And what's with that picture of Luke as a kid—"

 

"We'll just have to be ready."

 

"How?" I said. "Look at our camp. We can't even stop fighting each other. And

I'm supposed to get my stupid soul reaped."

 

She threw down her scroll. "I knew we shouldn't have shown you the prophecy."

Her voice was angry and hurt. "All it did was scare you. You run away from

things when you're scared."

 

I stared at her, completely stunned. "Me? Run away?"

 

She got right in my face. "Yes, you. You're a coward, Percy Jackson!"

 

We were nose to nose. Her eyes were red, and I suddenly realized that when she

called me a coward, maybe she wasn't talking about the prophecy.

 

"If you don't like our chances," she said, "maybe you should go on that vacation

with Rachel." "Annabeth — "

 

"If you don't like our company."

 

"That's not fair! "