The Last Olympian - Percy Strangle

The mountain of darkness loomed above me. A foot the size of Yankee Stadium was about to smash me when a voice hissed, “Percy!”

I lunged out blindly. Before I was fully awake, I had Nico pinned to the floor of the cell with the edge of my sword at his throat.

“Want . . . to . . . rescue,” he choked.

Anger woke me up fast. “Oh, yeah? And why should I trust you?”

“No . . . choice?” he gagged.

I wished he hadn’t said something logical like that. I let him go.

Nico curled into a ball and made retching sounds while his throat recovered. Finally he got to his feet, eyeing my sword warily. His own blade was sheathed. I suppose if he’d wanted to kill me, he could’ve done it while I slept. Still, I didn’t trust him.

“We have to get out of here,” he said.

“Why?” I said. “Does your dad want to talk to me again?”

He winced. “Percy, I swear on the River Styx, I didn’t know what he was planning.”

“You know what your dad is like!”

“He tricked me. He promised—” Nico held up his hands. “Look . . . right now, we need to leave. I put the guards to sleep, but it won’t last.”

I wanted to strangle him again. Unfortunately, he was right. We didn’t have time to argue, and I couldn’t escape on my own. He pointed at the wall. A whole section vanished, revealing a corridor.

“Come on.” Nico led the way.


- The Last Olympian, Chapter 8