𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

Luke... Wait! He Goes By Kronos Now?

Rachel looked up at us. "Hi."

"Hey! Rachel!" Grayson greeted.

"'Sup Rachel?" I saluted. "That's Beckendorf, and these are Blackjack and Volley."

I pointed at the Pegasi respectfully as they neighed.

She glanced at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. "So I guess you guys have to go save the world now."

"Pretty much," Beckendorf agreed.

Percy looked at Rachel helplessly. "Would you tell my mom—"

"I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."

Percy nodded his thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul loaned him his car.

"Good luck." Rachel hugged me before I could even react. "Now, get going, half-bloods. Go kill some monsters for me."

My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, her arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying Percy and me into the sky. 

"Oh, my Gods! Another mosquito!" Grayson groaned. "How do they even get up here?"

Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the Atlantic.

~

It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The Princess Andromeda glowed on the horizon—a huge cruise ship lit up yellow and white. From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord. Then as you got closer, you notice the giant figurehead—a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to carry.

Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on the Princess Andromeda.Now it was heading straight for New York.

"You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind.

Percy and I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started.

"Blackjack," Percy said, "set us down on the lowest stern deck."

Blackjack neighed queasily. Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the Princess Andromeda until he'd escaped with a little help from my friends and me. I figured he'd rather have his mane braided like My Little Pony than be back here again.

"Don't wait for us," Percy told him.

Blackjack neighed.

"Trust me," Percy said. "We'll get out by ourselves."

Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks of the ship—dracaenae snake-women, hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid seal demons known as telekhines—but we zipped by so fast, none of them raised the alarm. We shot down the stern of the boat, and Blackjack spread his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. Percy and I climbed off, feeling queasy. 

Blackjack neighed us goodbye. With that, our old friend flew off into the night. 

"Toxótis!" I called, and my bow sprang to full size—three feet of deadly silver glowing in the dusk.

Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light—the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite. They'd started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying, "Duh, you guys like each other!" Even with all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier this summer than I'd ever seen him.