The Tyrant's Tomb
which is most likely why he couldn’t be found in the Camp Jupiterarchives.”“If he’s so minor,” Reyna said, “why do you look so scared?”A bit of my old Olympian haughtiness surged through me. Mortals. Theycould never understand.“Ptolemaic gods are awful,” I said. “They’re unpredictable,temperamental, dangerous, insecure—”“Like a normal god, then,” Meg said.“I hate you,” I said.“I thought you loved me.”“I’m multitasking. Roses were this god’s symbol. I—I don’t rememberwhy. A connection to Venus? He was in charge of secrets. In the old days, ifleaders hung a rose from the ceiling of a conference room, it meanteverybody in that conversation was sworn to secrecy. They called it subrosa, under the rose.”“So you know all that,” Reyna said, “but you don’t know the god’sname?”“I—He’s—” A frustrated growl rose from my throat. “I almost have it. Ishould have it. But I haven’t thought about this god in millennia. He’s veryobscure. It’s like asking me to remember the name of a particular backupsinger I worked with during the Renaissance. Perhaps if you hadn’t kickedme in the head—”“After that story about Koronis?” Reyna said. “You deserved it.”“You did,” Meg agreed.I sighed. “You two are horrible influences on each other.”Without taking their eyes off me, Reyna and Meg gave each other asilent high five.“Fine,” I grumbled. “Maybe the Arrow of Dodona can help jog mymemory. At least he insults me in flowery Shakespearean language.”I drew the arrow from my quiver. “O prophetic missile, I need yourguidance!”There was no answer.I wondered if the arrow had been lulled to sleep by the magicsurrounding the storage container. Then I realized there was a simplerexplanation. I returned the arrow to my quiver and pulled out a different one.“You chose the wrong arrow, didn’t you?” Meg guessed.
“No!” I snapped. “You just don’t understand my process. I’m going backinto the sphere of silence now.”“But—”I marched away before Meg could finish.Only when I was I surrounded by cold silence again did it occur to methat it might be hard to carry on a conversation with the arrow if I couldn’ttalk.No matter. I was too proud to retreat. If the arrow and I couldn’tcommunicate telepathically, I would just pretend to have an intelligentconversation while Reyna and Meg looked on.“O prophetic missile!” I tried again. My vocal cords vibrated, though nosound came out—a disturbing sensation I can only compare to drowning. “Ineed your guidance!”CONGRATULATIONS, said the arrow. Its voice resonated in my head—more tactile than audible—rattling my eyeballs.“Thanks,” I said. “Wait. Congratulations for what?”THOU HAST FOUND THY GROOVE. AT LEAST THE BEGINNINGSOF THY GROOVE. I SUSPECTED THIS WOULD BE SO, GIVEN TIME.CONGRATULATIONS ARE MERITED.“Oh.” I stared at the arrow’s point, waiting for a but. None came. I wasso surprised, I could only stutter, “Th-thanks.”THOU ART MOST WELCOME.“Did we just have a polite exchange?”AYE, the arrow mused. MOST TROUBLING. BY THE BY, WHAT“PROCESS” WERT THOU SPEAKING OF TO YON MAIDENS? THOUHAST NO PROCESS SAVE FUMBLING.“Here we go,” I muttered. “Please, my memory needs a jump start. Thissoundless god…he’s that guy from Egypt, isn’t he?”WELL-REASONED, SIRRAH, the arrow said. THOU HASTNARROWED IT DOWN TO ALL THE GUYS IN EGYPT.“You know what I mean. There was that—that one Ptolemaic god. Thestrange dude. He was a god of silence and secrets. But he wasn’t, exactly. Ifyou can just give me his name, I think the rest of my memories will shakeloose.”IS MY WISDOM SO CHEAPLY BOUGHT? DOST THOU EXPECT TOWIN HIS NAME WITH NO EFFORT?
- 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 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 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
- Page 246 and 247: “What?” Hazel looked personally
- Page 248 and 249: O insert name herePlease hear us an
- Page 250 and 251: The most powerful of the Olympians.
which is most likely why he couldn’t be found in the Camp Jupiter
archives.”
“If he’s so minor,” Reyna said, “why do you look so scared?”
A bit of my old Olympian haughtiness surged through me. Mortals. They
could never understand.
“Ptolemaic gods are awful,” I said. “They’re unpredictable,
temperamental, dangerous, insecure—”
“Like a normal god, then,” Meg said.
“I hate you,” I said.
“I thought you loved me.”
“I’m multitasking. Roses were this god’s symbol. I—I don’t remember
why. A connection to Venus? He was in charge of secrets. In the old days, if
leaders hung a rose from the ceiling of a conference room, it meant
everybody in that conversation was sworn to secrecy. They called it sub
rosa, under the rose.”
“So you know all that,” Reyna said, “but you don’t know the god’s
name?”
“I—He’s—” A frustrated growl rose from my throat. “I almost have it. I
should have it. But I haven’t thought about this god in millennia. He’s very
obscure. It’s like asking me to remember the name of a particular backup
singer I worked with during the Renaissance. Perhaps if you hadn’t kicked
me in the head—”
“After that story about Koronis?” Reyna said. “You deserved it.”
“You did,” Meg agreed.
I sighed. “You two are horrible influences on each other.”
Without taking their eyes off me, Reyna and Meg gave each other a
silent high five.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “Maybe the Arrow of Dodona can help jog my
memory. At least he insults me in flowery Shakespearean language.”
I drew the arrow from my quiver. “O prophetic missile, I need your
guidance!”
There was no answer.
I wondered if the arrow had been lulled to sleep by the magic
surrounding the storage container. Then I realized there was a simpler
explanation. I returned the arrow to my quiver and pulled out a different one.
“You chose the wrong arrow, didn’t you?” Meg guessed.
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