The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus Book 4)

gryphon dived out of the clouds. It raked its claws across the horse’s ribs, almost throwing Reyna. She drew her sword and slashed the monster down. Seconds later, three
venti
appeared – dark air spirits swirling like miniature tornadoes laced with lightning. Reyna charged them, yelling defiantly.
    Then the bronze mirror went dark.
    ‘No!’ Leo yelled. ‘No, not now. Show me what happens!’ He banged on the mirror. ‘Calypso, can you sing again or something?’
    She glared at him. ‘I suppose that is your girlfriend? Your Penelope? Your Elizabeth? Your Annabeth?’
    ‘What?’ Leo couldn’t figure this girl out. Half the stuff she said made no sense. ‘That’s Reyna. She’s not my girlfriend! I need to see more! I need –’
    NEED
, a voice rumbled in the ground beneath his feet. Leo staggered, suddenly feeling like he was standing on the surface of a trampoline.
    NEED is an overused word.
A swirling human figure erupted from the sand – Leo’s least favourite goddess, the Mistress of Mud, the Princess of Potty Sludge, Gaia herself.
    Leo threw a pair of pliers at her. Unfortunately she wasn’t solid and they passed right through. Her eyes were closed, but she didn’t look asleep, exactly. She had a smile on her dust-devil face, as if she was intently listening to her favourite song. Her sandy robes shifted and folded, reminding Leo of the undulating fins on that stupid shrimpzilla monster they’d fought in the Atlantic. For his money, though, Gaia was uglier.
    You want to live
, Gaia said.
You want to join your friends. But you do not
need
this, my poor boy. It would make no difference. Your friends will die, regardless.
    Leo’s legs shook. He hated it, but whenever this witch appeared he felt like he was eight years old again, trapped in the lobby of his mom’s machine shop, listening to Gaia’s soothing evil voice while his mother was locked inside the burning warehouse, dying from heat and smoke.
    ‘What I
don’t
need,’ he growled, ‘is more lies from you, Dirt Face. You told me my great-granddad died in the 1960s. Wrong! You told me I couldn’t save my friends in Rome. Wrong! You told me a lot of things.’
    Gaia’s laughter was a soft rustling sound, like gravel trickling down a hill in the first moments of an avalanche.
    I tried to help you make better choices. You could have saved yourself. But you defied me at every step. You built your ship. You joined that foolish quest. Now you are trapped here, helpless, while the mortal world dies.
    Leo’s hands burst into flame. He wanted to melt Gaia’s sandy face to glass. Then he felt Calypso’s hand on his shoulder.
    ‘Gaia.’ Her voice was stern and steady. ‘You are not welcome.’
    Leo wished he could sound as confident as Calypso. Then he remembered that this annoying fifteen-year-old girl was actually the immortal daughter of a Titan.
    Ah, Calypso.
Gaia raised her arms as if for a hug.
Still here, I see, despite the gods’ promises. Why do you think that is, my dear grandchild? Are the Olympians being spiteful, leaving you with no company except this undergrown fool? Or have they simply forgotten you, because you are not worth their time?
    Calypso stared straight through the swirling face of Gaia, all the way to the horizon.
    Yes
, Gaia murmured sympathetically.
The Olympians are faithless. They do not give second chances. Why do you hold out hope? You supported your father, Atlas, in his great war. You knew that the gods must be destroyed. Why do you hesitate now? I offer you a chance that Zeus would never give you.
    ‘Where were you these last three thousand years?’ Calypso asked. ‘If you are so concerned with my fate, why do you visit me only now?’
    Gaia turned up her palms.
The earth is slow to wake. War comes in its own time. But do not think it will pass you by on Ogygia. When I remake the world, this prison will be destroyed as well.
    ‘Ogygia destroyed?’ Calypso shook her head, as if she couldn’t imagine those two words going together.
    You do not have to be here when that happens
, Gaia promised.
Join me now. Kill this boy. Spill his blood upon the earth, and help me to wake. I will free you and grant you any wish. Freedom.Revenge against the gods. Even a prize. Would you still have the demigod Percy Jackson? I will spare him for you. I will raise him from Tartarus. He will be yours to punish or to love, as you choose. Only kill this trespassing boy. Show your loyalty.
    Several scenarios went through