Chaos Rising |BOOK 2| Harry Potter x PJO |Alexandra Marine|

BONUS: THE DAY SHE FELL IN THE SEA

Kronos hesitated.

Buy the story, I prayed.

"Open his bag," Kronos ordered.

One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches.

I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.

"Did you, perhaps," he said, "capture this demigod near the galley?"

Ethan turned pale. "Um—"

"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"

Ethan scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels and ran.

I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed.

Kronos turned toward me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks."

He held out his hand and dangled a little silver bracelet with a scythe charm—the Titan lord's symbol.

Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way. Now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies."

I was just a few meters away from Percy... if I could somehow take out all the giants and-

Beckendorf mouthed one word: Go.

I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him.

The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly—toward the watch on his right wrist.

Then down by the swimming pool, one of the dracaenae hissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"

Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch.

Percy threw his sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. He pushed through a crowd of monsters, took my wrist, pulled me and jumped off the side of the ship—toward the water a hundred feet below.

I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. My sword fell faster than me, and we plunged into the sea.

Even from that distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides, a massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.

I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.

It was always the sea. Dammit.

***

"Open your eyes, now carefully," her voice said.

The shadow of a woman loomed over me. "Mom?"

"No, definitely not."

My eyes refocused. I was looking at a woman—a beautiful face, dark brown hair, two oceanic blue eyes full of concern. "Alexandra?"

"Oh, thank the gods," Alexandra sighed, "you're okay."

I wasn't so sure. My body felt weightless and cold. My voice sounded wrong.

I sat up, and a gossamer sheet floated away. I was on a bed made of silky woven kelp, in a room paneled with abalone shell. Glowing pearls the size of basketballs floated around the ceiling, providing light. I was under water.