The Tyrant's Tomb

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her exposed chest and arms. Her long-sleeve tee was quickly turning into ashort-sleeve tee.I channeled my worst King of Cool. I imagined I was on a Las Vegasstage, a line of empty martini glasses on the piano behind me. I was wearinga velvet tuxedo. I had just smoked a pack of cigarettes. In front of me sat acrowd full of adoring, tone-deaf fans.“VOOO-LAR-RAAAAY!” I cried, modulating my voice to add abouttwenty syllables to the word. “WHOA! OH!”The response from the ravens was immediate. They recoiled as if we’dsuddenly become vegetarian entrées. Some threw themselves bodily againstthe metal girders, making the whole tower shudder.“Keep going!” Meg yelled.Phrased as an order, her words forced me to comply. With apologies toDomenico Modugno, who wrote the song, I gave “Volare” the full DeanMartin treatment.It had once been such a lovely, obscure little tune. Originally, Modugnocalled it “Nel blu, dipinto di blu,” which, granted, was a bad title. I don’tknow why artists insist on doing that. Like the Wallflowers’ “OneHeadlight” obviously should have been titled “Me and Cinderella.” And EdSheerhan’s “The A-Team” should clearly have been called “Too Cold forAngels to Fly.” I mean, come on, guys, you’re burying the lede.At any rate, “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” might have faded into obscurity hadDean Martin not gotten ahold of it, repackaged it as “Volare,” added seventhousand violins and backup singers, and turned it into a sleazy loungesingerclassic.I didn’t have backup singers. All I had was my voice, but I did my bestto be terrible. Even when I was a god and could speak any language Iwanted, I’d never sung well in Italian. I kept mixing it up with Latin, so Icame off sounding like Julius Caesar with a head cold. My newly bustednose just added to the awfulness.I bellowed and warbled, screwing my eyes shut and clinging to theladder as ravens flapped around me, croaking in horror at my travesty of asong. Far below, Reyna’s greyhounds bayed as if they’d lost their mothers.I became so engrossed in murdering “Volare,” I didn’t notice that theravens had gone silent until Meg shouted, “APOLLO, ENOUGH!”I faltered halfway through a chorus. When I opened my eyes, the ravenswere nowhere in sight. From somewhere in the fog, their indignant caws
grew fainter and fainter as the flock moved off in search of quieter, lessrevolting prey.“My ears,” Reyna complained. “Oh, gods, my ears will never heal.”“The ravens will be back,” I warned. My throat felt like the chute of acement mixer. “As soon as they manage to purchase enough raven-sizenoise-canceling headphones, they’ll be back. Now climb! I don’t haveanother Dean Martin song in me.”
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Also by Rick RiordanPERCY JACKSON A
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Copyright © 2019 by Rick RiordanCo
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CONTENTSTitle PageCopyrightDedicati
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The Dark ProphecyThe words that mem
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That turned out to be a good call.
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Meg reclined in her seat, propped h
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The hearse lurched as if we’d bee
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Dude, this isn’t coolDude just tr
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The ghoul hesitated. I’ve always
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much alive. Perhaps if I managed tw
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Lavinia gulped. “Yeah. Let’s ge
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Lavinia’s face turned terra-cotta
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Lavinia snorted. “You guys should
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hair. The glow of Meg’s swords th
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Ukulele song?No need to remove my g
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The eurynomos screamed and lurched
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“Hazel?” Lavinia called into th
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looked normal—the gleaming white
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Hi, everybody,Here’s a little tun
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really supposed to be here?That fee
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explain the many months of horrifyi
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Sailing north to warWith my Shirley
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“We’ve discussed this.” Calig
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more comfortable. (Yes, I am sure.
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Judging from the angle of the sun,
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Nice stroll into townHappy birthday
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“It’s the only way,” he agree
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“Terminus,” I protested, “you
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break. Don’t judge us.)When I was
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It was too much. I put my hand agai
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I liked. His gentle big brown eye a
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gleamed under an LED magnifying lam
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“Thanks,” I grumbled.Frank shif
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“Yep, yep,” said Ella. “No re
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his life force to a small piece of
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Aha.“Come, my friends,” I said.
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demigods. Iris-messages failed. Let
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Sing it with me: Who’sAfraid of t
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But, of course, I knew the answer.
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“Thank you.” I looked up, but L
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Dirt and bubble gumLavinia brought
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out of mind? How could I have been
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I blinked, still groggy, the smell
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rose petals in her wake as she twir
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I now have a planTo make a plan con
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is on April eighth, yep. Farmer’s
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unbelievable. On the other hand, no
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“Ohhhh.” Several Lares nodded i
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Romance disasterI’m poison for gu
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“It’s always dark underground,
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I remembered the day we had sat tog
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curse, I couldn’t have taken it b
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Reluctant arrowGrant me this boon:
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Bless him, Frank managed to maintai
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“Shouldn’t that stick be locked
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Nightmare carouselTotally let your
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“Better,” I said, though I was
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The carousel was topped by a tan do
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“What?” she demanded. “I got
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I glanced back at Meg and Lavinia.
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and see us. Or smell us. Oh, human
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Caelius whimpered. “Yes, my king.
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Imperial gold bolt hit the zombie b
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eventually, once the poison took ho
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trunk of the tree. The root chute s
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Cooking with PranjalChickweed and u
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faces. One belonged to a handsome y
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Before meeting the praetors, she to
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“That can’t be right,” I said
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“We’re doomed,” I wailed. “
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“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 174 and 175: “Can’t be sure, obviously. But
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 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,
Page 224 and 225: O, blood moon risingTake a rain che
Page 226 and 227: From one of her gardening-belt pouc
Page 228 and 229: were trying to protect me…”The
Page 230 and 231: The scroll burst into flames, which
Page 232 and 233: Reyna shouted, “Apollo, take the
Page 234 and 235: at bay. A young woman in maroon and
Page 236 and 237: Lotoya—who must have been a redwo
Page 238 and 239: “Stop right there,” she warned,
Page 240 and 241: hands. Fire trucks were parked alon
Page 242 and 243: Somewhere overhead, an explosion sh
Page 244 and 245: surrounded, but our advance had dis
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“What?” Hazel looked personally
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O insert name herePlease hear us an
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The most powerful of the Olympians.
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Jupiter were holding its breath, wa
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Such a deal for youTwo-for-one sing
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The emperors obviously wanted to se
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“Wait,” Caligula snapped. He re
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He clapped me on my back and let me
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leaving a trail of bloody footprint
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A reckless, terrible anger possesse
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My line of vision was reduced to a
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I didn’t do it.Explosion? I don
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a flare gun going off nearby. A ten
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Now Coast Guard vessels joined the
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Got two words for you:Swiss Army un
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Just hearing his name made my gut c
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zombie mob. They never had a chance
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die for collapsing my throne room o
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Captain UnderpantsDoes not appear i
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“BAHM! BAHM! BAHM!” I continued
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“It worked, then!” I grinned at
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Lavinia looked offended. “Well, y
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completely burned away except for h
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“I don’t think so,” I said.
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told me some prophecy lines, just f
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My eyes were too blurry to see prop
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seemed to recognize that Reyna was
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reduced that the entire legion and
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Life is uncertainAccept presents, a
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looked as if she’d been given a n
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or Reyna or Frank, not to mention a
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adventures, and wish Apollo and Meg
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When Meg and I left the café for t
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“Oh, as in Oh, no.” I remembere
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ab urbe condita Latin for from the
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clunis Latin for buttockscohort gro
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Germani bodyguards for the Roman Em
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lictor an officer who carried a fas
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Pompeii a Roman city that was destr
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Three Graces the three charities: B
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