The Dragon's Daughter

xx. deals

“Triple G Ranch,” Percy said. “Your mark was on the crates at camp. Quintus got his scorpions from you.”

So that's what this ranch is called, she mused.

“Quintus…” Geryon mused. “Short gray hair, muscular, swordsman?”

“Yeah.”

“Never heard of him,” Geryon said.

Huh?

“Now, over here are my prize stables! You must see them.”

Near the banks of a green river was a horse corral the size of a football field. Stables lined one side of it. About a hundred horses were milling around in the muck—and she meant horse poop.

Nico gagged. “What is that?”

“My stables!” Geryon said. “Well, actually they belong to Aegas, but we watch over them for
a small monthly fee. Aren’t they lovely?”

“They’re disgusting!” Annabeth said.

“Lots of poop,” Tyson observed.

“How can you keep animals like that?” Grover cried.

“Y’all getting’ on my nerves,” Geryon said. “These are flesh-eating horses, see? They like these conditions.”

“Plus, you’re too cheap to have them cleaned,” Eurytion mumbled from under his hat.

“Quiet!” Geryon snapped. “All right, perhaps the stables are a bit challenging to clean. Perhaps they do make me nauseous when the wind blows the wrong way. But so what? My clients still pay me well.”

“What clients?” she asked.

“Oh, you’d be surprised how many people will pay for a flesh-eating horse. They make great garbage disposals. Wonderful way to terrify your enemies. Great at birthday parties! We rent them out all the time.”

“You’re a monster,” Annabeth decided.

Geryon stopped the moo-mobile and turned to look at her. “What gave it away? Was it the three bodies?”

She snorted. “What else if not that? How you act with animals?” The response was entirely accidental. After her reply registered, her hand shot up and covered her mouth with a gasp. “Oops.”

“You got spunk, Princess,” Geryon said. “And quite the mouth you have.”

“What can I say? Gotta match the mouth to the brain and skills.”

“And that is?”

“Sharp as a snake, Gery.”

Geryon hummed. “How can Apollo ever stand you?”

“Don't know, don't care.” Elora shrugged. “Though I have a suspicion he's attracted to danger.”

Last week he made his twin
go kaboom. And his twin is the goddess of the hunt.

Maybe one of his screws are loose.

☼︎☼︎❁☼︎☼︎

“You have to let these animals go,” Grover said. “It’s not right!”

“And the clients you keep talking about,” Annabeth said. “You work for Kronos, don’t you? You’re supplying his army with horses, food, whatever they need.”

Geryon shrugged, which was very weird since he had three sets of shoulders. It looked like he was doing the wave all by himself. “I work for anyone with gold, young lady. I’m a businessman. And I sell them anything I have to offer.”