The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus Book 4)

Frank said. ‘Now, heal my friends!’
    Triptolemus tapped his chin. ‘Well, thank you for the snake, but I’m not sure I like your tone, demigod. Perhaps I’ll turn you into –’
    Frank was faster. He lunged at Trip and slammed him into the wall, his fingers locked around the god’s throat.
    ‘Think about your next words,’ Frank warned, deadly calm. ‘Or, instead of beating my sword into a ploughshare, I will beat it into your head.’
    Triptolemus gulped. ‘You know … I think I’ll heal your friends.’
    ‘Swear it on the River Styx.’
    ‘I swear it on the River Styx.’
    Frank released him. Triptolemus touched his throat, as if making sure it was still there. He gave Frank a nervous smile, edged around him and scurried off to the front room. ‘Just – just gathering herbs!’
    Frank watched as the god picked leaves and roots and crushed them in a mortar. He rolled a pill-sized ball of green goop and jogged to Hazel’s side. He placed the gunk ball under Hazel’s tongue.
    Instantly, she shuddered and sat up, coughing. Her eyes flew open. The greenish tint in her skin disappeared.
    She looked around, bewildered, until she saw Frank. ‘What –?’
    Frank tackled her in a hug. ‘You’re going to be fine,’ he said fiercely. ‘Everything is fine.’
    ‘But …’ Hazel gripped his shoulders and stared at him in amazement. ‘Frank, what
happened
to you?’
    ‘To
me
?’ He stood, suddenly self-conscious. ‘I don’t …’
    He looked down and realized what she meant. Triptolemus hadn’t got shorter. Frank was taller. His gut had shrunk. His chest seemed bulkier.
    Frank had had growth spurts before. Once he’d woken up two centimetres taller than when he’d gone to sleep. But this was nuts. It was as if some of the dragon and lion had stayed with him when he’d turned back to human.
    ‘Uh … I don’t … Maybe I can fix it.’
    Hazel laughed with delight. ‘Why? You look amazing!’
    ‘I – I do?’
    ‘I mean, you were handsome before! But you look older, and taller, and so distinguished –’
    Triptolemus heaved a dramatic sigh. ‘Yes, obviously some sort of blessing from Mars. Congratulations, blah, blah, blah. Now, if we’re done here …?’
    Frank glared at him. ‘We’re not done. Heal Nico.’
    The farm god rolled his eyes. He pointed at the corn plant, and BAM! Nico di Angelo appeared in an explosion of corn silk.
    Nico looked around in a panic. ‘I – I had the weirdest nightmare about popcorn.’ He frowned at Frank. ‘Why are you
taller
?’
    ‘Everything’s fine,’ Frank promised. ‘Triptolemus was about to tell us how to survive the House of Hades. Weren’t you, Trip?’
    The farm god raised his eyes to the ceiling, like,
Why me, Demeter?
    ‘Fine,’ Trip said. ‘When you arrive at Epirus, you will be offered a chalice to drink from.’
    ‘Offered by whom?’ Nico asked.
    ‘Doesn’t matter,’ Trip snapped. ‘Just know that it is filled with deadly poison.’
    Hazel shuddered. ‘So you’re saying that we shouldn’t drink it.’
    ‘No!’ Trip said. ‘You
must
drink it, or you’ll never be able to make it through the temple. The poison connects you to the world of the dead, lets you pass into the lower levels. The secret to surviving is –’ his eyes twinkled –
‘
barley.
’
    Frank stared at him. ‘Barley.’
    ‘In the front room, take some of my special barley. Make it into little cakes. Eat these before you step into the House of Hades. The barley will absorb the worst of the poison, so it will
affect
you, but not kill you.’
    ‘That’s it?’ Nico demanded. ‘Hecate sent us halfway across Italy so you could tell us to eat barley?’
    ‘Good luck!’ Triptolemus sprinted across the room and hopped in his chariot. ‘And, Frank Zhang, I forgive you! You’ve got spunk. If you ever change your mind, my offer is open. I’d love to see you get a degree in farming!’
    ‘Yeah,’ Frank muttered. ‘Thanks.’
    The god pulled a lever on his chariot. The snake-wheels turned. The wings flapped. At the back of the room, the garage doors rolled open.
    ‘Oh, to be mobile again!’ Trip cried. ‘So many ignorant lands in need of my knowledge. I will teach them the glories of tilling, irrigation, fertilizing!’ The chariot lifted off and zipped out of the house, Triptolemus shouting to the sky, ‘Away, my serpents! Away!’
    ‘That,’ Hazel said, ‘was very strange.’
    ‘The glories of fertilizing.’ Nico brushed some