the_blood_of_olympus_-_rick_riordan

like a neon heart. Leo checked his compass and GPS, and a grin spread across his face.
‘Festus, good news!’ he shouted. ‘Our navigation readings are completely messed up!’
Festus said, Creak?
‘Yeah! Descend! Get us below these clouds and maybe –’
The dragon plummeted so fast that the breath was sucked out of Leo’s lungs.
They broke through the blanket of white and there, below them, was a single green island in a vast
blue sea.
Leo whooped so loudly they probably heard him in China. ‘YEAH! WHO DIED? WHO CAME
BACK? WHO’S YOUR FREAKIN’ SUPERSIZED McSHIZZLE NOW, BABY? WOOOOOOOO!’
They spiralled towards Ogygia, the warm wind in Leo’s hair. He realized his clothes were in
tatters, despite the magic they’d been woven with. His arms were covered in a fine layer of soot, like
he’d just died in a massive fire … which, of course, he had.
But he couldn’t worry about any of that.
She was standing on the beach, wearing jeans and a white blouse, her amber hair pulled back.
Festus spread his wings and landed with a stumble. Apparently one of his legs was broken. The
dragon pitched sideways and catapulted Leo face-first into the sand.
So much for a heroic entrance.
Leo spat a piece of seaweed out of his mouth. Festus dragged himself down the beach, made
clacking noises that meant Ow, ow, ow.
Leo looked up. Calypso stood over him, her arms crossed, her eyebrows arched.
‘You’re late,’ she announced. Her eyes gleamed.
‘Sorry, Sunshine,’ Leo said. ‘Traffic was murder.’
‘You are covered with soot,’ she noted. ‘And you managed to ruin the clothes I made for you,
which were impossible to ruin.’
‘Well, you know.’ Leo shrugged. Somebody had released a hundred pachinko balls in his chest.
‘I’m all about doing the impossible.’
She offered her hand and helped him up. They stood nose to nose as she studied his condition. She
smelled like cinnamon. Had she always had that tiny freckle next to her left eye? Leo really wanted to
touch it.
She wrinkled her nose. ‘You smell –’
‘I know. Like I’ve been dead. Probably because I have been. Oath to keep with a final breath and
all, but I’m better now –’
She stopped him with a kiss.
The pachinko balls slammed around inside him. He felt so happy he had to make a conscious effort
not to burst into flames.
When she finally let him go, her face was covered in soot smudges. She didn’t seem to care. She
traced her thumb across his cheekbone.
‘Leo Valdez,’ she said.
Nothing else – just his name, as if it were something magical.
‘That’s me,’ he said, his voice ragged. ‘So, um … you want to get off this island?’