BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

79.

GOD, EDEN HAD hated the traveling they'd done to get to that point.

But her eyes had drifted from Leo leaning against the wall to Hazel doing the same to Percy and Annabeth laying down to Hecate in the corner to the giant, and her adrenaline pumped back up, and she charged.

They attacked the giant from every direction — Leo shooting fire at his legs, Frank and Piper jabbing at his chest, Perfect Jason flying into the air and kicking him in the face. Eden jumped up in the air to stab his neck and slash at his face.

Each time the giant's smoky veil started creeping around one of them, Nico was there, slashing through it, drinking in the darkness with his Stygian blade.

Percy and Annabeth were on their feet, looking weak and dazed, but their swords were drawn. When did Annabeth get a sword? And what was it made of — bone? They looked like they wanted to help, but there was no need. The giant was surrounded.

The giant snarled, turning back and forth as if he couldn't decide which of them to kill first. Wait! Hold still! No! Ouch!

The darkness around him dispelled completely, leaving nothing to protect him except his battered armor. Ichor oozed from a dozen wounds. The damage healed almost as fast as it was inflicted, but Eden could tell the giant was tiring.

One last time Perfect Jason flew at him, kicking him in the chest, and the giant's breastplate shattered. The big dude staggered backward. His sword dropped to the floor. He fell to his knees, and the demigods encircled him.

Only then did Hecate step forward, her torches raised. Mist curled around the giant, hissing and bubbling as it touched his skin.

"And so it ends," Hecate said.

It does not end. The big dude's voice echoed from somewhere above, muffled and slurred. My brethren have risen. Gaea waits only for the blood of Olympus. It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?

Hecate turned her torches upside down. She thrust them like daggers at the giant's head. His hair went up faster than dry tinder, spreading down his head and across his body until the heat of the bonfire made Eden wince. Clytius fell without a sound, face-first in the rubble of Hades's altar. His body crumbled to ashes.

For a moment, no one spoke.

The goddess Hecate faced Hazel. "You should go now, Hazel Levesque. Lead your friends out of this place."

She gritted her teeth. "Just like that? No 'thank you'? No 'good work'?"

Eden admired that. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

The goddess tilted her head. The weasel chittered — maybe a good-bye, maybe a warning — and disappeared in the folds of her mistress's skirts.

"You look in the wrong place for gratitude," Hecate said, which made Eden so fucking angry. "As for 'good work,' that remains to be seen. Speed your way to Athens. Clytius was not wrong. The giants have risen — all of them, stronger than ever. Gaea is on the very edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her."

Eden snorted. "You guys named it. Don't blame us for that."

The chamber rumbled. Another stela crashed to the floor and shattered.

"The House of Hades is unstable," Hecate said. "Leave now. We shall meet again."

The goddess dissolved. The Mist evaporated.

"She's friendly," Percy grumbled.

The others turned toward him and Annabeth, as if just realizing they were there.