hand. ‘I am the queen of the
Amazons, you idiot. I wear the royal belt. With the strength it gives me, I will avenge the Amazons
you killed today.’
Hylla grabbed the front bumper of the Chevy and flipped the entire car towards Orion, as easily as
if she were splashing him with water in a swimming pool.
The Chevy sandwiched Orion against the wall of the nearest house. Stucco cracked. A banana tree
toppled. More cats fled.
Reyna ran towards the wreckage, but the giant bellowed and shoved away the car.
‘You will die together!’ he promised. Two arrows appeared nocked in his bow, the string fully
drawn back.
Then the rooftops exploded with noise.
‘DIE!’ Gleeson Hedge dropped directly behind Orion, smacking his baseball bat over the giant’s
head so hard the Louisville Slugger cracked in half.
At the same time, Nico di Angelo dropped in front. He slashed his Stygian sword across the giant’s
bowstring, causing pulleys and gears to zip and creak, the string recoiling with hundreds of pounds of
force until it whacked Orion in the nose like a hydraulic bullwhip.
‘OOOOOOOOW!!’ Orion staggered backwards, dropping his bow.
Hunters of Artemis appeared along the rooftops, shooting Orion full of silver arrows until he
resembled a glowing hedgehog. He staggered blindly, holding his nose, his face streaming with
golden ichor.
Someone grabbed Reyna’s arm. ‘Come on!’ Thalia Grace had returned.
‘Go with her!’ Hylla ordered.
Reyna’s heart felt like it was shattering. ‘Sister –’
‘You have to leave! NOW!’ It was exactly what Hylla had said to her six years ago, the night they
escaped their father’s house. ‘I’ll delay Orion as long as possible.’
Hylla grabbed one of the giant’s legs. She yanked him off balance and tossed him several blocks
down the Calle San Jose, to the general consternation of several dozen more cats. The Hunters ran