THEY STOPPED AT the front porch. A loose ring of campfires glowed in the woods, completely surrounding the property, but the house itself seemed untouched.

Wind chimes jangled in the night breeze. A wicker chair sat empty, facing the road. Lights shone through the downstairs windows.

Frank hesitated at the door.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

Frank didn't respond, still staring at the door with a cloudy gaze.

"Frank?" Hazel asked.

"Ella is nervous," the harpy muttered from her perch on the railing. "The elephant — the elephant is looking at Ella."

"It'll be fine." Frank's hand shook as he fit the key in the lock. "Just stay together."

Inside, the house smelled closed-up and musty. They examined the living room, the dining room, the kitchen. Dirty dishes were stacked in the sink. In the parlor, Buddha statues and Taoist immortals grinned at them like psycho clowns. Mia remembered Iris, the rainbow goddess, who'd been dabbling in Buddhism and Taoism. Mia figured one visit to this creepy old house would cure her of that. Large porcelain vases were strung with cobwebs. The fireplace was dark and cold.

Hazel hugged her chest. "Is that—"

"Yeah," Frank said. "That's it."

"That's what?" Mia asked. What was up with that fireplace? It seemed normal.

"It's the fireplace," Frank told her, which was stupidly obvious. "Come on. Let's check upstairs."

The steps creaked under their feet. Frank's room had an extra bow and quiver, spelling awards from school, and photos of a woman that really looked like him.

"Your mother?" Hazel asked gently. "She's beautiful."

They checked the other bedrooms. The middle two were empty. A dim light flickered under the last door.

Frank knocked quietly. No one answered. He pushed open the door. An old woman lay in bed, looking gaunt and frail, her white hair spread around her face like a basilisk's crown. A single candle burned on the nightstand.

"Mars," Frank said.

"Frank?" Hazel whispered. "What do mean, Mars? Is your grandmother . . . is she okay?"

Frank glanced at Mia, Percy, and Hazel. "You don't see him?"

"See who?" Percy gripped his sword. "Mars? Where?"

"Guys, it's . . . it's nothing. Listen, why don't you take the middle bedrooms?"

"Roof," Ella said. "Roofs are good for harpies."

"Sure," Frank said, though he seemed like he was somewhere else. "There's probably food in the kitchen. Would you give me a few minutes alone with my grandmother? I think she—"

His voice broke.

Hazel laid her hand on his arm. "Of course, Frank. Come on, Ella, Percy, Amelia."

They left him to go into that room, wandering around the house and taking stock of their resources. Eventually, though, they decided to use those resources to their advantage. Besides, it was really nice to stay in an actual house again, even if it was only for a night.

Percy and Hazel mustered up sandwiches for dinner while Mia had taken a shower and changed into comfortable clothes. They ate, and then Hazel took a shower while Mia and Percy washed dishes and started making their beds.

"Hey," Percy said, and Mia looked over at him for a second before focusing on the dishes. "Thanks for bailing me out of the jail. I don't know what you two did with Hylla to swing that, but . . . thanks."

Mia shrugged. "It was nothing, really," she said. "Hylla was nice. Just because you wronged her in your past life, doesn't mean that she was really hostile."

"Hey! I barely remember that!" Percy protested.

"That doesn't matter. Not when someone's been hurt like that," Mia said, then she grimaced as she realized that that was a little more somber than what she'd wanted to say. "But, you know, I've always wanted to do a prison break."

"You mean you haven't done a prison break yet?" he teased her.

She rolled her eyes. "I find myself on the right side of the law, thank you very much. And then you lot came, and now I'm dancing between the line between both sides of the law."

He smiled at her, but then it faltered. "Dancing . . ."

Shit. Oh. Shit. Percy stared at her, as if trying to find answers from her. Mia stared at him right back, her eyes dropping to his parted lips for a second before she cursed herself again, turning to finish the dishes, because she was so close to being done. "Are you telling me that you're a dancer, Percy Jackson?"

"I — I don't think so," he looked troubled. "There was this girl . . . who taught me how to dance, I think."

Mia hummed, offering him a plate to dry. After a couple of seconds, he took it, absentmindedly drying it as he thought. "That's cute. I'd love to learn how to dance. It seems very freeing."

"Yeah . . ." she felt a gaze on hers, and she looked over to see him staring at her. "It was."

"Your turn!" Hazel called, coming down the stairs and making them both jump. "Sorry!"

"It's okay," Percy told her, putting the dried plate in the cupboard. "Thanks, Hazel."

"Don't forget to do the laundry when you're done," Mia told him. "Our clothes — yours, especially — smell awful."

He wrinkled up his nose at her as he left. "Alright, Miss Gucci."

He went out of earshot, and Mia finally finished the dishes. She put them all away as Hazel watched her. "Do you want to ask me something, Hazel?"

"You know him," Hazel said. "You have to had known him."

Mia's eyebrows raised by just a hair. "I thought you knew this by now," she said. "What's up, Hazel?"

"Why aren't you telling him who he is?"

"Because I made an oath to mother and to Pluto," Mia snapped. "Just before we got you out of Asphodel — they made us swear. And it's not like I've—" she sighed. "It's not like I've done good things, in this life and in my past life. But all I have to do is endure. You understand. And you can't tell him, or anyone else about this, if you want them knocking at your door." She rubbed her eyes, her feet leading her toward the stairs. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Hazel, I'm going to finally get sleep for the first time in days."

She made it to her room and immediately passed out, her dreams full of memories from her past life that she'd pushed down a long time ago that were finally resurfacing.

* * *

The next morning, Mia got word that they were sent to the attic, where a bunch of weapons were. She ignored them and stood at the roof, peering down below.

Down in the yard, the ogres were milling around, shoving each other, occasionally yelling at the house, and throwing bronze cannonballs that exploded in midair. Mia scrunched up her nose as she watched them, eating a bag of chocolate covered cookie dough bites that would probably be the only thing keeping her awake today.

Eventually, Percy and Hazel followed her up. They stayed on the roof, trying to strategize — but without Frank, they couldn't really have a plan. Also, the ogres kept sending cannonballs up. Mia kept having to send up flowers in order to engulf the cannonballs, making them disappear, but she was starting to tire after a while. Eventually, Percy found a garden hose and helped her out by summoning a high-powered blast of water and detonating the sphere in midair.

Finally, Mia heard the familiar sound of the ladder being pulled down, and she assumed it was Frank when Percy turned around and didn't totally freak out or whatever.

"Morning," Percy said grimly. "Beautiful day, huh?"

Another cannonball soared through the air, and another one of Mia's flowers flew and caught the cannonball in midair, making it disappear. The flower flew to her hand, and she tucked it in her hair. "You're telling me," she sighed. "Sorry about your flowers, by the way, Frank."

When she looked back at him, he shrugged, staring at Hazel with a dopey smile.

She patrolled the widow's walk between the two attic gables. She'd changed into jeans, a cream-colored jacket that Mia had given her, and a white shirt. Her curly hair fell around her shoulders.

She gripped her sword. When she glanced at Frank, her eyes flashed with concern. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Why are you smiling?"

"Oh, uh, nothing," he said, losing the dopey smile. "Thanks for breakfast. And the clothes. And . . . not hating me."

Hazel looked baffled. "Why would I hate you?"

"It's just . . . last night," Frank stammered. "When I summoned the skeleton. I thought . . . I thought that you thought . . . I was repulsive . . . or something."

She raised her eyebrows. She shook her head in dismay. "Frank, maybe I was surprised. Maybe I was scared of that thing. But repulsed? The way you commanded it, so confident and everything %% like, Oh, by the way, guys, I have this all-powerful spartus we can use. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't repulsed, Frank. I was impressed."

Frank's eyebrows furrowed. "You were . . . impressed . . . by me?"

Mia let out a huffed laugh. "It was pretty amazing."

"Honest?" Frank asked.

"Honest," Hazel promised. "But right now, we have other problems to worry about. Okay?"

She gestured at the army of ogres, who were getting increasingly bold, shuffling closer and closer to the house.

Percy readied the garden hose. "I've got one more trick up my sleeve. Your lawn has a sprinkler system. I can blow it up and cause some confusion down there, but that'll destroy your water pressure. No pressure, no hose, and those cannonballs are going to plow right into the house."

"Guys, I've got an escape plan." Frank told them about a plane waiting at the airfield, and his grandmother's note for the pilot. "He's a legion veteran. He'll help us."

"But Arion's not back," Hazel said. "And what about your grandmother? We can't just leave her."

Frank choked back a sob. "Maybe — maybe Arion will find us. As for my grandmother . . . she was pretty clear. She said she'd be okay."

"There's another problem," Percy said. "I'm not good with air travel. It's dangerous for a son of Neptune."

"You'll have to risk it . . . and so will I," Frank said. "By the way, we're related." Percy almost stumbled off the roof, and Mia snickered at him. "What?"

Frank gave them the five-second version: "Periclymenus. Ancestor on my mom's side. Argonaut. Grandson of Poseidon."

Hazel's mouth fell open. "You're a — a descendant of Neptune? Frank, that's—"

"Crazy? Yeah. And there's this ability my family has, supposedly. But I don't know how to use it. If I can't figure it out—"

Another massive cheer went up from the Laistrygonians. They were staring up at Frank, pointing and waving and laughing. They had spotted their breakfast.

"Zhang!" they yelled. "Zhang!"

Hazel stepped closer to him. "They keep doing that. Why are they yelling your name?"

"Never mind," Frank said. "Listen, we've got to protect Ella, take her with us."

"Of course," Mia said. "The poor thing needs our help."

"No," Frank said. "I mean yes, but it's not just that. She recited a prophecy downstairs. I think . . . I think it was about this quest."

He repeated the lines. Mia gritted her teeth. That was just lovely.

Percy's jaw tightened. "I don't know how a son of Neptune can drown. I can breathe underwater. But the crown of the legion—"

"That's got to be the eagle," Mia said.

Percy nodded. "And Ella recited something like this once before, in Portland — a line from the old Great Prophecy."

"The what?" Frank asked.

"Tell you later." Percy turned his garden hose on and shot another cannonball out of the sky.

It exploded in an orange fireball. The ogres clapped with appreciation and yelled, "Pretty! Pretty!"

"The thing is," Frank said, "Ella remembers everything she reads. She said something about the page being burned, like she'd read a damaged text of prophecies."

Hazel's eyes widened. "Burned books of prophecy? You don't think — but that's impossible!"

"The books Octavian wanted, back at camp?" Percy guessed.

Mia whistled. "The lost Sibylline books that outlined the entire destiny of Rome. If Ella actually read a copy somehow, and memorized it—"

"Then she's the most valuable harpy in the world," Frank said. "No wonder Phineas wanted to capture her."

"Frank Zhang!" an ogre shouted from below. He was bigger than the rest, wearing a lion's cape like a Roman standard bearer and a plastic bib with a lobster on it. "Come down, son of Mars! We've been waiting for you. Come, be our honored guest!"

Hazel gripped Frank's arm. "Why do I get the feeling that 'honored guest' means the same thing as 'dinner'?"

Frank looked at Mia and Percy. "Can one of you drive?"

She shrugged. "I have my license with me. Why?"

"Grandmother's car is in the garage. It's an old Cadillac. The thing is like a tank. If you can get it started—"

"We'll still have to break through a line of ogres," Hazel said.

"The sprinkler system," Percy said. "Use it as a distraction?"

"Exactly," Frank said. "I'll buy you as much time as I can. Get Ella, and get in the car. I'll try to meet you in the garage, but don't wait for me."

Percy frowned. "Frank—"

"Give us your answer, Frank Zhang!" the ogre yelled up. "Come down, and we will spare the others — your friends, your poor old granny. We only want you!"

"They're lying," Mia muttered.

"Yeah, I got that," Frank agreed. "Go!"

They ran for the ladder, gunning for the car. But it was hard when Mia hadn't memorized the interior of the house, and Ella was, honestly, so slow.

But they did it, eventually. Mia grabbed the keys and unlocked the doors to the car. She burst in, putting in the keys and hearing the engine purr. She went to open the garage, the headlights and the newly arriving sun illuminating the garage as Percy joined her in shotgun after securing Ella in the back and Hazel in the middle.

Finally, Frank burst in to the garage, the interior of the house burning behind him.

"Get in!" Percy yelled.

Frank dove in the middle next to Hazel. Ella was curled up in the back, her head tucked under her wings, muttering,

"Yikes. Yikes. Yikes."

Mia gunned the engine. They shot out of the garage before it was fully open, leaving a Cadillac-shaped hole of splintered wood. Whoops.

The ogres ran to intercept, but Percy shouted at the top of his lungs, and the irrigation system exploded. A hundred geysers shot into the air along with clods of dirt, pieces of pipe, and very heavy sprinkler heads.

The Cadillac was going about forty when they hit the first ogre, who disintegrated on impact. By the time the other monsters overcame their confusion, the Cadillac was half a mile down the road. Flaming cannonballs burst behind them.

"Hell yeah!" Mia laughed. She loved the thrill of driving — even though she didn't do it much, since shadow travel and of Pluto's zombie chauffeur gift to Nico.

They drove through the woods and headed north.

"About three miles!" Frank said. "You can't miss it!"

Behind them, more explosions ripped through the forest. Smoke boiled into the sky.

"How fast can Laistrygonians run?" Hazel asked.

"Let's not find out," Mia said.

The gates of the airfield appeared before them — only a few hundred yards away. A private jet idled on the runway. Its stairs were down.

The Cadillac hit a pothole and went airborne. When the wheels touched the ground, Mia floored the brakes, and they swerved to a stop just inside the gates.

Frank climbed out and drew his bow. "Get to the plane! They're coming!"

The Laistrygonians were closing in with alarming speed. The first line of ogres burst out of the woods and barreled toward the airfield — five hundred yards away, four hundred yards . . .

Mia and Hazel managed to get Ella out of the Cadillac, but as soon as the harpy saw the airplane, she began to shriek.

"N-n-no!" she yelped. "Fly with wings! N-n-no airplanes."

"It's okay," Mia promised. "We'll protect you!"

Ella made a horrible, painful wail like she was being burned.

Mia held up her hands in exasperation. "What do we do? We can't force her."

"No," Frank agreed. The ogres were three hundred yards out.

"She's too valuable to leave behind," Hazel said. Then she winced at her own words. "Gods, I'm sorry, Ella. I sound as bad as Phineas. You're a living thing, not a treasure."

"No planes. N-n-no planes." Ella was hyperventilating.

The ogres were almost in throwing distance.

Percy's eyes lit up. "I've got an idea. Ella, can you hide in the woods? Will you be safe from the ogres?"

"Hide," she agreed. "Safe. Hiding is good for harpies. Ella is quick. And small. And fast."

"Okay," Percy said. "Just stay around this area. I can send a friend to meet you and take you to Camp Jupiter."

Frank unslung his bow and nocked an arrow. "A friend?"

Percy waved his hand in a tell you later gesture. "Ella, would you like that? Would you like my friend to take you to Camp Jupiter and show you our home?"

"Camp," Ella muttered. Then in Latin: "'Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the Mark of Athena burns through Rome.'"

"Uh, right," Percy said. "That sounds important, but we can talk about that later. You'll be safe at camp. All the books and food you want."

"No planes," she insisted.

"No planes," Percy agreed.

"Ella will hide now." Just like that, she was gone — a red streak disappearing into the woods.

"I'll miss her," Hazel said sadly.

"We'll see her again," Percy promised, but he frowned uneasily, as if he were really troubled by that last bit of prophecy — the thing about Athena. Wisdom's daughter walks alone . . . Annabeth?

An explosion sent the airfield's gate spinning into the air.

Frank tossed his grandmother's letter to Percy. "Show that to the pilot! Show him your letter from Reyna too! We've got to take off now."

Percy nodded. He, Hazel, and Mia ran for the plane.

Mia and Hazel stashed all their stuff on the plane as Percy talked to the pilot. Mia heard the plane's engines rev, and she nearly let out a sigh of relief. But the threat wasn't gone yet.

Out the window, Frank was shooting arrows at the remaining ogres.

"Frank!" Hazel shrieked. "Come on!"

A fiery cannonball hurtled toward him in a slow arc. Frank nocked an arrow and let it fly. It intercepted the cannonball midair, detonating a massive fireball. Another two cannonballs sailed toward him. He ran.

Metal groaned as the Cadillac exploded. He dove into the plane just as the stairs started to rise.

The pilot must've understood the situation just fine. There was no safety announcement, no pre-flight drink, and no waiting for clearance. He pushed the throttle, and the plane shot down the runway. Another blast ripped through the runway behind them, but then they were in the air.

The plane banked to the left.

Over the intercom, the pilot's voice said, "Senatus Populusque Romanus, my friends. Welcome aboard. Next stop: Anchorage, Alaska."