THE ENEMY WAS beautiful. Khione smiled, her dark eyes glittering, as a dagger of ice grew in her hand.

"What have you done?" Jason demanded.

"Oh, so many things," the snow goddess purred. "Your sister's not dead, if that's what you mean. She and her Hunters will make fine toys for our wolves. I thought we'd defrost them one at a time and hunt them down for amusement. Let them be the prey for once."

The wolves snarled appreciatively.

"Yes, my dears." Khione kept her eyes on Jason. "Your sister and your friend, Katerina Mikhailova, almost killed their king, you know." She sent a pointed glare at Kat, who just smirked proudly. "Lycaon's off in a cave somewhere, no doubt licking his wounds, but his minions have joined us to take revenge for their master. And soon Porphyrion will arise, and we shall rule the world."

"Traitor!" Queen Hera shouted. "You meddlesome, D-list goddess! You aren't worthy to pour my wine, much less rule the world. "

Khione sighed. "Tiresome as ever, Queen Hera. I've been wanting to shut you up for millennia."

Khione waved her hand, and ice encased the prison, sealing in the spaces between the earthen tendrils.

"That's better," the snow goddess said. "Now, demigods, about your death—"

"You're the one who tricked Hera into coming here," said Jason. "You gave Zeus the idea of closing Olympus."

The wolves snarled, and the storm spirits whinnied, ready to attack, but Khione held up her hand. "Patience, my loves. If he wants to talk, what matter? The sun is setting, and time is on our side. Of course, Jason Grace. Like snow, my voice is quiet and gentle, and very cold. It's easy for me to whisper to the other gods, especially when I am only confirming their own deepest fears. I also whispered in Aeolus's ear that he should issue an order to kill demigods. It is a small service for Gaea, but I'm sure I will be well rewarded when her sons the giants come to power."

"You could've killed us in Quebec," noted Jason. "Why let us live?"

Khione wrinkled her nose. "Messy business, killing you in my father's house, especially when he insists on meeting all visitors. I did try, you remember. It would've been lovely if he'd agreed to turn you to ice. But once he'd given you guarantee of safe passage, I couldn't openly disobey him. My father is an old fool. He lives in fear of Zeus and Aeolus, but he's still powerful. Soon enough, when my new masters have awakened, I will depose Boreas and take the throne of the North Wind, but not just yet. Besides, my father did have a point. Your quest was suicidal. I fully expected you to fail."

"And to help us with that," Leo said, "you knocked our dragon out of the sky over Detroit. Those frozen wires in his head — that was your fault. You're gonna pay for that."

"You're also the one who kept Enceladus informed about us," added Piper. "We've been plagued by snowstorms the whole trip."

"Yes, I feel so close to all of you now!" said Khione. "Once you made it past Omaha, I decided to asked Lycaon to track you down so Jason could die here, at the Wolf House." Khione smiled at him. "You see, Jason, your blood spilled on this sacred ground will taint it for generations. Your demigod brethren will be outraged, especially when they find the bodies of these three from Camp Half-Blood. They'll believe the Greeks have conspired with giants. It will be . . . delicious."

Piper and Leo didn't seem to understand what she was saying. But Kat knew. She realized how dangerously effective Khione's plan could be.

"You'll set demigods against demigods," she said.

"It's so easy!" said Khione. "As I told you, I only encourage what you would do anyway."

"But why?" Piper spread her hands. "Khione, you'll tear the world apart. The giants will destroy everything. You don't want that. Call off your monsters."

Khione hesitated, then laughed. "Your persuasive powers are improving, girl. But I am a goddess. You can't charmspeak me. We wind gods are creatures of chaos! I'll overthrow Aeolus and let the storms run free. If we destroy the mortal world, all the better! They never honored me, even in Greek times. Humans and their talk of global warming. Pah! I'll cool them down quickly enough. When we retake the ancient places, I will cover the Acropolis in snow."

"The ancient places. " Leo's eyes widened. "That's what Enceladus meant about destroy the roots of the gods. He meant Greece. "

"You could join me, son of Hephaestus," Khione said. "I know you find me beautiful. It would be enough for my plan if these other three were to die. Reject that ridiculous destiny the Fates have given you. Live and be my champion, instead. Your skills would be quite useful."

Leo looked stunned. He glanced behind him, like Khione might be talking to somebody else. For a second Kat was worried. She figured he didn't have beautiful goddesses make him offers like this every day. Only her, but now she didn't give him those kinds of offers anymore.

Then Leo laughed so hard, he doubled over. "Yeah, join you. Right. Until you get bored of me and turn me into a Leosicle? Lady, nobody messes with my dragon and gets away with it. I can't believe I thought you were hot."

Khione's face turned red. "Hot? You dare insult me? I am cold, Leo Valdez. Very, very cold. "

She shot a blast of wintry sleet at the demigods, but Leo held up his hand. A wall of fire roared to life in front of them, and the snow dissolved in a steamy cloud.

Leo grinned. "See, lady, that's what happens to snow in Texas. It — fucking — melts."

Khione hissed. "Enough of this. Hera is failing. Porphyrion is rising. Kill the demigods. Let them be our king's first meal!"

Kat held up Cortana, smirking as the monsters charged.

* * *

She barely had time to whisper for her sword to become silver before the monsters charged at her.

Luckily all she needed was a moment before she started slashing and hacking her way through the monsters. She was a horrible sword fighter, but luckily she had the best sword of all time, which protected her against anything that came at her.

To be honest, she didn't see anything around her. She just saw Cortana and the monsters that were in front of her ( and sometimes behind her ). Adrenaline coursed through her blood as she sliced through every monster that was in her way. She stabbed every wolf she saw, sliced through every Earthborn, and hacked through every storm spirit that tried to kill her.

Eventually, she ran out of enemies. She walked around and stabbed every wolf that Jason didn't kill. Some slunk away into the ruins, yelping from their wounds, and she ran over to kill them as well. Piper stabbed the last Earthborn, who toppled to the ground in a pile of sludge. Jason rode a storm spirit horse through the last storm spirit, breaking it into vapor. Kat wheeled around and saw Leo bearing down on the goddess of snow.

"You're too late," Khione snarled. "He's awake! And don't think you've won anything here, demigods. Hera's plan will never work. You'll be at each other's throats before you can ever stop us."

Leo set his hammers ablaze and threw them at the goddess, but she turned into snow — a white powdery image of herself. Leo's hammers slammed into the snow woman, breaking it into a steaming mound of mush.

Piper was breathing hard, but she smiled up at Jason. "Nice horse."

The horse reared on his hind legs, arcing electricity across his hooves. A complete show-off.

Then Kat heard a cracking sound behind her. The melting ice on Queen Hera's cage sloughed off in a curtain of slush, and the goddess called, "Oh, don't mind me! Just the queen of the heavens, dying over here!"

The four demigods jumped into the pool and ran to the spire.

Leo frowned. "Uh, Tía Callida, are you getting shorter?"

"No, you dolt! The earth is claiming me. Hurry!"

As much as Kat was getting annoyed with Queen Hera, what she saw inside the cage alarmed her. Not only was Queen Hera sinking, the ground was rising around her like water in a tank. Liquid rock had already covered her shins. "The giant wakes!" Queen Hera warned. "You only have seconds!"

"On it," Leo said. "Piper, I need your help. Talk to the cage."

"What?" she said.

"Talk to it. Use everything you've got. Convince Gaea to sleep. Lull her into a daze. Just slow her down, try to get the tendrils to loosen while I—"

"Right!" Piper cleared her throat and said, "Hey, Gaea. Nice night, huh? Boy, I'm tired. How about you? Ready for some sleep?"

The more she talked, the more confident she sounded. Kat felt her own eyes getting heavy, and she had to force herself not to focus on Piper's words. It seemed to have some effect on the cage. The mud was rising more slowly. The tendrils seemed to soften just a little — becoming more like tree root than rock. Leo pulled a circular saw out of his tool belt. How it fit in there, Kat had no idea. Then Leo looked at the cord and grunted in frustration. "I don't have anywhere to plug it in!"

The spirit horse jumped into the pit and whinnied.

"Really?" asked Jason.

It dipped its head and trotted over to Leo. Leo looked dubious, but he held up the plug, and a breeze whisked it into the horse's flank. Lighting sparked, connecting with the prongs of the plug, and the circular saw whirred to life.

"Sweet!" Leo grinned. "Your horse comes with AC outlets!"

Their good mood didn't last long. On the other side of the pool, the giant's spire crumbled with a sound like a tree snapping in half. Its outer sheath of tendrils exploded from the top down, raining stone and wood shards as the giant shook himself free and climbed out of the earth.

Kat hadn't thought anything could be scarier than Enceladus.

She was wrong.

Porphyrion was even taller, and even more ripped. He didn't radiate heat, or show any signs of breathing fire, but there was something more terrible about him — a kind of strength, even magnetism, as if the giant were so huge and dense he had his own gravitational field.

Like Enceladus, the giant king was humanoid from the waist up, clad in bronze armor, and from the waist down he had scaly dragon's legs; but his skin was the color of lima beans. His hair was as green as summer leaves, braided in long locks and decorated with weapons — daggers, axes, and full-size swords, some of them bent and bloody — maybe trophies taken from demigods eons before. When the giant opened his eyes, they were blank white, like polished marble. He took a deep breath.

"Alive!" he bellowed. "Praise to Gaea!"

"Well, fuck," Kat muttered. At least she was more heroic than Jason, who whimpered.

"Leo," he said.

"Huh?" Leo's mouth was wide open. Even Piper seemed dazed.

"You guys keep working," ordered Jason. "Get Hera free!"

"What are you going to do?" asked Piper. "You can't seriously—"

"Entertain a giant?" said Jason. "I've got no choice."

"At least you're not alone," said Kat. "You got me. Come on, milaya."

"Excellent!" the giant roared as they approached. "An appetizer! Who are you — Hermes? Ares?"

"Fucking rude," she rolled her eyes. "Children of Hermes aren't weak, you dick. I'm kinda proof of that."

"And I'm Jason Grace," Jason said. "Son of Jupiter."

The giant stared at him. Behind Kat, Leo's circular saw whirred, and Piper talked to the cage in soothing tones, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

Porphyrion threw back his head and laughed. "Outstanding!" He looked up at the cloudy night sky. "So, Zeus, you sacrifice a son to me? The gesture is appreciated, but it will not save you."

The sky didn't even rumble. No help from above. Lovely.

Jason dropped his makeshift club.

"If you knew who we were," he yelled up at the giant, "you'd be worried about us, not our fathers. I hope you enjoyed your two and a half minutes of rebirth, giant, because we are going to send you right back to Tartarus."

The giant's eyes narrowed. He planted one foot outside the pool and crouched to get a better look at his opponents. "So . . .we'll start by boasting, will we? Just like old times! Very well, demigods. I am Porphryion, king of the giants, son of Gaea. In olden times, I rose from Tatarus, the abyss of my father, to challenge the gods. To start the war, I stole Zeus's queen." He grinned at the goddess's cage. "Hello, Hera."

"My husband destroyed you once, monster!" Queen Hera said. "He'll do it again!"

"But he didn't, my dear! Zeus wasn't powerful enough to kill me. He had to rely on a puny demigod to help, and even then, we almost won. This time, we will complete what we started. Gaea is waking. She has provisioned us with many fine servants. Our armies will shake the earth — and we will destroy you at the roots."

"You wouldn't dare," Queen Hera said, but she was weakening. Kat could hear it in her voice. Piper kept whispering to the cage, and Leo kept sawing, but the earth was still rising inside Queen Hera's prison, covering her up to her waist.

"Oh, yes," the giant said. "The Titans sought to attack your new home in New York. Bold, but ineffective. Gaea is wiser and more patient. And we, her greatest children, are much, much stronger than Kronos. We know how to kill you Olympians once and for all. You must be dug up completely like rotten trees — your eldest roots torn out and burned."

The giant frowned at Piper and Leo, as if he'd just noticed them working at the cage. Kat stepped forward and yelled to get back Porphyrion's attention.

"You said a demigod killed you," she shouted. "How, if we're so puny?"

"Ha! You think I would explain it to you? I was created to be Zeus's replacement, born to destroy the lord of the sky. I shall take his throne. I shall take his wife — or, if she will not have me, I will let the earth consume her life force. What you see before you, child, is only my weakened form. I will grow stronger by the hour, until I am invincible. But I am already quite capable of smashing you to a grease spot!"

He rose to his full height and held out his hand. A twenty-foot spear shot from the earth. He grasped it, then stomped the ground with his dragon's feet. The ruins shook. All around the courtyard, monsters started to regather — storm spirits, wolves, and Earthborn, all answering the giant king's call.

"Great," muttered Leo. "We needed more enemies."

"Hurry," pleaded Hera.

"I know!" snapped Leo.

"Go to sleep, cage," said Piper. "Nice, sleepy cage. Yes, I'm talking to a bunch of earthen tendrils. This isn't weird at all."

Porphyrion raked his spear across the top of the ruins, destroying a chimney and spraying wood and stone across the courtyard. "So, child of Zeus! I have finished my boasting. Now it's your turn. What were you saying about destroying me?"

Kat looked at the ring of monsters, waiting impatiently for their master's order to tear them to shreds. Leo's circular saw kept whirring, and Piper kept talking, but it seemed hopeless. Queen Hera's cage was almost completely filled with earth.

"I'm the son of Jupiter!" Jason shouted, and just for the effect, he summoned the winds, rising a few feet off the ground. "I'm a child of Rome, consul to demigods, praetor of the First Legion. " He held out his arms, showing the tattoo of the eagle and SPQR, and to Kat's surprise the giant seemed to recognize it.

For a moment, Porphyrion actually looked uneasy.

"I slew the Trojan sea monster," Jason continued. "I toppled the black throne of Kronos, and destroyed the Titan Krios with my own hands. And now I'm going to destroy you, Porphyrion, and feed you to your own wolves."

"Bro," Kat muttered. "You been eating red meat?"

Jason launched himself at the giant.

Half flying, half leaping, he landed on the giant's scaly reptilian knee and climbed up the giant's arm before Porphyrion even realized what had happened.

"You dare?" the giant bellowed.

Jason reached his shoulders and ripped a sword out of the giant's weapon-filled braids. He yelled, "For Rome!" and drove the sword into the nearest convenient target — the giant's massive ear.

Lightning streaked out of the sky and blasted the sword, throwing Jason free. He rolled when he hit the ground. Above him, the giant was staggering. His hair was on fire, and the side of his face was blackened from lightning. The sword had splintered in his ear. Golden ichor ran down his jaw. The other weapons were sparking and smoldering in his braids.

Porphyrion almost fell. The circle of monsters let out a collective growl and moved forward — wolves and ogres fixing their eyes on Kat.

"No!" Porphyrion yelled. He regained his balance and glared at the demigod. "I will kill him myself."

The giant raised his spear and it began to glow. "You want to play with lightning, boy? You forget. I am the bane of Zeus. I was created to destroy your father, which means I know exactly what will kill you."

"You are not killing him today!" Kat glared at him, her feet taking her in front of the giant. She sped away from him, avoiding his foot which he extended to kick her. She managed to slice into his foot with Cortana, pulling the sword out to see ichor dripping from the blade.

The giant sent her a glare that was probably similar to her own, though way uglier because he's way uglier than her. "You wish to die this badly, girl? I've defeated stronger heroes than you."

"You didn't kill my ancestor, Michael," she pointed out, sticking out her tongue at him. "Even though he was batshit insane. He used this sword to kill your brethren. And his legacy lives on through me, Katerina Mikhailova, you sexist son of a bitch."

She dodged the spear that came at her, slicing it in half with her sword. Before Porphyrion could use the blunt end to do anything, she used her speed powers to run up his body and made it to his hand, stabbing her sword into it, causing him to drop the rest of the spear. Then she began playing a dangerous game, somehow staying on the giant and swinging her sword wildly at him. She saw a shit ton of ichor dripping, so she figured she was doing something right.

"Got it!" she heard Leo yell from below.

"Sleep!" Piper said, so forcefully, the nearest wolves fell to the ground and began snoring.

The stone and wood cage crumbled. Leo had sawed through the base of the thickest tendril and apparently cut off the cage's connection to Gaea. The tendrils turned to dust. The mud around Queen Hera disintegrated. The goddess grew in size, glowing with power.

"Yes!" the goddess said. She threw off her black robes to reveal a white gown, her arms bedecked with golden jewelry. Her face was both terrible and beautiful, and a golden crown glowed in her long black hair. "Now I shall have my revenge!"

"Kat, jump!" Jason yelled.

Blindly, she trusted him and yeeted herself off of the giant, and a gust of wind whooshed her into his arms.

"Thanks, Superman," she grinned at Jason before turning to Porphyrion, who was backing away. He said nothing, but he gave them one last look of hatred. His message was clear: Another time. Then he picked up the blunt end of the spear and slammed it against the earth, and the giant disappeared into the ground like he'd dropped down a chute.

Around the courtyard, monsters began to panic and retreat, but there was no escape for them.

Queen Hera glowed brighter. She shouted, "Cover your eyes, my heroes!"

Kat turned to bury her face into Jason's chest, covering her eyes with her hands even when she felt them falling and the heat radiating from his body.