BLOOD OF OLYMPUS

of cold and distant, like they didn’t want me around. I don’t think they liked that I’m a son of Mars.
Honestly, I don’t think they liked that I’m Chinese, either.’
Piper glared into the sky. The seagull was long gone, which was probably a good thing. She would
have been tempted to shoot it out of the air with a glazed ham. ‘If your cousins feel that way, they’re
idiots. They don’t know how great you are.’
Frank shuffled from foot to foot. ‘They got a little more friendly when I told them I was just passing
through. They gave me a going-away present.’
He opened his hand. In his palm gleamed a metallic vial no bigger than an eyedropper.
Piper resisted the urge to step away. ‘Is that the poison?’
Frank nodded. ‘They call it Pylosian mint. Apparently the plant sprang from the blood of a nymph
who died on a mountain near here, back in ancient times. I didn’t ask for details.’
The vial was so tiny … Piper worried there wouldn’t be enough. Normally she didn’t wish for
more deadly poison. Nor was she sure how it would help them make the so-called physician’s cure
that Nike had mentioned. But, if the cure could really cheat death, Piper wanted to brew a six-pack –
one dose for each of her friends.
Frank rolled the vial around in his palm. ‘I wish Vitellius Reticulus were here.’
Piper wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. ‘Ridiculous who?’
A smile flickered across his mouth. ‘Gaius Vitellius Reticulus, although we did call him
Ridiculous sometimes. He was one of the Lares of the Fifth Cohort. Kind of a goofball, but he was the
son of Aesculapius, the healing god. If anybody knew about this physician’s cure … he might.’
‘A healing god would be nice,’ Piper mused. ‘Better than having a screaming, tied-up victory
goddess on board.’
‘Hey, you’re lucky. My cabin is closest to the stables. I can hear her yelling all night: FIRST
PLACE OR DEATH! AN A-MINUS IS A FAILING GRADE! Leo really needs to design a gag that’s
better than my old sock.’
Piper shuddered. She still didn’t understand why it had been a good idea to take the goddess
captive. The sooner they got rid of Nike, the better. ‘So your cousins … did they have any advice
about what comes next? This chained god we’re supposed to find in Sparta?’
Frank’s expression darkened. ‘Yeah. I’m afraid they had some thoughts on that. Let’s get back to
the ship and I’ll tell you about it.’
Piper’s feet were killing her. She wondered if she could convince Frank to turn into a giant eagle
and carry her, but, before she could ask, she heard footsteps in the sand behind them.
‘Hello, nice tourists!’ A scraggly fisherman with a white captain’s hat and a mouth full of gold
teeth beamed at them. ‘Boat ride? Very cheap!’
He gestured to the shore, where a skiff with an outboard motor waited.
Piper returned his smile. She loved it when she could communicate with the locals.
‘Yes, please,’ she said in her best charmspeak. ‘And we’d like you to take us somewhere special.’
The boat captain dropped them at the Argo II, anchored a quarter of a mile out to sea. Piper pressed a
wad of euros into the captain’s hands.