The Battle of the Labyrinth

pinched my arm, hard. “Percy, she wants to bite you! Look at her!”
    “She’s just jealous.” Tammi looked back at Kelli. “May I, mistress?”
    Kelli was still blocking the door, licking her lips hungrily. “Go ahead, Tammi. You’re doing fine.”
    Tammi took another step forward, but I leveled the tip of my sword at her chest. “Get back.”
    She snarled. “Freshmen,” she said with disgust. “This is our school, half-blood. We feed on whom we choose!”
    Then she began to change. The color drained out of her face and arms. Her skin turned as white as chalk, her eyes completely red. Her teeth grew into fangs.
    “A vampire!” I stammered. Then I noticed her legs. Below the cheerleader skirt, her left leg was brown and shaggy with a donkey’s hoof. Her right leg was shaped like a human leg, but it was made of bronze. “Uhh, a vampire with—”
    “Don’t mention the legs!” Tammi snapped. “It’s rude to make fun!”
    She advanced on her weird, mismatched legs. She looked totally bizarre, especially with the pom-poms, but I couldn’t laugh—not facing those red eyes and sharp fangs.
    “A vampire, you say?” Kelli laughed. “That silly legend was based on us , you fool. We are empousai , servants of Hecate.”
    “Mmmm.” Tammi edged closer to me. “Dark magic formed us from animal, bronze, and ghost! We exist to feed on the blood of young men. Now come, give me that kiss!”
    She bared her fangs. I was so paralyzed I couldn’t move, but Rachel threw a snare drum at the empousa ’s head.
    The demon hissed and batted the drum away. It went rolling along the aisles between music stands, its springs rattling against the drumhead. Rachel threw a xylophone, but the demon just swatted that away, too.
    “I don’t usually kill girls,” Tammi growled. “But for you, mortal, I’ll make an exception. Your eyesight is a little too good!”
    She lunged at Rachel.
    “No!” I slashed with Riptide. Tammi tried to dodge my blade, but I sliced straight through her cheerleader uniform, and with a horrible wail she exploded into dust all over Rachel.
    Rachel coughed. She looked like she’d just had a sack of flour dumped on her head. “Gross!”
    “Monsters do that,” I said. “Sorry.”
    “You killed my trainee!” Kelli yelled. “You need a lesson in school spirit, half-blood!”
    Then she too began to change. Her wiry hair turned to flickering flames. Her eyes turned red. She grew fangs. She loped toward us, her brass foot and hoof clopping unevenly on the band-room floor.
    “I am senior empousa ,” she growled. “No hero has bested me in a thousand years.”
    “Yeah?” I said. “Then you’re overdue!”
    Kelli was a lot faster than Tammi. She dodged my first strike and rolled into the brass section, knocking over a row of trombones with a mighty crash. Rachel scrambled out of the way. I put myself between her and the empousa . Kelli circled us, her eyes going from me to the sword.
    “Such a pretty little blade,” she said. “What a shame it stands between us.”
    Her form shimmered—sometimes a demon, sometimes a pretty cheerleader. I tried to keep my mind focused, but it was really distracting.
    “Poor dear.” Kelli chuckled. “You don’t even know what’s happening, do you? Soon, your pretty little camp in flames, your friends made slaves to the Lord of Time, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. It would be merciful to end your life now, before you have to see that.”
    From down the hall, I heard voices. A tour group was approaching. A man was saying something about locker combinations.
    The empousa ’s eyes lit up. “Excellent! We’re about to have company!”
    She picked up a tuba and threw it at me. Rachel and I ducked. The tuba sailed over our heads and crashed through the window.
    The voices in the hall died down.
    “Percy!” Kelli shouted, pretending to be scared, “why did you throw that?”
    I was too surprised to answer. Kelli picked up a music stand and swiped a row of clarinets and flutes. Chairs and musical instruments crashed to the floor.
    “Stop it!” I said.
    People were tromping down the hall now, coming in our direction.
    “Time to greet our visitors!” Kelli bared her fangs and ran for the doors. I charged after her with Riptide. I had to stop her from hurting the mortals.
    “Percy, don’t!” Rachel shouted. But I hadn’t realized what Kelli was up to until it was too late.
    Kelli flung open the doors. Paul Blofis and a bunch of