I wondered if he was still in Manhattan. Then I thought about my dream of

Rachel's sketch — dark clouds closing on the city, an army gathered around the

Empire State Building.

 

"Annabeth." I stopped her by the tetherball court. I knew I was asking for

trouble, but I didn't know who else to trust. Plus, I'd always depended on

Annabeth for advice. "Listen, I had this dream about, um, Rachel ..."

 

I told her the whole thing, even the weird picture of Luke as a child.

 

For a while she didn't say anything. Then she rolled up her inspection scroll so

tight she ripped it. "What do you want me to say?"

 

"I'm not sure. You're the best strategist I know. If you were Kronos planning

this war, what would you do next?"

 

"I'd use Typhon as a distraction. Then I'd hit Olympus directly, while the gods

were in the West."

 

"Just like in Rachel's picture."

 

"Percy," she said, her voice tight, "Rachel is just a mortal."

 

"But what if her dream is true? Those other Titans — they said Olympus would be

destroyed in a matter of days. They said they had plenty of other challenges.