The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus Book 4)

abandoned. You punished an innocent soul by leaving her in her solitude. Now her most hateful wish has come to pass: Annabeth feels her despair. She, too, will perish alone and abandoned.
    ‘Percy?’ Annabeth spread her arms, trying to find him. The
arai
backed up, letting her stumble blindly through their ranks.
    ‘Who did I abandon?’ Percy demanded. ‘I never –’
    Suddenly his stomach felt like it had dropped off the cliff.
    The words rang in his head:
An innocent soul. Alone and abandoned.
He remembered an island, a cave lit with soft glowing crystals, a dinner table on the beach tended by invisible air spirits.
    ‘She wouldn’t,’ he mumbled. ‘She’d never curse me.’
    The eyes of the demons blurred together like their voices.Percy’s sides throbbed. The pain in his chest was worse, as if someone were slowly twisting a dagger.
    Annabeth wandered among the demons, desperately calling his name. Percy longed to run to her, but he knew the
arai
wouldn’t allow it. The only reason they hadn’t killed her yet was that they were enjoying her misery.
    Percy clenched his jaw. He didn’t care how many curses he suffered. He had to keep these leathery old hags focused on him and protect Annabeth as long as he could.
    He yelled in fury and attacked them all.

XXXI
     

PERCY
     
    F OR ONE EXCITING MINUTE, Percy felt like he was winning. Riptide cut through the
arai
as though they were made of powdered sugar. One panicked and ran face-first into a tree. Another screeched and tried to fly away, but Percy sliced off her wings and sent her spiralling into the chasm.
    Each time a demon disintegrated, Percy felt a heavier sense of dread as another curse settled on him. Some were harsh and painful: a stabbing in the gut, a burning sensation like he was being blasted by a blowtorch. Some were subtle: a chill in the blood, an uncontrollable tic in his right eye.
    Seriously, who curses you with their dying breath and says:
I hope your eye twitches!
    Percy knew that he’d killed a lot of monsters, but he’d never really thought about it from the monsters’ point of view. Now all their pain and anger and bitterness poured over him, sapping his strength.
    The
arai
just kept coming. For every one he cut down, six more seemed to appear.
    His sword arm grew tired. His body ached, and his vision blurred. He tried to make his way towards Annabeth, but she was just out of reach, calling his name as she wandered among the demons.
    As Percy blundered towards her, a demon pounced and sank its teeth into his thigh. Percy roared. He sliced the demon to dust, but immediately fell to his knees.
    His mouth burned worse than when he had swallowed the firewater of the Phlegethon. He doubled over, shuddering and retching, as a dozen fiery snakes seemed to work their way down his oesophagus.
    You have chosen
,
said the voice of the
arai
,
the curse of Phineas … an excellent painful death.
    Percy tried to speak. His tongue felt like it was being microwaved. He remembered the old blind king who had chased harpies through Portland with a weed whacker. Percy had challenged him to a contest, and the loser had drunk a deadly vial of gorgon’s blood. Percy didn’t remember the old blind man muttering a final curse, but as Phineas had dissolved and returned to the Underworld he probably hadn’t wished Percy a long and happy life.
    After Percy’s victory then, Gaia had warned him:
Do not press your luck. When your death comes, I promise it will be much more painful than gorgon’s blood.
    Now he was in Tartarus, dying from gorgon’s blood plus a dozen other agonizing curses, while he watched his girlfriend stumble around, helpless and blind and believing he’dabandoned her. He clutched his sword. His knuckles started to steam. White smoke curled off his forearms.
    I won’t die like this, he thought.
    Not only because it was painful and insultingly lame, but because Annabeth needed him. Once he was dead, the demons would turn their attention to her. He couldn’t leave her alone.
    The
arai
clustered around him, snickering and hissing.
    His head will erupt first
,
the voice speculated.
    No
,
the voice answered itself from another direction.
He will combust all at once.
    They were placing bets on how he would die … what sort of scorch mark he would leave on the ground.
    ‘Bob,’ he croaked. ‘I need you.’
    A hopeless plea. He could barely hear himself. Why should Bob answer his call twice? The Titan knew the truth now. Percy