The Mark of Athena

afternoon. We said three o’clock for a rendezvous.”

“At the latest,” Jason said.

Percy pointed at Piper’s dagger. “Tiberinus said you could find Nico’s location…you know, with that.”

Piper bit her lip. The last thing she wanted to do was check Katoptris for more terrifying images.

“I’ve tried,” she said. “The dagger doesn’t always show what I want to see. In fact, it hardly ever does.”

“Please,” Percy said. “Try again.”

He pleaded with those sea-green eyes, like a cute baby seal that needed help. Piper wondered how Annabeth ever won an argument with this guy.

“Fine,” she sighed, and drew her dagger.

“While you’re at it,” said Coach Hedge, “see if you can get the latest baseball scores. Italians don’t cover baseball worth beans.”

“Shh.” Piper studied the bronze blade. The light shimmered. She saw a loft apartment filled with Roman demigods. A dozen of them stood around a dining table as Octavian talked and pointed to a big map. Reyna paced next to the windows, gazing down at Central Park.

“That’s not good,” Jason muttered. “They’ve already set up a forward base in Manhattan.”

“And that map shows Long Island,” Percy said.

“They’re scouting the territory,” Jason guessed. “Discussing invasion routes.”

Piper did not want to see that. She concentrated harder. Light rippled across the blade. She saw ruins—a few crumbling walls, a single column, a stone floor covered with moss and dead vines—all clustered on a grassy hillside dotted with pine trees.

“I was just there,” Percy said. “That’s in the old Forum.”

The view zoomed in. On one side of the stone floor, a set of stairs had been excavated, leading down to a modern iron gate with a padlock. The blade’s image zoomed straight through the doorway, down a spiral stairwell, and into a dark, cylindrical chamber like the inside of a grain silo.

Piper dropped the blade.

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked. “It was showing us something.”

Piper felt like the boat was back on the ocean, rocking under her feet. “We can’t go there.”

Percy frowned. “Piper, Nico is dying. We’ve got to find him. Not to mention, Rome is about to get destroyed.”

Her voice wouldn’t work. She’d kept that vision of the circular room to herself for so long, now she found it impossible to talk about. She had a horrible feeling that explaining it to Percy and Jason wouldn’t change anything. She couldn’t stop what was about to happen.

She picked up the knife again. Its hilt seemed colder than usual.

She forced herself to look at the blade. She saw two giants in gladiator armor sitting on oversized praetors’ chairs. The giants toasted each other with golden goblets as if they’d just won an important fight. Between them stood a large bronze jar.

The vision zoomed in again. Inside the jar, Nico di Angelo was curled in a ball, no longer moving, all the pomegranate seeds eaten.

“We’re too late,” Jason said.

“No,” Percy said. “No, I can’t believe that. Maybe he’s gone into a deeper trance to buy time. We have to hurry.”

The blade’s surface went dark. Piper slipped it back into its sheath, trying to keep her hands from shaking. She hoped that Percy was right and Nico was still alive. On the other hand, she didn’t see how that image connected with the vision of the drowning room. Maybe the giants were toasting each other because she and Percy and Jason were dead.

“We should wait for the others,” she said. “Hazel, Frank, and Leo should be back soon.”

“We can’t wait,” Percy insisted.

Coach Hedge grunted. “It’s just two giants. If you guys want, I can take them.”

“Uh, Coach,” Jason said, “that’s a great offer, but we need you to man the ship—or goat the ship. Whatever.”

Hedge scowled. “And let you three have all the fun?”

Percy gripped the satyr’s arm. “Hazel and the others need you here. When they get back, they’ll need your leadership. You’re their rock.”

“Yeah.” Jason managed to keep a straight face. “Leo always says you’re his rock. You can tell them where we’ve gone and bring the ship around to meet us at the Forum.”

“And here.” Piper unstrapped Katoptris and put it in Coach Hedge’s hands.

The satyr’s eyes widened. A demigod was never supposed to leave her weapon behind, but Piper was fed up with evil visions. She’d rather face her death without any more previews.

“Keep an eye on us with the blade,” she suggested. “And you can check the baseball scores.”

That sealed the deal. Hedge nodded grimly, prepared to do his part for the quest.