The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus Book 4)

how I will destroy you, and Gaia, and the giants.’
    Hatred seethed in Khione’s eyes, but she withheld her frost.
    ‘You – have – no – power,’ she insisted.
    ‘Spoken like a D-list goddess,’ Piper said. ‘One who never gets taken seriously, who
always
wants more power.’
    She turned to Festus and ran her hand behind his metal ears. ‘You’re a good friend, Festus. No one can truly deactivate you. You’re more than a machine. Khione doesn’t understand that.’
    She turned to the Boreads. ‘She doesn’t value you, either, you know. She thinks she can boss you around because you’re demigods, not full-fledged gods. She doesn’t understand that you’re a powerful team.’
    ‘A team,’ Cal grunted. ‘Like the Ca-na-di-ens.’
    He had to struggle with the word since it was more than two syllables. He grinned and looked very pleased with himself.
    ‘Exactly,’ Piper said. ‘Just like a hockey team. The whole is greater than the parts.’
    ‘Like a pizza,’ Cal added.
    Piper laughed. ‘You
are
smart, Cal! Even I underestimated you.’
    ‘Wait, now,’ Zethes protested. ‘I am smart also. And good-looking.’
    ‘Very smart,’ Piper agreed, ignoring the
good-looking
part. ‘So put down the wind bomb and watch Khione get humiliated.’
    Zethes grinned. He crouched and rolled the ice sphere across the deck.
    ‘You fool!’ Khione yelled.
    Before the goddess could go after the sphere, Piper cried, ‘Our secret weapon, Khione! We’re not just a bunch ofdemigods. We’re a team. Just like Festus isn’t only a collection of parts. He’s
alive
. He’s
my friend
. And when his friends are in trouble, especially Leo, he can wake up
on his own
.’
    She willed all her confidence into her voice – all her love for the metal dragon and everything he’d done for them.
    The rational part of her knew this was hopeless. How could you start a machine with emotions?
    But Aphrodite wasn’t rational. She ruled through emotions. She was the oldest and most primordial of the Olympians, born from the blood of Ouranos churning in the sea. Her power was more ancient than that of Hephaestus or Athena or even Zeus.
    For a terrible moment, nothing happened. Khione glared at her. The Boreads began to come out of their daze, looking disappointed.
    ‘Never mind our plan,’ Khione snarled. ‘Kill her!’
    As the Boreads raised their swords, the dragon’s metal skin grew warm under Piper’s hand. She dived out of the way, tackling the snow goddess, as Festus turned his head one hundred and eighty degrees and blasted the Boreads, vaporizing them on the spot. For some reason, Zethes’s sword was spared. It clunked to the deck, still steaming.
    Piper scrambled to her feet. She spotted the sphere of winds at the base of the foremast. She ran for it, but before she could get close Khione materialized in front of her in a swirl of frost. Her skin glowed bright enough to cause snow blindness.
    ‘You
miserable
girl,’ she hissed. ‘You think you can defeat me – a
goddess
?’
    At Piper’s back, Festus roared and blew steam, but Piper knew he couldn’t breathe fire again without hitting her, too.
    About twenty feet behind the goddess, the ice sphere began to crack and hiss.
    Piper was out of time for subtlety. She yelled and raised her dagger, charging the goddess.
    Khione grabbed her wrist. Ice spread over Piper’s arm. The blade of Katoptris turned white.
    The goddess’s face was only six inches from hers. Khione smiled, knowing she had won.
    ‘A child of Aphrodite,’ she chided. ‘You are
nothing
.’
    Festus creaked again. Piper could swear he was trying to shout encouragement.
    Suddenly her chest grew warm – not with anger or fear but with love for that dragon; and Jason, who was depending on her; and her friends trapped below; and Leo, who was lost and would need her help.
    Maybe love was no match for ice … but Piper had used it to wake a metal dragon. Mortals did superhuman feats in the name of love all the time. Mothers lifted cars to save their children. And Piper was more than just mortal. She was a demigod. A hero.
    The ice melted on her blade. Her arm steamed under Khione’s grip.
    ‘Still underestimating me,’ Piper told the goddess. ‘You really need to work on that.’
    Khione’s smug expression faltered as Piper drove her dagger straight down.
    The blade touched Khione’s chest, and the goddessexploded in a miniature blizzard. Piper collapsed, dazed from the cold. She heard