She reached the crane and leaped over the side of the railing, shinnying down the metal arm like it was a tree branch. He spotted us and lumbered over with slow, grim determination.Īnnabeth ran. “DEATH!” Cacus stormed up the steps and onto the High Line. “Would you like fries and a drink, maybe?” If you can snag the caduceus while he’s distracted, that would be great.” She smiled in a way that made me glad I wasn’t the giant. My girlfriend: sophomore honors student, demigod, and-oh, yeah-head architect for redesigning the palace of the gods on Mount Olympus in her spare time. “I’ve supervised bigger equipment on Mount Olympus.” I’d taken her to the arcade at Coney Island, and we’d come back with a sackful of stuffed animals. “Percy, you know I rock at grabber-arm games.” “Too dangerous.”Īnnabeth raised her eyebrow. Suddenly I understood what Annabeth was planning, and I felt like I was trying to swallow a quarter. Far above us, a big metal claw hung from the crane’s arm-probably what they’d been using to hoist garden supplies. Jutting over the edge of the railing was the arm of a crane that must’ve been sitting down at ground level. Stacks of potting soil bags and plant flats sat on the gravel. The shorter piece of the Y was a dead end-part of the park that was still under construction. Got a little distracted.Ī hundred feet away, the old railroad tracks split and the elevated platform formed a Y. The way her Camp Half-Blood beads rested against her throat-Okay, sorry. Her face shone like a goddess’s, and believe me, I’ve seen goddesses. I know that’s a crazy thing to say, especially after we’d just climbed a sewage waterfall, but her gray eyes sparkled when she was fighting for her life. “I’m working on it.” She was beautiful in combat. I’d never actually seen a child of Demeter do that, but it would be cool. Maybe they could entangle the giant in vines, or turn flowers into ninja throwing stars. I wished we had a child of Demeter with us. All I saw were benches, walkways, and lots of plants. I scanned the park, hoping for something that would help. I figured we only had a few seconds before he found us. Somewhere below us, Cacus was roaring, cursing, and offering panicked mortals deep discounts on slightly damp Rolexes.

The High Line was empty, though-maybe because it was a workday, or maybe because the visitors were smart and ran when they heard the explosions.

The demigod diaries