𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

A Mortal Saves My Life (Not The First Time And Not The Last)

Percy's Pov:

I was almost to the stairs when I heard tires squeal. On the west side of the dam, a black van swerved to a stop in the middle of the road, nearly ploughing into some older people. 

The van doors opened and more skeleton warriors piled out. I was surrounded. 

I bolted down the stairs and through the museum entrance. The security guard at the metal detector yelled, "Hey, kid!" But I didn't stop. 

I ran through the exhibits and ducked behind a tour group. I looked for my friends but I couldn't see them anywhere. Where was the dam snack bar? 

"Stop!" the metal-detector guy yelled. 

There was no place to go but into an elevator with the tour group. I ducked inside just as the door closed. 

"We'll be going down seven hundred feet," our tour guide chirped. She was a park ranger, with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail and tinted glasses. I guess she hadn't noticed that I was being chased. "Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, the elevator hardly ever breaks." 

"Does this go to the snack bar?" I asked her. A few people behind me chuckled. The tour guide looked at me. Something about her gaze made my skin tingle. 

"To the turbines, young man," the lady said. "Weren't you listening to my fascinating presentation upstairs?" 

"Oh, uh, sure. Is there another way out of the dam?" 

"It's a dead-end," a tourist behind me said. "For heaven's sake. The only way out is the other elevator." 

The doors opened. 

"Go right ahead, folks," the tour guide told us. "Another ranger is waiting for you at the end of the corridor." 

I didn't have much choice but to go out with the group. 

"And young man," the tour guide called. I looked back. She'd taken off her glasses. Her eyes were startlingly grey, like storm clouds. "There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it." 

The doors closed with the tour guide still inside, leaving me alone. 

Before I could think too much about the woman in the elevator, a ding came from around the corner. The second elevator opened, and I heard an unmistakable sound—the clattering of skeleton teeth. 

Through a tunnel carved out of solid rock, I ran after the tour group. It seemed to run forever. The walls were moist, and the air hummed with electricity and the roar of water. I came out on a U-shaped balcony that overlooked this huge warehouse area. Fifty feet below, enormous turbines were running. It was a big room, but I didn't see any other exit unless I wanted to jump into the turbines and get churned up to make electricity. I didn't. 

Another tour guide talked over the microphone, telling the tourists about water supplies in Nevada. I prayed that Thalia, Zoe, Grayson, and Grover were okay. They might have already been captured or eating at the snack bar, completely unaware that we were being surrounded. And stupid me: I had trapped myself in a hole hundreds of feet below the surface. 

I worked my way around the crowd, trying not to be too obvious about it. There was a hallway at the other side of the balcony—maybe someplace I could hide. I kept my hand onRiptide, ready to strike. 

By the time I got to the opposite side of the balcony, my nerves were shot. I backed into the little hallway and watched the tunnel I'd come from. 

Then right behind me, I heard a sharp Chhh! like the voice of a skeleton.