Why are they so sad?” I asked. “Well, they’re dead,” Carter speculated.

But remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword.

Never bet against a cat.

Percy!” he bellowed. He dropped his broom and ran at me. If you’ve never been charged by an enthusiastic Cyclops wearing a flowered apron and rubber cleaning gloves, I’m telling you, it’ll wake you up quick.

There," Zoë suggested."By the Embarcadero Building." "Good thinking," Chuck said. "Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons." We all looked at him. "Kidding," he said. "Sheesh, can't a statues have a sense of humor?

All I heard was the blood rushing through my ears, and the distant rumble and crackle of the Lake of Fire. (And Khufu scratching himself and grunting, but that was nothing new.)

Normally, as long as I'm telling him what to do, he wins in a fight.