The Mark of Athena

“I have no choice either,” Achelous said. “I have to stop you.”

The river exploded, and a wall of water crashed over Piper.

THE CURRENT GRABBED HER LIKE A FIST and pulled her into the deep. Struggling was useless. She clamped her mouth shut, forcing herself not to inhale, but she could barely keep from panicking. She couldn’t see anything but a torrent of bubbles. She could only hear her own thrashing and the dull roar of the rapids.

She’d just about decided this was how she would die: drowning in a swimming hole on an island that didn’t exist. Then, as suddenly as she’d been pulled under, she was thrust to the surface. She found herself at the center of a whirlpool, able to breathe but unable to break free.

A few yards away, Jason broke the surface and gasped, his sword in one hand. He swung wildly, but there was nothing to attack.

Twenty feet to Piper’s right, Achelous rose from the water. “I’m really sorry about this,” he said.

Jason lunged toward him, summoning the winds to lift him out of the river, but Achelous was quicker and more powerful. A curl of water slammed into Jason and sent him under once more.

“Stop it!” Piper screamed.

Using charmspeak wasn’t easy when she was floundering in a whirlpool, but she got Achelous’s attention.

“I’m afraid I can’t stop,” said the river god. “I can’t let Hercules have my other horn. It would be mortifying.”

“There’s another way!” Piper said. “You don’t have to kill us!”

Jason clawed his way to the surface again. A miniature storm cloud formed over his head. Thunder boomed.

“None of that, son of Jupiter,” Achelous chided. “If you call lightning, you’ll just electrocute your girlfriend.”

The water pulled Jason under again.

“Let him go!” Piper charged her voice with all the persuasiveness she could muster. “I promise I won’t let Hercules get the horn!”

Achelous hesitated. He cantered over to her, his head tilting to the left. “I believe you mean that.”

“I do!” Piper promised. “Hercules is despicable. But, please, first let my friend go.”

The water churned where Jason had gone under. Piper wanted to scream. How much longer could he hold his breath?

Achelous looked down at her through his bifocals. His expression softened. “I see. You would be my Deianira. You would be my bride to compensate for my loss.”

“What?” Piper wasn’t sure if she’d heard him right. The whirlpool was literally making her head spin. “Uh, actually I was thinking—”

“Oh, I understand,” Achelous said. “You were too modest to suggest this in front of your boyfriend. You are right, of course. I would treat you much better than a son of Zeus would. I could make things right after all these centuries. I could not save Deianira, but I could save you.”

Had it been thirty seconds now? A minute? Jason couldn’t hold out much longer.

“You would have to let your friends die,” Achelous continued. “Hercules would be angry, but I can protect you from him. We could be quite happy together. Let’s start by letting that Jason fellow drown, eh?”

Piper could barely hold it together, but she had to concentrate. She masked her fear and her anger. She was a child of Aphrodite. She had to use the tools she was given.

She smiled as sweetly as she could and raised her arms. “Lift me up, please.”

Achelous’s face brightened. He grabbed Piper’s hands and pulled her out of the whirlpool.

She’d never ridden a bull before, but she’d practiced bareback pegasus riding at Camp Half-Blood, and she remembered what to do. She used her momentum, swinging one leg over Achelous’s back. Then she locked her ankles around his neck, wrapped one arm around his throat, and drew her knife with the other. She pressed the blade under the river god’s chin.

“Let—Jason—go.” She put all her force into the command. “Now!”

Piper realized there were many flaws in her plan. The river god might simply dissolve into water. Or he could pull her under and wait for her to drown. But apparently her charmspeak worked. Or maybe Achelous was just too surprised to think straight. He probably wasn’t used to pretty girls threatening to cut his throat.

Jason shot out of the water like a human cannonball. He broke through the branches of an olive tree and tumbled onto the grass. That couldn’t have felt good, but he struggled to his feet, gasping and coughing. He raised his sword, and the dark clouds thickened over the river.

Piper shot him a warning look: Not yet. She still had to get out of this river without drowning or getting electrocuted.

Achelous arched his back as if contemplating a trick. Piper pressed the knife harder against his throat.

“Be a good bull,” she warned.

“You promised,” Achelous said through gritted teeth. “You promised Hercules wouldn’t get my horn.”

“And he won’t,” Piper said. “But I will.”

She raised her knife and slashed off the god’s horn. The Celestial bronze cut through the base like it was wet clay. Achelous bellowed in rage. Before he could recover, Piper stood up on his back. With the horn in one hand and