The Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan Read Free Book Online Page A

folds.
    I would’ve lain there stunned and horrified until the fiery ceiling collapsed on me, but Thalia grabbed my arm and yelled, “Hurry!”
    We bolted for the front door. I was wondering how we’d open it, when the avalanche of fire poured down the staircase and caught us. The building exploded.

    I can’t remember how we got out. I can only assume that the shockwave blasted the front door open and pushed us outside.
    The next thing I knew, I was sprawled in the traffic circle, coughing and gasping as a tower of fire roared into the evening sky. My throat burned. My eyes felt like they’d been splashed with acid. I looked for Thalia and instead found myself staring at the bronze face of Medusa. I screamed, somehow found the energy to stand, and ran. I didn’t stop until I was cowering behind the statue of Robert E. Lee.
    Yeah, I know. It sounds comical now. But it’s a miracle I didn’t have a heart attack or get hit by a car. Finally Thalia caught up to me, her spear back in Mace canister form, her shield reduced to a silver bracelet.
    Together we stood and watched the mansion burn. Bricks crumbled. Black draperies burst into sheets of red fire. The roof collapsed and smoke billowed into the sky.
    Thalia let loose a sob. A tear etched through the soot on her face.
    “He sacrificed himself,” she said. “Why did he save us?”
    I hugged my knapsack. I felt the diary and bronze dagger inside—the only remnants of Halcyon Green’s life.
    My chest was tight, as if the leucrota was still standing on it. I’d criticized for Hal for being a coward, but in the end, he’d been braver than me. The gods had cursed him. He’d spent most of his life imprisoned with monsters. It would’ve been easy for him to let us die like all the other demigods before us. Yet he’d chosen to go out a hero.
    I felt guilty that I couldn’t save the old man. I wished I could’ve talked to him longer. What had he seen in my future that scared him so much?
    Your choices will change the world, he’d warned.
    I didn’t like the sound of it.
    The sound of sirens brought me to my senses.
    Being runaway minors, Thalia and I had learned to distrust the police and anybody else with authority. The mortals would want to question us, maybe put us in juvie hall or foster care. We couldn’t let that happen.
    “Come on,” I told Thalia.
    We ran through the streets of Richmond until we found a small park. We cleaned up in the public restrooms as best we could. Then we lay low until full dark.
    We didn’t talk about what had happened. We wandered in a daze through neighborhoods and industrial areas. We had no plan, no glowing goat to follow anymore. We were bone tired, but neither of us felt like sleeping or stopping. I wanted to get as far as possible from that burning mansion.
    It wasn’t the first time we’d barely escaped with our lives, but we’d never succeeded at the expense of another demigod’s life. I couldn’t shake my grief.
    Promise, Halcyon Green had written.
    I promise, Hal , I thought. I will learn from your mistakes. If the gods ever treat me that badly, I will fight back.
    Okay, I know that sounds like crazy talk. But I was feeling bitter and angry. If that makes the dudes up on Mount Olympus unhappy, tough. They can come down here and tell me to my face.
    We stopped for a rest near an old warehouse. In the dim light of the moon, I could see a name painted on the side of the red brick building: RICHMOND IRON WORKS . Most of the windows were broken.
    Thalia shivered. “We could head to our old camp,” she suggested. “On the James River. We’ve got plenty of supplies down there.”
    I nodded apathetically. It would take at least a day to get there, but it was as good a plan as any.
    I split my ham sandwich with Thalia. We ate in silence. The food tasted like cardboard. I’d just swallowed the last bite when I heard a faint metal ping from a nearby alley. My ears started tingling. We weren’t alone.
    “Someone’s