𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 ― j. grace ² ✓

seventeen

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EIGHT LETTERS

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
[ P E R C Y ]

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NOTHING LIKE TOTAL failure to generate great ideas.

As Percy stood there, disarmed and outmatched, the plan formed in his head. He was so used to Annabeth or Natalia providing Greek legend information that he was kind of stunned to actually remember something useful, but he had to act fast. He couldn't let anything happen to his friends. He wasn't going to lose Annabeth — not again.

Chrysaor couldn't be beat. At least not in single combat. But without his crew . . . maybe then he could be overwhelmed if enough Demigods attacked him at once.

How to deal with Chrysaor's crew? Percy put the pieces together: the pirates had been turned into dolphin-men millennia ago when they had kidnapped the wrong person. Percy knew that story. Heck, the wrong person in question had threatened to turn him into a dolphin. And when Chiysaor said the crew wasn't afraid of anything, one of the dolphins had nervously corrected him. Yes, Chrysaor said. But he's not here.

Percy glanced toward the stern and spotted Frank, in human form, peeking out from behind a ballista, waiting. Percy resisted the urge to smile. The big guy claimed to be clumsy and useless, but he always seemed to be in exactly the right place when Percy needed him.

The girls . . . Frank . . . the ice chest.

It was a crazy idea. But, as usual, that's all Percy had.

"Fine!" Percy shouted, so loudly that he got everyone's attention. "Take us away, if our captain will let you."

Chrysaor turned his golden mask. "What captain? My men searched the ship. There is no one else."

Percy raised his hands dramatically. "The God appears only when he wishes. But he is our leader. He runs our Camp for Demigods. Doesn't he, Annabeth?"

Annabeth was quick. "Yes!" She nodded enthusiastically. "Mr. D! The great Dionysus!"

A ripple of uneasiness passed through the dolphin-men. One dropped his sword.

"Stand fast!" Chrysaor bellowed. "There is no God on this ship. They are trying to scare you."

"You should be scared!" Percy looked at the pirate crew with sympathy. "Dionysus will be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn't you notice the girls falling into the wine God's madness?"