The Battle of the Labyrinth

and began to stand up. The wound in his chef ’s apron started to heal.
    “Nice try, sonny,” he said. “Thing is, I have three hearts. The perfect backup system.”
    He tipped over the barbecue, and coals spilled everywhere. One landed next to Annabeth’s face, and she let out a muffled scream. Tyson strained against his bonds, but even his strength wasn’t enough to break them. I had to end this fight before my friends got hurt.
    I jabbed Geryon in left chest, but he only laughed. I stuck him in the right stomach. No good. I might as well have been sticking a sword in a teddy bear for all the reaction he showed.
    Three hearts. The perfect backup system. Stabbing one at a time was no good. . . .
    I ran into the house.
    “Coward!” he cried. “Come back and die right!”
    The living room walls were decorated with a bunch of gruesome hunting trophies—stuffed deer and dragon heads, a gun case, a sword display, and a bow with a quiver.
    Geryon threw his barbecue fork, and it thudded into the wall right next to my head. He drew two swords from the wall display. “Your head’s gonna go right there, Jackson! Next to the grizzly bear!”
    I had a crazy idea. I dropped Riptide and grabbed the bow off the wall.
    I was the worst archery shot in the world. I couldn’t hit the targets at camp, much less a bull’s-eye. But I had no choice. I couldn’t win this fight with a sword. I prayed to Artemis and Apollo, the twin archers, hoping they might take pity on me for once. Please, guys. Just one shot. Please.
    I notched an arrow.
    Geryon laughed. “You fool! One arrow is no better than one sword.”
    He raised his swords and charged. I dove sideways. Before he could turn, I shot my arrow into the side of his right chest. I heard THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, as the arrow passed clean through each of his chests and flew out his left side, embedding itself in the forehead of the grizzly bear trophy.
    Geryon dropped his swords. He turned and stared at me. “You can’t shoot. They told me you couldn’t . . .”
    His face turned a sickly shade of green. He collapsed to his knees and began crumbling into sand, until all that was left were three cooking aprons and an oversized pair of cowboy boots.
    I got my friends untied. Eurytion didn’t try to stop me. Then I stoked up the barbecue and threw the food into the flames as a burnt offering for Artemis and Apollo.
    “Thanks, guys,” I said. “I owe you one.”
    The sky thundered in the distance, so I figured maybe the burgers smelled okay.
    “Yay for Percy!” Tyson said.
    “Can we tie up this cowherd now?” Nico asked.
    “Yeah!” Grover agreed. “And that dog almost killed me!”
    I looked at Eurytion, who still was sitting relaxed at the picnic table. Orthus had both his heads on the cowherd’s knees.
    “How long will it take Geryon to re-form?” I asked him.
    Eurytion shrugged. “Hundred years? He’s not one of those fast re-formers, thank the gods. You’ve done me a favor.”
    “You said you’d died for him before,” I remembered. “How?”
    “I’ve worked for that creep for thousands of years. Started as a regular half-blood, but I chose immortality when my dad offered it. Worst mistake I ever made. Now I’m stuck here at this ranch. I can’t leave. I can’t quit. I just tend the cows and fight Geryon’s fights. We’re kinda tied together.”
    “Maybe you can change things,” I said.
    Eurytion narrowed his eyes. “How?”
    “Be nice to the animals. Take care of them. Stop selling them for food. And stop dealing with the Titans.”
    Eurytion thought about that. “That’d be all right.”
    “Get the animals on your side, and they’ll help you. Once Geryon gets back, maybe he’ll be working for you this time.”
    Eurytion grinned. “Now, that I could live with.”
    “You won’t try to stop us leaving?”
    “Shoot, no.”
    Annabeth rubbed her bruised wrists. She was still looking at Eurytion suspiciously. “Your boss said that somebody paid for our safe passage. Who?”
    The cowherd shrugged. “Maybe he was just saying that to fool you.”
    “What about the Titans?” I asked. “Did you Iris-message them about Nico yet?”
    “Nope. Geryon was waiting until after the barbecue. They don’t know anything about him.”
    Nico was glaring at me. I wasn’t sure what to do about him. I doubted he would agree to come with us. On the other hand, I couldn’t just let him roam around on his own.
    “You could stay here until we’re done