O C E A N U S

C H A P T E R   S E V E N

( monocle motors )

⟶⬩⬥⬩⟵

          MALIA DIDN'T RELAX until the glow of Quebec City faded behind them.

"You were amazing," Jason told her.

The compliment made her day. Don't ask her why, but hearing him say that made her heart race and jump and her stomach swirl with butterflies that she knew were only ever present when Jason spoke to her or looked at her or touched her. That familiar jolt of electricity raced through her veins and she felt her lips tug up in a smile.

"You weren't too bad yourself," she responded, leaning back into him a bit to keep warm.

Jason hummed. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking, what happened between you and Khione? She seems to really hate you."

Malia winced a bit, biting her lower lip. "Um, one winter when I was thirteen, I'd gone outside into Manhattan and met this woman. Khione. She tried to bury me in ten feet of snow, so I made a fire hydrant burst beside her, which drenched her and froze her into a Khinoe ice cube. Ever since then, anytime we see each other, we nearly kill each other."

Jason chuckled. "Sounds like something you'd do, Mal."

Malia perked a brow. "Mal?"

"Well, I mean, you call me Hercules and I don't know enough about you yet to come up with something better, so Mal will have to do for now, I guess," Jason said, shrugging.

"All right, I'll take it." The two chuckled, their conversation fizzling into a comfortable silence.

Malia thought back to what happened during their meeting with Boreas. Something was bothering her. The way Boreas had changed form into Aquilon at the sight of Jason's tattoo. It didn't sit right with her. It was like seeing those marks made Boreas shift into his Roman aspect, like he knew Jason would better recognize him as Aquilon.

And the way Boreas had let them go so easily with the promise that their journey would get them killed also made her uneasy. The god knew the gamble that Hera had made, and something told Malia that this gamble could either end perfectly. . . or tragically.

The thing that bothered her the most, though, was how Boreas had assumed Jason was some sort of Roman, and Romans didn't mix well with Greeks. At least, that's what she had learned while digging through both Greek and Roman mythology. She kept waiting for Jason to offer an explanation, but he clearly didn't want to talk about it. Which she respected.

Malia had originally thought that Jason's feelings of not belonging at Camp Half-Blood were just newbie demigod feelings that everyone got. She thought he would feel better after a few days and realize that camp was where he belonged. But now. . . what if he was right? What if he was something else? What if he was an enemy? That idea alone was more horrible than the thought of being around Khione for more than a second.

He couldn't be an enemy. Otherwise he would have tried to kill them by now. Unless his lost memories are what is keeping him from doing that, and that's why Hera stole them from him. Malia's heart nearly stopped. She didn't know why, but she couldn't stand the thought of Jason being her enemy. Someone she was meant to kill. It pained her.

Her eyes flickered down toward her bracelet, but the Celestial bronze didn't light up green like it did when danger was near. Instead, it remained a simple bronze color, though it was gleaming brighter than what she was used to seeing.

Leo passed them some sandwiches from his pack. He'd been quiet ever since they'd told him what happened in the throne room. "I still can't believe Khione," he said. "She looked so nice."

"Trust me, man," Jason said. "Snow may be pretty, but up close it's cold and nasty. We'll find you a better prom date."

Malia gasped in mock shock. "Did Jason just say something relatively intelligent?"

This made Leo and Piper laugh while Jason nudged her shoulder. "Hey! I'm intelligent."

"Mm-hmm, keep telling yourself that, Hercules," Malia said, taking a bite out of her sandwich. Despite the laughter, Leo didn't look very pleased. He hadn't said much about his time in the palace, or why the Boreads singled him out for smelling like fire. Malia got the feeling he was hiding something. Whatever it was, his mood seemed to be affecting Festus, who grumbled and steamed as he tried to keep himself warm in the cold Canadian air. Happy the Dragon was not so happy.

They ate their sandwiches as they flew. Malia had no idea how Leo had stocked up on supplies, because the woods didn't have anything virtually helpful for quests other than good training exercises, but she didn't ask. Apparently Piper was a vegetarian, because Leo had packed veggie rations for the girl.

Nobody talked. Whatever they might find in Chicago, they all knew Boreas had only let them go because he figured they were already on a suicide mission.

The moon rose and stars turned overhead. Malia's eyes started to feel a little heavy. The encounter with Boreas and his children had left her emotionally drained. She didn't get angry often, but Khione always made all her inner rage come to the surface. Now that she had a full stomach, her adrenaline and anger was fading.

She hadn't been completely honest with Jason when telling him why Khione wanted her dead. There was more behind the story than an innocent incident turning deadly. That snow bitch had purposefully sought her out. She'd heard about some prophecy that a child of Poseidon would one day be her downfall, so she came to Manhattan and tried to kill Malia, which caused one of the worst snowstorms in the history of New York.

The goddess had shown up in the park she had been playing in and tried to freeze her to death. When that didn't work, she'd attempted to drop hail the size of a school bus on her. Each attempt was met with a counterattack by Malia, who had managed to somehow control both the ice and snow. She guessed since it was just water in a different form, she could still control it. Like cryokinesis or something.

She'd talked to Chiron about this prophecy, and the centaur had assured her that the prophecy couldn't be talking about her or Percy. In order to be a god or goddess's downfall, you also had to be a god or goddess, or a monster of sorts. So, Malia let the situation drop, but she never forgave Khione. And she never would. Not even on her deathbed.

Malia yawned and blinked to clear her eyes from any sleep trying to force it's way into her mind. She didn't want to sleep again. The last time, she'd been met with past memories that just made her miss her brother more and a cryptic message from her father. Sleep wasn't good for her at the moment, and even if her body needed it in order to function, she'd stay awake until she passed out from exhaustion.

Smart, right?

The daughter of Poseidon jumped when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning her head, she met Jason's electric eyes, that same jolt rushing through her veins and making her heart race. What the actual Hades?

"Get some sleep, Mal. I'll wake you up when we reach Chicago," Jason whispered, his eyes soft as he looked at her. She felt her heart skip a beat. And another. Man, was it hot in here or was it just him?

Oh, gods.

Malia tried to fight the blush rising to her cheeks when she came to a realization she hadn't been expecting. Swallowing, she pursed her lips. "I'm fine, Jay. I don't need sleep."

He gave her a look. "Don't lie. You look exhausted."

"Well, coming up with comebacks for the goddess of snow isn't exactly easy," Malia countered, grinning.

He rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "I'm sure it isn't, but still. Get some sleep, okay?"

Malia wanted to argue, but she could feel her eyelids drooping some more. Reluctantly, she nodded and leaned back against Jason's chest, sighing as she felt warmth encase her. She didn't even bother fighting her blush as his arms wrapped snuggly around her waist and his chin rested atop her head.

And somehow, in Jason's embrace, she'd managed to have one of the best night sleeps she'd had in a long, long time.

⟶⬩⬥⬩⟵

Malia woke up to screaming.

She tumbled through the sky. Far below she saw city lights glimmering in the early dawn, and several hundred yards away the body of the bronze dragon spinning out of control, its wings limp, fire flickering in its mouth like a badly wired lightbulb.

A body shot past her—Leo, screaming and frantically grabbing at the clouds. "Not coooooool!"

She tried to call to him, but he was already too far below. Piper was also falling below her, looking terrified out of her mind.

Somewhere above her, Jason yelled, "Malia, level out! Extend your arms and legs!"

"Oh, thanks, I was definitely thinking of that while falling to my death!" she shouted back.

Malia tended to deal with fear by using sarcasm to cover it up. In reality, she was terrified out of her wits. Falling from the sky was not her ideal way of dying, especially as a daughter of Poseidon who could get struck by lightning at any given moment. But, she pushed past her fear and did what Jason said to one, not die, and two, not die.

She fell spread-eagle like a skydiver, the wind underneath her like a solid block of ice. She kept muttering prayers to her father and any sky god or wind god, no matter their place on Olympus. Anything that would save her from dying. Then she felt someone grabbing ahold of her waist, and suddenly she wasn't falling anymore.

Malia gasped in surprise and looked to see who had saved her. For a second, she thought a god had come down from Olympus, but instead, she met the wide eyes of Jason Grace. Well, you couldn't blame her for mistaking him for a god. He did look incredibly handsome at the moment, his arms tight around her waist and his face inches from her own. She could feel his fast-paced heart beating against her chest, that's how close they were.

When Malia got back to camp, she was going to spend most of her days with Valentina in the Aphrodite cabin. She had to figure out what was going on with her. She couldn't have a crush on someone after just meeting them. That wasn't possible. . .

Right?

"We have to get Piper and Leo!" Malia shouted, coming out of her trance.

They began to fall slowly toward the others. Malia had no idea how Jason was doing this, controlling the winds or flying or whatever, but she'd have to worry about that later. Their fall may have been slow, but they still lurched up and down like the winds did not want to cooperate with whatever Jason was doing.

"Gonna get rough," Jason warned. "Hold on!"

With pleasure, Malia thought. She then scolded herself, cheeks flaming.

Malia locked her arms around him, and Jason shot toward the ground. Malia probably screamed, but the sound was ripped from her mouth. Her vision blurred.

And then, thump! They slammed into two other warm bodies—Leo and Piper, still wriggling and cursing.

"Stop fighting!" Jason said. "It's me!"

"My dragon!" Leo yelled as Malia reached out and grabbed onto Piper, saving her from falling. "You gotta save Festus!"

Jason was already struggling to keep the four of them aloft, and Malia knew there was no way he could help a fifty-ton metal dragon. But before she could try to reason with Leo, she heard an explosion below them. A fireball rolled into the sky from behind a warehouse complex, and Leo sobbed, "Festus!"

Jason's face reddened with strain as he tried to maintain an air cushion beneath them, but intermittent slow-downs were the best he could manage. Rather than free-falling, it felt like they were bouncing down a giant staircase, a hundred feet at a time, which wasn't doing Malia's stomach any favors.

As they wobbled and zigzagged, Malia could make out details of the factory complex below—warehouses, smokestacks, barbed-wire fences, and parking lots lined with snow-covered vehicles. They were still high enough so that hitting the ground would flatten them into roadkill—or skykill—when Jason groaned, "I can't—"

And they dropped like stones.

They hit the roof of the largest warehouse and crashed through into the darkness.

Malia felt all her years of training kick in at once. As she fell toward the ground, she braced herself for impact. The balls of her feet hit the ground and she rolled forward, feeling an ache in her muscles from how hard she hit the ground. However, she must have drawn the shortest draw, because her body rolled too far, and she soon found herself falling again. Except this time, she was falling down an actual staircase.

She winced as she tumbled down the stairs and into a lower part of the warehouse, body aching each time she hit. When she finally came to a stop, she was sure she was covered in bruises and scrapes. Her vision spun as she tried to sit up, and she felt nausea swirling in her stomach. Suddenly, eating that sandwich didn't seem like a good idea.

Malia looked around once her vision settled. It was dark, and she was surrounded by things found in a mechanic shop. There were conveyor belts and chains holding up engines and other parts of cars. On the one wall was a logo: a big red eye with the words MONOCLE MOTORS stenciled underneath. Malia felt uneasy at the sight of the single red eye, so she looked away.

A few flickering lights hung above her, giving her little to no light. Moving hurt, so that wasn't much of a choice, but she had to find the others. So, gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up, nearly falling over as pain erupted in her right ankle. Looking down, she winced when she saw a growing bruise forming and a rather ugly gash bleeding slowly.

Malia reached for her bag and pulled out a water bottle, some nectar, and ambrosia, as well as some bandage. She got to work, pouring some nectar on a cotton swab while biting into a square of ambrosia. Immediately, she tasted her mother's blue chocolate chip cookies. Something she wanted now more than ever.

She swallowed and dabbed at the gash with the nectar-soaked swab, watching as the cut and bruises began to shrink. Malia then uncapped the water bottle and spilled some of it on the wound, sighing when she felt the pain slowly subside until all that was left was a small cut and a decent-sized bruise that would take some time to heal.

Malia drank from her water and capped it before wrapping her ankle in the bandage and tying it securely. She then placed all her stuff into her pack and stood up, dusting herself off. She looked around and glanced back at the stairs with a glare.

"Malia! Malia! Where are you?" She heard Jason's panicked voice above her, and moved over to a hole in the ceiling. Where it had come from, she didn't know, but it was quite convenient. "Malia!"

"Stop worrying, Sparky, I'm down here!" Malia shot back, waving up at Jason, who stood near the hole.

He looked down and she watched relief filter across his features before his brows pulled together. "Sparky? What happened to Hercules?"

"Oh, trust me, that one is still in use, but you can't just have one nickname. I won't allow it," Malia said, which caused Jason to chuckle. "I'm fine! I just fell down the stairs. I'm gonna look around down here and see if there's anything useful. I'll meet up with you in a minute, okay?"

Jason nodded. "Okay. Be safe down there."

"I will!"

Malia walked away from the hole in the ceiling and began to study her surroundings. She needed to figure out where they were and how to get them to Chicago, because she had a feeling that wherever they were wasn't Chicago. She had never been to the windy city, but she just had a gut feeling that they weren't in the right place.

She walked around the bottom floor, taking in everything. There were just spare car parts and weird contraptions littering the floor, some that looked normal and others that looked deadly if used improperly. A lot of old machinery and scrap pieces of metal were also in sight, leaving Malia to wonder where the Hades was she.

She caught sight of the logo again, and that same feeling of unease came back. She only knew of one type of creature with one eye: Cyclopes. And so far, the only nice Cyclopes were the ones working in her father's forges underwater. Any Cyclopes found outside in the wilderness were usually not so nice and tended to eat demigods whenever they had the chance. But just because the logo had a single eye on it didn't mean Cyclopes were nearby, right?

"What is going on here?" Malia mumbled to herself, brushing her hand across the hood of an old car. She came to a stop when she caught sight of something gleaming bronze in the corner. Out of curiosity, she walked toward it, eyes widening when she saw what it was. "Oh, gods."

A Celestial bronze sword. In the middle of a car plant. This couldn't be a good sign. She immediately looked down at her bracelet to see it alight with green light. Swallowing thickly, Malia flicked her wrist, the bracelet morphing into her sword. It gleamed with bronze light as she gripped it tightly, the trident engraving on the hilt glowing a brilliant green.

The hilt was inscribed with two Ancient Greek words: Τíτλο κúμα. Tidal Wave.

Not as cool of a name as Riptide, she would admit that, but her sword was pretty cool. For one, it warned her of any near dangers. Two, it had been made in the forges of her father's palace exactly for her. Three, it had a cool design on it that made it much better than Percy's sword. He had admitted that fact to be true once before, and she would never let him live that down.

She spun the blade in her hand uneasily and looked around, carefully taking in everything around her with new eyes. She now noticed everything that was unnatural for a car plant. Car plants didn't have Celestial bronze weapons. They didn't have stock piles of monster food. They didn't have torn and shredded orange tee shirts piled in one of the corners.

Maybe she had been right to think that the Monocle Motors logo meant Cyclopes were near.

"I've gotta warn the others." Malia nodded to herself and turned, only to come face-to-face with a single red eye. "Oh, gods."

The Cyclops grinned, revealing disgusting stained teeth. "Sorry, sweetheart. But the gods can't help you now."

And before Malia had a chance to strike, the female Cyclops was grabbing her by the waist and lifting her off the ground. Oh, no. No no no no no. This was not going to end well, she was sure of it.

⟶⬩⬥⬩⟵

Malia was sure she had never been in a more uncomfortable situation. Not even when she was stuck in the back of a taxi with an angry Annabeth Chase and a clueless Percy Jackson after blowing up her stepdad's high school's band room.

The Cyclops had grabbed her and tied her upside down from her ankles in chains over what she assumed was about to be a big cooking fire. Soon she was joined by Piper and Jason, the blond Superman having a huge welt the size of an apple forming on his forehead. He was knocked out cold, but the Cyclopes still hung them up the same way they had done to her, putting a gag in Piper's mouth.

Malia could feel the blood rushing to her head as she swung around in the chains with Piper, glaring at her half-brothers and sisters. She knew Cyclopes could be bad, but this was cruel in its own shape and form. She wanted to stab that woman Cyclops right in her ugly eye more than anything.

When she'd been taken, her sword had appeared on her wrist again in bracelet form, but Malia's arms were tied up so she couldn't use it to get her out. Maybe if she could loosen the bindings, but that would take a lot of energy that she just did not have at the moment. That, and if she were to cut herself free, she'd have to deal with three incredibly tall and hungry Cyclopes that want to have her for their lunch.

"Stop wiggling around, girl! You'll knock yourself down!" One of the male Cyclopes said. His face was crude and ugly, with a black grin, a bashed-in nose, and a bloodshot eye. Nothing like Tyson.

He grabbed Malia's chain and she glared at him. "Once I get down from here, I'm gonna make you hurt!"

The Cyclops laughed. "Funny. Where is the other demigod? I smelled another demigod."

Malia realized that Leo wasn't with them. That meant he could be the one who saved them from these idiots. However, if the Cyclopes found out about the other demigod, they'd lure him in like they did for Piper and Jason by copying one of their voices. The thought alone scared her a bit.

"There is no other demigod, idiot. Just us three." Malia spit hair from her mouth and glared. "Your bashed up nose is probably why your senses are sub-par."

The Cyclops looked like he wanted to murder her, but he managed to keep his cool somehow. Malia couldn't concentrate on anything in particular. She was filled to the brim with worry for Jason, Piper, and Leo. This was their first quest and she didn't want it to be their last quest or last day alive. This could not possibly be happening to her.

"Tell me where they are. Or we'll eat you first," the Cyclops warned her.

Piper somehow managed to spit her gag out, and before Malia could stop her, she said, "There is another. Leo. But you'll never get him to come down here."

Malia looked at Piper with wide eyes. "Why would you tell them that?"

The girl just shrugged—well, tried to at least—and the Cyclops put her gag back in. The other Cyclops moved over to the stairs and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Leo, help!"

Its imitation of Piper was startling. But there was no answer. Malia hoped Leo was smarter than he sometimes acted, because he was their only hope right now.

The Cyclops called out again: "Leo?" Less certain than the last time.

Malia could have sworn she saw a flicker of movement behind the machinery, but she believed it was just a trick of the light. Leo couldn't possibly be that nimble yet. It took years of training to move that quietly. Either that or Malia was just one of the clumsiest demigods.

"Leo, help me! Help—" The Cyclops changed voices, going back to his normal voice. "Bah, there's nobody out there. No demigod could be that quiet, eh?"

The first Cyclops chuckled. "Probably ran away, if he knows what's good for him. Or the girl was lying about a fourth demigod. Let's get cooking."

Snap. A bright orange light sizzled to life—an emergency flare—and Malia was temporarily blinded. The Cyclops threw the flare into the bed of an unfinished truck, which was filled with old tires and wood. The flare caught them on fire immediately, and Malia could smell the unmistakable scent of kerosene. A big metal pole was suspended over the flames—a spit. Malia really hoped that Leo either saved them or she was dead before she got put on that thing.

The second Cyclops—who wore a chain mail loincloth—moved over to where Piper was struggling. She tried to head-butt him in the eye, but he moved out of the way. "Can I take her gag off now? I like it when they scream?"

The question was directed toward the third Cyclops, who was hiding in the shadows. The female Cyclops grunted and the other one removed Piper's gag. Piper didn't scream, though. Instead, she took a shaky breath like she was trying to keep herself calm.

The other Cyclops—dressed in a horrid fiberglass insulation toga—poked at the fire, which was now blazing away and billowing noxious black smoke toward the ceiling. His buddy Loincloth glowered at Piper, waiting for her to do something entertaining. "Scream, girl! I like funny screaming!"

When Piper finally spoke, her tone was calm and reasonable, nothing like how her eyes appeared. "Oh, Mr. Cyclops, you don't want to kill us. It would be much better if you let us go."

Loincloth scratched his ugly head. He turned to his friend in the toga. "She's kind of pretty, Torque. Maybe I should let her go."

Torque, the dude in the toga, growled. "I saw her first, Sump. I'll let her go!"

Sump and Torque started to argue, but the third Cyclops rose and shouted, "Fools!"

This was the Cyclops that had gotten Malia. She was several feet taller than Torque and Sump, and even beefier. She wore a tent of chain mail cut like a muumuu. Her greasy black hair was matted in pigtails, woven with copper wires and metal washers. Her nose and mouth were thick and smashed together, like she spent her free time ramming her face into walls; but her single red eye glittered with evil intelligence.

The woman Cyclops stalked over to Sump and pushed him aside, knocking him over the conveyor belt. Torque backed up quickly.

"The girl is Venus spawn," the lady Cyclops snarled. "She's using charmspeak on you."

Piper started to say, "Please, ma'am—"

"Rarr!" The lady Cyclops grabbed Piper around the waist. "Don't try your pretty talk on me, girl! I'm Ma Gasket! I've eaten heroes tougher than you for lunch!"

Ma Gasket dropped Piper and let her dangle from her chain after a moment. Then she started yelling at Sump about how stupid he was. Malia had two theories on who this Ma Gasket was. Either a.) she was their older sister, or b.) she was their mother. But no Cyclops mothers ever kept their children.

"Can we at least eat her last, Ma?" Sump asked.

"Idiot!" Ma Gasket yelled. "I should've thrown you out on the streets when you were babies, like proper Cyclops children. You might have learned some useful skills. Curse my soft heart that I kept you!"

Malia had been right to think that Ma Gasket was their mother. Which meant ugly definitely ran in the family. Malia did not want to know what the nymph that birthed these idiots looked like. How had her father managed to fall for them?

"Soft heart?" Torque muttered.

"What was that, you ingrate?"

"Nothing, Ma. I said you got a soft heart. We get to work for you, feed you, file your toenails—"

"And you should be grateful!" Ma Gasket bellowed. "Now, stoke the fire, Torque! And Sump, you idiot, my case of salsa is in the other warehouse. Don't tell me you expect me to eat these demigods without salsa!"

"Yes, Ma," Sump said. "I mean no, Ma. I mean—"

"Go get it!" Ma Gasket picked up a nearby truck chassis and slammed it over Sump's head. Sump crumpled to his knees. Malia would have felt bad for him if he hadn't tried to smash her face in seconds ago.

Malia spotted movement between the robotic arms of the machines, and immediately realized that Leo was working on something. He was here. She hadn't been seeing things. Malia looked at Piper to see she had seen him, too, and the two of them seemed to come up with the same thought: they had to keep the Cyclopes distracted so Leo could get to work.

Malia turned to where Ma Gasket was and pretended to wince in pain, which wasn't really much pretending since she was in pain all over the place. She gasped and drew Ma Gasket's attention to her, which wasn't fun, but she had to do it in order to distract the Cyclops.

"What's the matter, girl?" she asked. "So fragile I broke you when I picked you up?"

Malia groaned. "I fell down the stairs after crashing from the ceiling. If I'm busted up inside, I'll taste terrible."

Ma Gasket bellowed with laughter. "Good one. The last hero we ate—remember him, Torque? Son of Mercury, wasn't he?"

"Yes, Ma," Torque said. "Tasty. Little bit stringy."

"He tried a trick like that. Said he was on medication. But he tasted fine!"

"Tasted like mutton," Torque recalled. "Purple shirt. Talked in Latin. Yes, a bit stringy, but good."

Malia's throat went dry. "Purple shirt? Latin?"

"Good eating," Ma Gasket said fondly. "Point is, girl, we're not as dumb as people think! We're not falling for those stupid tricks and riddles, not us northern Cyclopes."

Piper immediately began laying on the praise. "Oh, I've heard about northern Cyclopes!" Which Malia figured was actual bull, but she sounded convincing enough. "I never knew you were so big and clever!"

"Flattery won't work either," Ma Gasket said, though she sounded pleased. "It's true, you'll be breakfast for the best Cyclopes around."

"But aren't Cyclopes good?" Piper asked. "I thought you made weapons for the gods."

"Bah! I'm very good. Good at eating people. Good at smashing. And good at building, yes, but not for the gods. Our cousins, the elder Cyclopes, they do this, yes. Thinking they're so high and mighty 'cause they're a few thousand years older. Then there's our southern cousins, living on islands and tending sheep. Morons! But we Hyperborean Cyclopes, the northern clan, we're the best! Founded Monocle Motors in this old factory—the best weapons, armor, chariots, fuel-efficient SUVs! And yet—bah! Forced to shut down. Laid off most of our tribe. The war was too quick. Titans lost. No good! No more need for Cyclops weapons."

"Oh, no," Piper sympathized while Malia tried to wiggle around in her chains. They were starting to get a little looser. "I'm sure you made some amazing weapons.

Torque grinned. "Squeaky war hammer!" He picked up a large pole with an accordion-looking metal box on the end. He slammed it against the floor and the cement cracked, but there was also a sound like the world's largest rubber ducky getting stomped.

"Terrifying," Piper said.

Torque looked pleased. "Not as good as the exploding ax, but this one can be used more than once."

"Can I see it?" Piper asked. "If you could just free my hands—"

Torque stepped forward eagerly, but Ma Gasket said, "Stupid! She's tricking you again. Enough talk! Slay the boy first before he dies on his own. I like my meat fresh."

"Hey, wait," Piper said, trying to get the Cyclopes' attention. "Hey, can I just ask—"

Wires sparked off toward where Leo was probably hiding, and Malia groaned. The Cyclopes froze and turned in his direction. Then Torque picked up a truck and threw it at him. Malia held her breath, letting it go when she saw Leo roll out of the way as the truck steamrolled over the machinery. If he'd been a half-second slower, he would've been smashed.

Leo got to his feet and Ma Gasket spotted him. "Torque, you pathetic excuse for a Cyclopes, get him!"

Torque ran toward Leo. He was fifty feet away. Twenty feet.

Then a robotic arm whirled to life. A three-ton yellow metal claw slammed the Cyclops in the back so hard, he landed flat on his face. Before Torque could recover, the robotic arm grabbed him by one leg and hurled him straight up.

"AHHHHH!" Torque rocketed into the gloom. The ceiling was too dark and too high to see exactly what happened, but judging by the metal clang, Malia guessed the Cyclops wasn't coming down alive.

And she was right. In his place, yellow dust rained down and made a pile on the floor.

Ma Gasket stared at Leo in shock. "My son. . . You. . . You. . ."

As if on cue, Sump lumbered into the firelight with a case of salsa. "Ma, I got the extra spicy—"

He never got the chance to finish his sentence. The second robotic arm whacked Sump in the chest. The salsa case exploded and Sump flew backward, right into the base of a third machine. Sump may have been immune to getting hit with truck chassis, but he wasn't immune to robotic arms delivering ten thousand pounds of force. The third crane arm slammed him against the floor so hard, he exploded into dust like a broken flour sack.

Two Cyclopes down. Ma Gasket locked her eye on Leo. She grabbed the nearest crane arm and ripped it off its pedestal with a savage roar. "You busted my boys! Only I get to bust my boys!"

The two remaining arms swung into action. Ma Gasket caught the first one and tore it in half. The second arm smacked her in the head, but that only seemed to make her mad. She grabbed it by the clamps, ripped it free, and swung it like a baseball bat. It missed Malia, Piper, and Jason by an inch. Then Ma Gasket let it go—spinning toward Leo. He yelped and rolled to one side as it demolished the machine next to him.

She stood twenty feet away from him now, next to the cooking fire. Malia struggled in her chains, but they weren't getting any looser.

"Any more tricks, demigod?" Ma Gasket demanded.

Leo looked around with wide eyes, and Malia prayed to her father that he would come up with a good idea.

"Heck, yeah, I got tricks!" Leo raised a remote control. "Take one more step, and I'll destroy you with fire."

And there goes everything nice she ever said about Leo.

Ma Gasket laughed. "Would you? Cyclopes are immune to fire, you idiot. But if you wish to play with flames, let me help!"

She scooped up red-hot coals in her bare hands and flung them at Leo. They landed around his feet.

"You missed," he said incredulously. Then Ma Gasket grinned and picked up a barrel next to the truck. Malia knew what it was before she saw the stenciled word on the side—KEROSENE. Ma Gasket threw the barrel at Leo and the barrel split on the floor, spilling lighter fluid onto the coals.

They sparked. Malia and Piper screamed, "No!"

Malia watched with wide eyes as fire erupted around Leo. She expected to hear him cry out in pain, but she didn't hear anything. Maybe he was in too much pain to make a noise? Ma Gasket shrieked with delight.

Suddenly, the flames died down, revealing a very unharmed and surprised Leo.

Piper gasped. "Leo?"

Ma Gasket looked astonished. "You live?" Then she took a step forward. "What are you?"

"The son of Hephaestus," Leo said. "And I warned you I'd destroy you with fire."

He pointed one finger in the air and Malia's eyes widened as a bolt of white-hot flames shot up toward the ceiling. He couldn't be. . . could he? Children of Hephaestus like him hadn't been around for a long time. She never thought she would ever get to see one.

The flames died on the chain they attached to. Nothing happened. Ma Gasket laughed. "An impressive try, son of Hephaestus. It's been many centuries since I saw a fire user. You'll make a spicy apetizer!"

The chain snapped. The engine block it was holding up fell, deadly and silent.

"I don't think so," Leo said.

Ma Gasket didn't even have time to look up.

Smash! No more Cyclopes—just a pile of dust under a five-ton engine block.

"Not immune to engines, huh?" Leo said. "Boo-yah!"

Then Leo fell to his knees, exhausted. Malia watched him carefully, and then she looked over at Jason to see he was getting paler by the second. He needed ambrosia and nectar, fast.

"Leo!" Piper shouted. "Are you all right? Can you move?"

He stumbled to his feet and moved over to them. After what seemed like hours, he got Piper down from her chains. Together they got Malia free, and then they slowly lowered Jason, who was still unconscious. Malia grabbed some nectar from her bag and trickled it into his mouth, praying to Apollo that he'd be okay. Jason groaned, and Malia let out a breath of relief. The welt on his head began to shrink. His color came back a little.

"Yeah, he's got a nice thick skull," Leo said. "I think he's gonna be fine."

"Thank the gods," Malia sighed. Then she looked at Leo with a smirk. "Nice going with the fire, flameboy."

Piper had a different reaction. Her eyes swam with fear. "How did you—the fire—have you always. . . ?"

Leo looked down. "Always," he said. "I'm a freaking menace. Sorry, I should've told you guys sooner but—"

"Sorry?" Piper punched his arm. Malia was grinning when he looked up. "That was amazing, Valdez! You saved our lives. What are you sorry about?"

Leo blinked. He started to smile, but then he looked down at something by Piper's foot. Malia followed his gaze and winced when she saw Piper's ankle in a splint. But then she saw what Leo was looking at, and she nearly passed out.

Yellow dust—the powdered remains of one of the Cyclops, maybe Torque—was shifting across the floor like an invisible wind was pushing it back together.

"They're forming again," Leo said. "Look."

Piper stepped away from the dust. "That's not possible. Annabeth told me monsters dissipate when they're killed. They go back to Tartarus and can't return for a long time."

"Because that's what usually happens," Malia said, pursing her lips.

"Well, nobody told the dust that," Leo said.

They watched the dust collect into a pile. Then, very slowly, it spread out, forming a shape with arms and legs.

"Oh, god." Piper turned pale. "Boreas said something about this—the earth yielding up horrors. 'When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades.' How long do you think we have?"

"How about we don't find out," Malia said, hauling Jason up. He leaned against her, still heavily unconscious. "Let's get out of here."

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A U T H O R S   N O T E

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Malia is a badass with a soft heart. And she's just beginning to come to terms with the fact that she is falling hard and fast for Jason Grace. Oh, this is gonna be fun. She's never been in love before. So we'll see how this goes.

Also, who else likes Malia's sword? Pretty cool right? Couldn't think of a nice name for her blade, so I went with the first name that came to mind. Whoopsie.

Please comment and vote!

Love you all!

~ a.h.