The Tyrant's Tomb

maintenance truck, there was an empty, extremely illegal-to-drive-in lane
that stretched as far as the Lester could see.
“Hold on,” Reyna warned. And as soon as we edged past the
maintenance truck, she swerved in front of it, plowing down a half dozen
cones, and gunned the engine.
The maintenance truck blared its horn and flashed its headlights. Reyna’s
greyhounds barked and wagged their tails in reply like, See ya!
I imagined we would have a few California Highway Patrol vehicles
ready to chase us at the bottom of the bridge, but for the time being, we
blasted past traffic at speeds that would have been creditable even for my
sun chariot.
We reached the Oakland side. Still no sign of pursuit. Reyna veered onto
580, smashing through a line of orange delineator posts and rocketing up the
merge ramp for Highway 24. She politely ignored the guys in hard hats who
waved their orange DANGER signs and screamed things at us.
We had found our alternate route. It was the regular route we weren’t
supposed to take.
I glanced behind us. No cops yet. Out in the water, the emperors’ yachts
had passed Treasure Island and were leisurely taking up positions, forming a
necklace of billion-dollar luxury death machines across the bay. I saw no
trace of the smaller landing craft, which meant they must have reached the
shore. That wasn’t good.
On the bright side, we were making great time. We soared along the
overpass all by ourselves, our destination only a few miles away.
“We’re going to make it,” I said, like a fool.
Once again, I had broken the First Law of Percy Jackson: Never say
something is going to work out, because as soon as you do, it won’t.
KALUMP!
Above our heads, foot-shaped indentations appeared in the truck’s
ceiling. The vehicle lurched under the extra weight. It was déjà ghoul all
over again.
Aurum and Argentum barked wildly.
“Eurynomos!” Meg yelled.
“Where do they come from?” I complained. “Do they just hang around
on highway signs all day, waiting to drop?”
Claws punctured the metal and upholstery. I knew what would happen
next: skylight installation.