"ROWWF!" Mrs. O'Leary bounded toward me, ignoring the growling monsters on

either side. Nico strode forward. The enemy army fell back before him like he

radiated death, which of course he did.

 

Through the face guard of his skull-shaped helmet, he smiled. "Got your message.

Is it too late to join the party?"

 

"Son of Hades." Kronos spit on the ground. "Do you love death so much you wish

to experience it?"

 

"Your death," Nico said, "would be great for me."

 

"I'm immortal, you fool! I have escaped Tartarus. You have no business here, and

no chance to live."

 

Nico drew his sword — three feet of wicked sharp Stygian iron, black as a

nightmare. "I don't agree."

 

The ground rumbled. Cracks appeared m the road, the sidewalks, the sides of the

buildings. Skeletal hands grasped the air as the dead clawed their way into the

world of the living. There were thousands of them, and as they emerged, the

Titan's monsters got jumpy and started to back up.

 

"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Kronos demanded. "The dead are no match for us."