The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus Book 4)

spoke. Hazel heard a ragged, painful noise and realized it was her own breathing. Her side felt like it had been kicked in with a battering ram.
    The goddess Hecate faced her. ‘You should go now, Hazel Levesque. Lead your friends out of this place.’
    Hazel gritted her teeth, trying to hold in her anger. ‘Just like that? No “thank you”? No “good work”?’
    The goddess tilted her head. Gale the weasel chittered – maybe a goodbye, maybe a warning – and disappeared in the folds of her mistress’s skirts.
    ‘You look in the wrong place for gratitude,’ Hecate said. ‘As for “good work”, that remains to be seen. Speed your way to Athens. Clytius was not wrong. The giants have risen –
all
of them, stronger than ever. Gaia is on the very edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her.’
    The chamber rumbled. Another stela crashed to the floor and shattered.
    ‘The House of Hades is unstable,’ Hecate said. ‘Leave now. We shall meet again.’
    The goddess dissolved. The Mist evaporated.
    ‘She’s friendly,’ Percy grumbled.
    The others turned towards him and Annabeth, as if just realizing they were there.
    ‘Dude.’ Jason gave Percy a bear hug.
    ‘Back from Tartarus!’ Leo whooped. ‘That’s my peeps!’
    Piper threw her arms around Annabeth and cried.
    Frank ran to Hazel. He gently folded her arms around her. ‘You’re hurt,’ he said.
    ‘Ribs probably broken,’ she admitted. ‘But, Frank – what happened to your arm?’
    He managed a smile. ‘Long story. We’re alive. That’s what matters.’
    She was so giddy with relief it took her a moment to noticeNico, standing by himself, his expression full of pain and conflict.
    ‘Hey,’ she called to him, beckoning with her good arm.
    He hesitated, then came over and kissed her forehead. ‘I’m glad you’re okay,’ he said. ‘The ghosts were right. Only one of us made it to the Doors of Death. You … you would have made Dad proud.’
    She smiled, cupping her hand gently to his face. ‘We couldn’t have defeated Clytius without you.’
    She brushed her thumb under Nico’s eye and wondered if he had been crying. She wanted so badly to understand what was going on with him – what had happened to him over the last few weeks. After all they’d just been through, Hazel was more grateful than ever to have a brother.
    Before she could say that, the ceiling shuddered. Cracks appeared in the remaining tiles. Columns of dust spilled down.
    ‘We’ve got to get out of here,’ Jason said. ‘Uh, Frank …?’
    Frank shook his head. ‘I think one favour from the dead is all I can manage today.’
    ‘Wait, what?’ Hazel asked.
    Piper raised her eyebrows. ‘Your
unbelievable
boyfriend called in a favour as a child of Mars. He summoned the spirits of some dead warriors, made them lead us here through … um, well, I’m not sure, actually. The passages of the dead? All I know is that it was
very
,
very
dark.’
    To their left, a section of the wall split. Two ruby eyes from a carved stone skeleton popped out and rolled across the floor.
    ‘We’ll have to shadow-travel,’ Hazel said.
    Nico winced. ‘Hazel, I can barely manage that with only myself. With seven more people –’
    ‘I’ll help you.’ She tried to sound confident. She’d never shadow-travelled before, had no idea if she could, but after working with the Mist, altering the Labyrinth – she had to believe it was possible.
    An entire section of tiles peeled loose from the ceiling.
    ‘Everyone, grab hands!’ Nico yelled.
    They made a hasty circle. Hazel envisioned the Greek countryside above them. The cavern collapsed, and she felt herself dissolving into shadow.
    They appeared on the hillside overlooking the River Acheron. The sun was just rising, making the water glitter and the clouds glow orange. The cool morning air smelled of honeysuckle.
    Hazel was holding hands with Frank on her left, Nico on her right. They were all alive and mostly whole. The sunlight in the trees was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. She wanted to live in that moment – free of monsters and gods and evil spirits.
    Then her friends began to stir.
    Nico realized that he was holding Percy’s hand and quickly let go.
    Leo staggered backwards. ‘You know … I think I’ll sit down.’
    He collapsed. The others joined him. The
Argo II
still floated over the river a few hundred yards away. Hazel knew that they should signal Coach