THE AMAZON JAIL WAS AT THE TOP OF a storage aisle, sixty
feet in the air.
Kinzie led her up three different ladders to a metal
catwalk, then tied Hazel’s hands loosely behind her back
and pushed her along past crates of jewellery.
A hundred feet ahead, under the harsh glow of
fluorescent lights, a row of chain-link cages hung
suspended from cables. Percy and Frank were in two of
the cages, talking to each other in hushed tones. Next to
them on the catwalk, three bored-looking Amazon guards
leaned against their spears and gazed at little black
tablets in their hands like they were reading.
Hazel thought the tablets looked too thin for books.
Then it occurred to her they might be some sort of tiny –
what did modern people call them? – laptop computers.
Secret Amazon technology, perhaps. Hazel found the
idea almost as unsettling as the battle forklifts downstairs.
‘Get moving, girl,’ Kinzie ordered, loud enough for the
guards to hear. She prodded Hazel in the back with her
sword.
Hazel walked as slowly as she could, but her mind was
racing. She needed to come up with a brilliant rescue
plan. So far she had nothing. Kinzie had made sure she
could break her bonds easily, but she’d still be emptyhanded
against three trained warriors, and she had to act
before they put her in a cage.
She passed a pallet of crates marked 24-CARAT BLUE
TOPAZ RINGS, then another labelled SILVER FRIENDSHIP
BRACELETS. An electronic display next to the friendship
bracelets read: People who bought this item also bought
GARDEN GNOME SOLAR PATIO LIGHT and FLAMING
SPEAR OF DEATH. Buy all three and save 12%!
Hazel froze. Gods of Olympus, she was stupid.
Silver. Topaz. She sent out her senses, searching for
precious metals, and her brain almost exploded from the
feedback. She was standing next to a six-storey-tall
mountain of jewellery. But in front of her, from here to the
guards, was nothing but prison cages.
‘What is it?’ Kinzie hissed. ‘Keep moving! They’ll get
suspicious.’
‘Make them come here,’ Hazel muttered over her
shoulder.
‘Why –’
‘Please.’
The guards frowned in their direction.
‘What are you staring at?’ Kinzie yelled at them. ‘Here’s
the third prisoner. Come get her.’
The nearest guard set down her reading tablet. ‘Why
can’t you walk another thirty paces, Kinzie?’
‘Um, because –’
‘Ooof!’ Hazel fell to her knees and tried to put on her
best seasick face. ‘I’m feeling nauseous! Can’t … walk.
Amazons … too … scary.’
‘There you go,’ Kinzie told the guards. ‘Now, are you
going to come take the prisoner, or should I tell Queen
Hylla you’re not doing your duty?’
The nearest guard rolled her eyes and trudged over.
Hazel had hoped the other two guards would come, too,
but she’d have to worry about that later.
The first guard grabbed Hazel’s arm. ‘Fine. I’ll take
custody of the prisoner. But if I were you, Kinzie, I wouldn’t
worry about Hylla. She won’t be queen much longer.’
‘We’ll see, Doris.’ Kinzie turned to leave. Hazel waited
until her steps had receded down the catwalk.
The guard Doris pulled on Hazel’s arm. ‘Well? Come
on.’ Hazel concentrated on the wall of jewellery next to her:
forty large boxes of silver bracelets. ‘Not … feeling so
good.’
‘You are not throwing up on me,’ Doris growled. She
tried to yank Hazel to her feet, but Hazel went limp, like a
kid throwing a fit in a store. Next to her, the boxes began
to tremble.
‘Lulu!’ Doris yelled to one of her comrades. ‘Help me
with this lame little girl.’
Amazons named Doris and Lulu? Hazel thought.
Okay …
The second guard jogged over. Hazel figured this was
her best chance. Before they could haul her to her feet,
she yelled, ‘Ooooh!’ and flattened herself against the
catwalk.
Doris started to say, ‘Oh, give me a –’
The entire pallet of jewellery exploded with a sound like
a thousand slot machines hitting the jackpot. A tidal wave
of silver friendship bracelets poured across the catwalk,
washing Doris and Lulu right over the railing.
They would’ve fallen to their deaths, but Hazel wasn’t
that mean. She summoned a few hundred bracelets,
which leaped at the guards and lashed round their ankles,
leaving them hanging upside down from the bottom of the
catwalk, screaming like lame little girls.
Hazel turned towards the third guard. She broke her
bonds, which were about as sturdy as toilet paper. She
picked up one of the fallen guards’ spears. She was
terrible with spears, but she hoped the third Amazon didn’t
know that.
‘Should I kill you from here?’ Hazel snarled. ‘Or are you
going to make me come over there?’
The guard turned and ran.
Hazel shouted over the side to Doris and Lulu. ‘Amazon
cards! Pass them up, unless you want me to undo those
friendship bracelets and let you drop!’
Four and a half seconds later, Hazel had two Amazon
cards. She raced over to the cages and swiped a card.
The doors popped open.
Frank stared at her in astonishment. ‘Hazel, that
was … amazing.’
Percy nodded. ‘I will never wear jewellery again.’
‘Except this.’ Hazel tossed him his necklace. ‘Our
weapons and supplies are at the end of the catwalk. We
should hurry. Pretty soon –’
Alarms began wailing throughout the cavern.
‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘that’ll happen. Let’s go!’
The first part of the escape was easy. They retrieved their
things with no problem, then started climbing down the
ladder. Every time Amazons swarmed beneath them,
demanding their surrender, Hazel made a crate of
jewellery explode, burying their enemies in a Niagara
Falls of gold and silver. When they got to the bottom of
the ladder, they found a scene that looked like Mardi Gras
Armageddon – Amazons trapped up to their necks in
bead necklaces, several more upside down in a mountain
of amethyst earrings and a battle forklift buried in silver
charm bracelets.
‘You, Hazel Levesque,’ Frank said, ‘are entirely freaking
incredible.’
She wanted to kiss him right there, but they had no
time. They ran back to the throne room.
They stumbled across one Amazon who must’ve been
loyal to Hylla. As soon as she saw the escapees, she
turned away like they were invisible.
Percy started to ask, ‘What the –’
‘Some of them want us to escape,’ Hazel said. ‘I’ll
explain later.’
The second Amazon they met wasn’t so friendly. She
was dressed in full armour, blocking the throne-room
entrance. She spun her spear with lightning speed, but
this time Percy was ready. He drew Riptide and stepped
into battle. As the Amazon jabbed at him, he sidestepped,
cut her spear shaft in half and slammed the hilt of his
sword against her helmet.
The guard crumpled.
‘Mars Almighty,’ Frank said. ‘How did you – that wasn’t
any Roman technique!’
Percy grinned. ‘The graecus has some moves, my
friend. After you.’
They ran into the throne room. As promised, Hylla and
her guards had cleared out. Hazel dashed over to Arion’s
cage and swiped an Amazon card across the lock.
Instantly the stallion burst forth, rearing in triumph.
Percy and Frank stumbled backwards.
‘Um … is that thing tame?’ Frank said.
The horse whinnied angrily.
‘I don’t think so,’ Percy guessed. ‘He just said, “I will
trample you to death, silly Chinese Canadian baby man.”’
‘You speak horse?’ Hazel asked.
‘“Baby man”?’ Frank spluttered.
‘Speaking to horses is a Poseidon thing,’ Percy said.
‘Uh, I mean a Neptune thing.’
‘Then you and Arion should get along fine,’ Hazel said.
‘He’s a son of Neptune, too.’
Percy turned pale. ‘Excuse me?’
If they hadn’t been in such a bad situation, Percy’s
expression might have made her laugh. ‘The point is he’s
fast. He can get us out of here.’
Frank did not look thrilled. ‘Three of us can’t fit on one
horse, can we? We’ll fall off, or slow him down, or –’
Arion whinnied again.
‘Ouch,’ Percy said. ‘Frank, the horse says you’re a – you
know, actually, I’m not going to translate that. Anyway, he
says there’s a chariot in the warehouse, and he’s willing to
pull it.’
‘There!’ someone yelled from the back of the throne
room. A dozen Amazons charged in, followed by males in
orange jumpsuits. When they saw Arion, they backed up
quickly and headed for the battle forklifts.
Hazel vaulted onto Arion’s back.
She grinned down at her friends. ‘I remember seeing
that chariot. Follow me, guys!’
She galloped into the larger cavern and scattered a
crowd of males. Percy knocked out an Amazon. Frank
swept two more off their feet with his spear. Hazel could
feel Arion straining to run. He wanted to go full speed, but
he needed more room. They had to make it outside.
Hazel bowled into a patrol of Amazons, who scattered in
terror at the sight of the horse. For once, Hazel’s spatha
felt exactly the right length. She swung it at everyone who
came within reach. No Amazon dared challenge her.
Percy and Frank ran after her. Finally they reached the
chariot. Arion stopped by the yoke, and Percy set to work
with the reins and harness.
‘You’ve done this before?’ Frank asked.
Percy didn’t need to answer. His hands flew. In no time
the chariot was ready. He jumped aboard and yelled,
‘Frank, come on! Hazel, go!’
A battle cry went up behind them. A full army of
Amazons stormed into the warehouse. Otrera herself
stood astride a battle forklift, her silver hair flowing as she
swung her mounted crossbow towards the chariot. ‘Stop
them!’ she yelled.
Hazel spurred Arion. They raced across the cavern,
weaving around pallets and forklifts. An arrow whizzed past
Hazel’s head. Something exploded behind her, but she
didn’t look back.
‘The stairs!’ Frank yelled. ‘No way this horse can pull a
chariot up that many flights of – OH MY GODS!’
Thankfully the stairs were wide enough for the chariot,
because Arion didn’t even slow down. He shot up the
steps with the chariot rattling and groaning. Hazel glanced
back a few times to make sure Frank and Percy hadn’t
fallen off. Their knuckles were white on the sides of the
chariot, their teeth chattering like wind-up Halloween
skulls.
Finally they reached the lobby. Arion crashed through
the main doors into the plaza and scattered a bunch of
guys in business suits.
Hazel felt the tension in Arion’s rib cage. The fresh air
was making him crazy to run, but Hazel pulled back on his
reins.
‘Ella!’ Hazel shouted at the sky. ‘Where are you? We
have to leave!’
For a horrible second, she was afraid the harpy might
be too far away to hear. She might be lost, or captured by
the Amazons.
Behind them a battle forklift clattered up the stairs and
roared through the lobby, a mob of Amazons behind it.
‘Surrender!’ Otrera screamed.
The forklift raised its razor-sharp tines.
‘Ella!’ Hazel cried desperately.
In a flash of red feathers, Ella landed in the chariot. ‘Ella
is here. Amazons are pointy. Go now.’
‘Hold on!’ Hazel warned. She leaned forward and said,
‘Arion, run!’
The world seemed to elongate. Sunlight bent around
them. Arion shot away from the Amazons and sped
through downtown Seattle. Hazel glanced back and saw a
line of smoking pavement where Arion’s hooves had
touched the ground. He thundered towards the docks,
leaping over cars, barrelling through intersections.
Hazel screamed at the top of her lungs, but it was a
scream of delight. For the first time in her life – in her two
lives – she felt absolutely unstoppable. Arion reached the
water and leaped straight off the docks.
Hazel’s ears popped. She heard a roar that she later
realized was a sonic boom, and Arion tore over Puget
Sound, seawater turning to steam in his wake
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