The Tyrant's Tomb
“Can’t be sure, obviously. But I double-checked Thalia’s list of troublespots. The tower was on there.”I waited for her to elaborate. “Thalia’s what?”Reyna blinked. “Didn’t I tell you about that? So, Thalia and the Huntersof Artemis, you know, they keep a running list of places where they’ve seenunusual monstrous activity, stuff they can’t quite explain. Sutro Tower is oneof them. Thalia sent me her list of locations for the Bay Area so CampJupiter can keep an eye on them.”“How many trouble spots?” Meg asked. “Can we visit all of them?”Reyna nudged her playfully. “I like your spirit, Killer, but there aredozens in San Francisco alone. We—I mean the legion—we try to keep aneye on them all, but it’s a lot. Especially recently…”With the battles, I thought. And the deaths.I wondered about the small hesitation in Reyna’s voice when she said weand then clarified that she meant the legion. I wondered what other we’sReyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano felt part of. Certainly I had never imaginedher in civilian clothes, driving a battered pickup truck, taking her metalgreyhounds for a hike. And she’d been in touch with Thalia Grace, mysister’s lieutenant, leader of the Hunters of Artemis.I hated the way that made me feel jealous.“How do you know Thalia?” I tried to sound nonchalant. Judging fromMeg’s cross-eyed look, I failed miserably.Reyna didn’t seem to notice. She changed lanes, trying to make headwaythrough the traffic. In the back, Aurum and Argentum barked with joy,thrilling in the adventure.“Thalia and I fought Orion together in Puerto Rico,” she said. “TheAmazons and Hunters both lost a lot of good women. That sort of thing…shared experience…Anyway, yeah, we’ve kept in touch.”“How? The communication lines are all down.”“Letters,” she said.“Letters…” I seemed to remember those, back from around the days ofvellum and wax seals. “You mean when you write something by hand onpaper, put it in an envelope, stick a stamp on it—”“And mail it. Right. I mean, it can be weeks or months between letters,but Thalia’s a good pen pal.”I tried to fathom that. Many descriptions came to mind when I thoughtabout Thalia Grace. Pen pal was not one of them.
“Where do you even mail the letters to?” I asked. “The Hunters areconstantly on the move.”“They have a PO box in Wyoming and—Why are we talking aboutthis?”Meg pinched a seed between her fingers. A geranium exploded intobloom. “Is that where your dogs went? Searching for Thalia?”I didn’t see how she’d made that connection, but Reyna nodded.“Just after you arrived,” Reyna said, “I wrote Thalia about…you know,Jason. I knew it was a long shot that she’d get the message in time, so I sentAurum and Argentum out looking for her, too, in case the Hunters were inthe area. No luck.”I imagined what could happen if Thalia received Reyna’s letter. Wouldshe come charging into Camp Jupiter at the head of the Hunters, ready tohelp us fight the emperors and Tarquin’s undead hordes? Or would she turnher wrath on me? Thalia had already bailed me out of trouble once, inIndianapolis. By way of thanks, I’d gotten her brother killed in SantaBarbara. I doubted anyone would object if a stray Hunter’s arrow found meas its target during the fighting. I shivered, thankful for the slowness of theUS Postal Service.We made our way past Treasure Island, the anchor of the Bay Bridgemidway between Oakland and San Francisco. I thought about Caligula’sfleet, which would be passing this island later tonight, ready to unload itstroops, and if necessary, its arsenal of Greek fire bombs on the unsuspectingEast Bay. I cursed the slowness of the US Postal Service.“So,” I said, making a second attempt at nonchalance, “are you andThalia, er…?”Reyna raised an eyebrow. “Involved romantically?”“Well, I just…I mean…Um…”Oh, very smooth, Apollo. Have I mentioned I was once the god ofpoetry?Reyna rolled her eyes. “If I had a denarius for every time I got thatquestion…Aside from the fact that Thalia is in the Hunters, and thus swornto celibacy…Why does a strong friendship always have to progress toromance? Thalia’s an excellent friend. Why would I risk messing that up?”“Uh—”“That was a rhetorical question,” Reyna added. “I do not need aresponse.”
- Page 124 and 125: and see us. Or smell us. Oh, human
- Page 126 and 127: Caelius whimpered. “Yes, my king.
- Page 128 and 129: Imperial gold bolt hit the zombie b
- Page 130 and 131: eventually, once the poison took ho
- Page 132 and 133: trunk of the tree. The root chute s
- Page 134 and 135: Cooking with PranjalChickweed and u
- Page 136 and 137: faces. One belonged to a handsome y
- Page 138 and 139: Before meeting the praetors, she to
- Page 140 and 141: “That can’t be right,” I said
- Page 142 and 143: “We’re doomed,” I wailed. “
- Page 144 and 145: “One way to find out,” Meg said
- Page 146 and 147: Reyna regarded her colleague. “Wh
- Page 148 and 149: she meant.“You’re talking about
- Page 150 and 151: it were actually true. I had someon
- Page 152 and 153: “Yes, yes,” Caligula said. “I
- Page 154 and 155: “Oh, my gods, Thomas!” Lavinia
- Page 156 and 157: See this right here, kids?This is h
- Page 158 and 159: “Gotta think in new ways if you w
- Page 160 and 161: Lavinia shrugged. “Maybe, but the
- Page 162 and 163: With that happy news, Lavinia and D
- Page 164 and 165: I wanted to ask Lavinia what was go
- Page 166 and 167: The song quickly morphed, however.
- Page 168 and 169: “Let’s get you back to camp,”
- Page 170 and 171: In my pickup truckWith my dogs and
- Page 172 and 173: “Ready,” Hazel said. “If Tarq
- Page 176 and 177: “I know what rhetorical means.”
- Page 178 and 179: “But does Meg?” I imagined my y
- Page 180 and 181: Up ahead, I heard Meg romping throu
- Page 182 and 183: “Oh…my…gods,” she wheezed.
- Page 184 and 185: Frozen in terrorLike a god in the h
- Page 186 and 187: “You’ve seen him?”“Just sen
- Page 188 and 189: I wondered if she was trying to mak
- Page 190 and 191: “A flock of ravens.” Meg sounde
- Page 192 and 193: “Well, can you un-create them?”
- Page 194 and 195: They swarmed—pecking, scratching,
- Page 196 and 197: her exposed chest and arms. Her lon
- Page 198 and 199: Let’s play guess the god.Starts w
- Page 200 and 201: meant to stay there.“Any ideas?
- Page 202 and 203: which is most likely why he couldn
- Page 204 and 205: “What do you call climbing Sutro
- Page 206 and 207: We all need a handOn our shoulder s
- Page 208 and 209: “Never underestimate the power of
- Page 210 and 211: Reyna shrugged. “Prophecies never
- Page 212 and 213: He could not do otherwise. I recall
- Page 214 and 215: the fasces, he would have already b
- Page 216 and 217: knew I would feel obligated to help
- Page 218 and 219: The god plucked the glass jar from
- Page 220 and 221: As faint and muffled as her voice w
- Page 222 and 223: Then he exhaled deeply. We watched,
“Can’t be sure, obviously. But I double-checked Thalia’s list of trouble
spots. The tower was on there.”
I waited for her to elaborate. “Thalia’s what?”
Reyna blinked. “Didn’t I tell you about that? So, Thalia and the Hunters
of Artemis, you know, they keep a running list of places where they’ve seen
unusual monstrous activity, stuff they can’t quite explain. Sutro Tower is one
of them. Thalia sent me her list of locations for the Bay Area so Camp
Jupiter can keep an eye on them.”
“How many trouble spots?” Meg asked. “Can we visit all of them?”
Reyna nudged her playfully. “I like your spirit, Killer, but there are
dozens in San Francisco alone. We—I mean the legion—we try to keep an
eye on them all, but it’s a lot. Especially recently…”
With the battles, I thought. And the deaths.
I wondered about the small hesitation in Reyna’s voice when she said we
and then clarified that she meant the legion. I wondered what other we’s
Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano felt part of. Certainly I had never imagined
her in civilian clothes, driving a battered pickup truck, taking her metal
greyhounds for a hike. And she’d been in touch with Thalia Grace, my
sister’s lieutenant, leader of the Hunters of Artemis.
I hated the way that made me feel jealous.
“How do you know Thalia?” I tried to sound nonchalant. Judging from
Meg’s cross-eyed look, I failed miserably.
Reyna didn’t seem to notice. She changed lanes, trying to make headway
through the traffic. In the back, Aurum and Argentum barked with joy,
thrilling in the adventure.
“Thalia and I fought Orion together in Puerto Rico,” she said. “The
Amazons and Hunters both lost a lot of good women. That sort of thing…
shared experience…Anyway, yeah, we’ve kept in touch.”
“How? The communication lines are all down.”
“Letters,” she said.
“Letters…” I seemed to remember those, back from around the days of
vellum and wax seals. “You mean when you write something by hand on
paper, put it in an envelope, stick a stamp on it—”
“And mail it. Right. I mean, it can be weeks or months between letters,
but Thalia’s a good pen pal.”
I tried to fathom that. Many descriptions came to mind when I thought
about Thalia Grace. Pen pal was not one of them.
Change language