drop you."

 

Mrs. O'Leary barked angrily and jumped, trying to reach me, but we were too

high.

 

"Tell Mrs. O'Leary to behave," Nico warned. He was hovering near me in the

clutches of the third Fury. "I don't want her to get hurt, Percy. My father is

waiting. He just wants to talk."

 

I wanted to tell Mrs. O'Leary to attack Nico, but it wouldn't have done any

good, and Nico was right about one thing: my dog could get hurt if she tried to

pick a fight with the Furies.

 

I gritted my teeth. "Mrs. O'Leary, down! It's okay, girl."

 

She whimpered and turned in circles, looking up at me. "All right, traitor," I

growled at Nico. "You've got your prize. Take me to the stupid palace."

 

Alecto dropped me like a sack of turnips in the middle of the palace garden.

 

It was beautiful in a creepy way. Skeletal white trees grew from marble basins.

Flower beds overflowed with golden plants and gemstones. A pair of thrones, one

bone and one silver, sat on the balcony with a view of the Fields of Asphodel.

It would've been a nice place to spend a Saturday morning except for the

sulfurous smell and the cries of tortured souls in the distance.