The Veiled Legacy | PJO - Book Two

five

VAMPIRES BITE

Ariana recalled how dangerous Kelli had been the last time they'd fought in the Labyrinth. Despite those mismatched legs, she could move fast when she wanted to.

Now she had four friends with her.

"And your friends Ariana and Annabeth is with you!" Kelli hissed with laughter. "Oh, yeah, I totally remember them."

Kelli touched her own sternum, where the tip of the knife had exited when Annabeth had stabbed her in the back. "What's the matter, daughter of Athena? Don't have your weapon? Bummer. I'd use it to kill you."

Ariana tried to think. She, Percy and Annabeth stood shoulder to shoulder as they had many times before, ready to fight. But none of them was in good shape for battle.

Annabeth was empty-handed. They were hopelessly outnumbered. There was nowhere to run. No help coming.

Briefly Ariana considered calling for Mrs O'Leary, her hellhound friend who could shadow-travel.

Even if she heard her, could she make it into Tartarus? This was where monsters went when they died.

Calling her here might kill her, or turn her back to her natural state as a fierce monster.

No ... she couldn't do that to her and Percy's dog.

So, no help. Fighting was a long shot.

That left Annabeth's favourite tactics: trickery, talk, delay.

"So." Percy started, "I guess you're wondering what we're doing in Tartarus."

Kelli snickered. "Not really. I just want to kill you."

That would've been it, but Annabeth chimed in. "Too bad." she said. "Because you have no idea what's going on in the mortal world."

The other empousai circled, watching Kelli for a cue to attack, but the ex-cheerleader only snarled, crouching out of reach of Percy's sword.

"We know enough." Kelli said. "Gaia has spoken."

"You're heading towards a major defeat." And Annabeth sounded so confident, even Ariana was impressed.

She glanced at the other empousai, one by one, then pointed accusingly at Kelli. "This one claims she's leading you to a victory. She's lying. The last time she was in the mortal world, Kelli was in charge of keeping my friend Luke Castellan faithful to Kronos. In the end, Luke rejected him. He gave his life to expel Kronos. The Titans lost because Kelli failed. Now Kelli wants to lead you to another disaster."

The other empousai muttered and shifted uneasily.

"Enough!" Kelli's fingernails grew into long black talons. She glared at Annabeth as if imagining her sliced into small pieces.

Ariana was pretty sure Kelli had had a thing for Luke Castellan. Luke had that effect on girls - even donkey-legged vampires - and Ariana wasn't sure bringing up his name was such a good idea.

"The girl lies." Kelli said. "So the Titans lost. Fine! That was part of the plan to wake Gaia! Now the Earth Mother and her giants will destroy the mortal world, and we will totally feast on demigods!"

The other vampires gnashed their teeth in a frenzy of excitement.

Ariana prepared to attack, but how many could she dispatch before they overwhelmed her? It wouldnt be enough.

"The demigods have united!" Ariana yelled. "You'd better think twice before you attack us. Romans and Greeks will fight you together. You don't stand a chance!"