SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

98 - oh no

BRIAR WATCHED IN horror as the giant king rose to his full height – almost as tall as the temple columns. His face looked just as she remembered – green as bile, with a twisted sneer, his seaweed-colored hair braided with swords and axes taken from dead demigods.

He loomed over the captives, watching them wriggle. "They arrived just as you foresaw, Enceladus! Well done!"

Briar's old nemesis bowed his head, braided bones clattering in his dreadlocks. "It was simple, my king."

The flame designs gleamed on his armor. His spear burned with purplish fire. He only needed one hand to hold his captive. Despite all of Percy Jackson's power, despite everything he had survived, in the end he was helpless against the sheer strength of the giant – and the inevitability of the prophecy.

"I knew these two would lead the assault," Enceladus continued. "I understand how they think. Athena and Poseidon . . . they were just like these children! They both came here thinking to claim this city. Their arrogance has undone them!"

Over the roar of the crowd, Briar could barely hear herself think, but she replayed Enceladus's words: these two would lead the assault. Her heart raced.

The giants had expected Percy and Annabeth. They didn't expect her. Enceladus wasn't as smart as he thought.

For once, being Briar Lovelace, the daughter of Aphrodite, the one nobody took seriously, might play to her advantage.

Annabeth tried to say something, but the giantess Periboia shook her by the neck. "Shut up! None of your silver-tongued trickery!"

The princess drew a hunting knife as long as a fucking sword. "Let me do the honors, Father!"

"Wait, Daughter." The king stepped back. "The sacrifice must be done properly. Thoon, destroyer of the Fates, come forward!"

The wizened grey giant shuffled into sight, holding an oversized meat cleaver. He fixed his milky eyes on Annabeth.

Percy shouted. At the other end of the Acropolis, a hundred yards away, a geyser of water shot into the sky.

King Porphyrion laughed. "You'll have to do better than that, son of Poseidon. The earth is too powerful here. Even your father wouldn't be able to summon more than a salty spring. But never fear. The only liquid we require from you is your blood!"

Briar scanned the sky desperately. Where was the Argo II?

Thoon knelt and touched the blade of his cleaver reverently against the earth.

"Mother Gaia . . ." His voice was impossibly deep, shaking the ruins, making the metal scaffold resonate under Briar's feet. "In ancient times, blood mixed with your soil to create life. Now, let the blood of these demigods return the favor. We bring you to full wakefulness. We greet you as our eternal mistress!"

Without thinking, Briar leaped from the scaffolding. She sailed over the heads of the Cyclopes and ogres, landed in the center of the courtyard and pushed her way into the circle of giants. As Thoon rose to use his cleaver, Briar threw her knife. She took off Thoon's hand at the wrist, quickly catching the knife before it fell.

The old giant wailed. The cleaver and severed hand lay in the dust at Briar's feet. She felt her Mist disguise burn away until she was just Briar again – one girl in the midst of an army of giants, her angelically bright knife like a rock compared to their massive weapons.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Porphyrion thundered. "How dare this weak, useless creature interrupt?"

Briar pouted. "I've had enough of you people calling me useless when I've defeated you once before, and then I do it again," she said. Then, naturally, she attacked.