The Blood of Olympus - Rooftop Drop

Hylla roared and attacked. Orion hit her with the butt of his bow. She flew backward into the street. Orion pulled an arrow from his quiver.

“Stop!” Reyna yelled.

Her heart hammered in her rib cage. She needed to find the giant’s weakness.

Barrachina was only a few blocks away. If they could make it that far, Nico might be able to shadow-travel them away. And the Hunters couldn’t all be dead...They’d been patrolling the entire perimeter of the old city. Surely some of them were still out there....

[...]

Hylla grabbed the front fender of the Chevy and flipped the entire car toward Orion, as easily as if she were splashing him with water in a swimming pool.

The Chevy sandwiched Orion against the wall of the nearest house. Stucco cracked. A banana tree toppled. More cats fled.

Reyna ran toward the wreckage, but the giant bellowed and shoved away the car.

“You will die together!” he promised. Two arrows appeared nocked in his bow, the string fully drawn back.

Then the rooftops exploded with noise.

“DIE!” Gleeson Hedge dropped directly behind Orion, smacking his baseball bat over the giant’s head so hard the Louisville Slugger cracked in half.

At the same time, Nico di Angelo dropped in front. He slashed his Stygian sword across the giant’s bowstring, causing pulleys and gears to zip and creak, the string recoiling with hundreds of pounds of force until it whacked Orion in the nose like a hydraulic bullwhip.

“OOOOOOOOW!!” Orion staggered backward, dropping his bow.

Hunters of Artemis appeared along the rooftops, shooting Orion full of silver arrows until he resembled a glowing hedgehog. He staggered blindly, holding his nose, his face streaming with golden ichor.

Someone grabbed Reyna’s arm. “Come on!” Thalia Grace had returned.

“Go with her!” Hylla ordered.

Reyna’s heart felt like it was shattering. “Sister—”

“You have to leave! NOW!” It was exactly what Hylla had said to her six years ago, the night they escaped their father’s house. “I’ll delay Orion as long as possible.”

Hylla grabbed one of the giant’s legs. She yanked him off balance and tossed him several blocks down the Calle San Jose, to the general consternation of several dozen more cats. The Hunters ran after him along the rooftops, shooting arrows that exploded in Greek fire, wreathing the giant in flames.


- The Blood of Olympus, Chapter 24