BLOOD OF OLYMPUS

mouth.
‘Hold it,’ Piper said. ‘Is there something wrong with Leo or not?’
Asclepius cleared his throat. ‘I … never mind. Forget I said anything. Now, you want the
physician’s cure.’
Piper frowned. ‘But –’
‘Seriously, guys,’ Leo said, ‘I’m fine, except for the fact that Gaia’s destroying the world
tomorrow. Let’s focus.’
They didn’t look happy about it, but Asclepius forged ahead. ‘So this daisy was picked by my
father, Apollo?’
‘Yep,’ Leo said. ‘He sends hugs and kisses.’
Asclepius picked up the flower and sniffed it. ‘I do hope Dad comes through this war all right.
Zeus can be … quite unreasonable. Now, the only missing ingredient is the heartbeat of the chained
god.’
‘I have it,’ Piper said. ‘At least … I can summon the makhai.’
‘Excellent. Just a moment, dear.’ He looked at his python. ‘Spike, are you ready?’
Leo stifled a laugh. ‘Your snake’s name is Spike?’
Spike looked at him balefully. He hissed, revealing a crown of spikes around his neck like a
basilisk’s.
Leo’s laugh crawled back down his throat to die. ‘My bad,’ he said. ‘Of course your name is
Spike.’
‘He’s a little grumpy,’ Asclepius said. ‘People are always confusing my staff with the staff of
Hermes, which has two snakes, obviously. Over the centuries, people have called Hermes’s staff the
symbol of medicine, when of course it should be my staff. Spike feels slighted. George and Martha
get all the attention. Anyway …’
Asclepius set the daisy and poison in front of Spike. ‘Pylosian mint – certainty of death. The curse
of Delos – anchoring that which cannot be anchored. Now the final ingredient: the heartbeat of the
chained god – chaos, violence and fear of mortality.’ He turned to Piper. ‘My dear, you may release
the makhai.’
Piper closed her eyes.
Wind swirled through the room. Angry voices wailed. Leo felt a strange desire to smack Spike
with a hammer. He wanted to strangle the good doctor with his bare hands.
Then Spike unhinged his jaw and swallowed the angry wind. His neck ballooned as the spirits of
battle went down his throat. He snapped up the daisy and the vial of Pylosian mint for dessert.
‘Won’t the poison hurt him?’ Jason asked.
‘No, no,’ Asclepius said. ‘Wait and see.’
A moment later Spike belched out a new vial – a stoppered glass tube no bigger than Leo’s finger.
Dark red liquid glowed inside.
‘The physician’s cure.’ Asclepius picked up the vial and turned it in the light. His expression
became serious, then bewildered. ‘Wait … why did I agree to make this?’
Piper placed her hand palm up on the desk. ‘Because we need it to save the world. It’s very