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I'm on the Highway to Hell

Percy's POV

We stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS. Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.

Percy: Okay. You remember the plan.

Grover: The plan. Yes, I love the plan.

Annabeth: What happens if the plan doesn't work?

Theo: Yeah, I'm not liking it either.

Percy: Don't think negative.

Theo: (sarcastically) Right, sure. We're literally walking straight to Hell, and I shouldn't think negative. Great fucking idea, Jackson.

I took the pearls out of my pocket, the three milky spheres the Nereid had given me in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong.

Theo put his hand on my shoulder.

Theo: Sorry, man. It's just...You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine.

He nudged Grover and Annabeth.

Grover: Oh, right! We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem.

Annabeth: We'll be okay. We'll see this through.

I looked at them both and felt really grateful. Only a few minutes before, I'd almost gotten them stretched to death on deluxe water beds, and now they were trying to be brave for my sake, trying to make me feel better.

I slipped the pearls back in my pocket.

Percy: Let's whup some Underworld butt.

Theo: Amen to that.

We walked inside the DOA lobby.

Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see them all just fine, but if I focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking...transparent. I could see right through their bodies.

The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so we had to look up at him.

He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

Percy: Your name is Chiron?

He leaned across the desk. I couldn't see anything in his glasses except my own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a python's, right before it eats you.

Then he spoke. He had a strange accent—British, maybe, but also as if he had learned English as a second language.

Guard: What a precious young lad. Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?

Percy: N-no.

Guard: Sir.

Percy: Sir.