The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, Book Three) by Rick Riordan Page A

Piper. Somehow she knew he was offering her some sort of gift—a cure, or an antidote.
    “Hey,” Jason croaked.
    Piper was so startled she dropped the knife. “You’re awake!”
    “Don’t sound so surprised.” Jason touched his bandaged head and frowned. “What…what happened? I remember the explosions, and—”
    “You remember who I am?”
    Jason tried to laugh, but it turned into a painful wince. “Last I checked, you were my awesome girlfriend Piper. Unless something has changed since I was out?”
    Piper was so relieved she almost sobbed. She helped him sit up and gave him some nectar to sip while she brought him up to speed. She was just explaining Leo’s plan to fix the ship when she heard horse hooves clomping across the deck over their heads.
    Moments later, Leo and Hazel stumbled to a stop in the doorway, carrying a large sheet of hammered bronze between them.
    “Gods of Olympus.” Piper stared at Leo. “What happened to you ?”
    His hair was greased back. He had welding goggles on his forehead, a lipstick mark on his cheek, tattoos all over his arms, and a T-shirt that read HOT STUFF , BAD BOY , and TEAM LEO .
    “Long story,” he said. “Others back?”
    “Not yet,” Piper said.
    Leo cursed. Then he noticed Jason sitting up, and his face brightened. “Hey, man! Glad you’re better. I’ll be in the engine room.”
    He ran off with the sheet of bronze, leaving Hazel in the doorway.
    Piper raised an eyebrow at her. “Team Leo?”
    “We met Narcissus,” Hazel said, which didn’t really explain much. “Also Nemesis, the revenge goddess.”
    Jason sighed. “I miss all the fun.”
    On the deck above, something went THUMP , as if a heavy creature had landed. Annabeth and Percy came running down the hall. Percy was toting a steaming five-gallon plastic bucket that smelled horrible. Annabeth had a patch of black sticky stuff in her hair. Percy’s shirt was covered in it.
    “Roofing tar?” Piper guessed.
    Frank stumbled up behind them, which made the hallway pretty jam-packed with demigods. Frank had a big smear of the black sludge down his face.
    “Ran into some tar monsters,” Annabeth said. “Hey, Jason, glad you’re awake. Hazel, where’s Leo?”
    She pointed down. “Engine room.”
    Suddenly the entire ship listed to port. The demigods stumbled. Percy almost spilled his bucket of tar.
    “Uh, what was that?” he demanded.
    “Oh…” Hazel looked embarrassed. “We may have angered the nymphs who live in this lake. Like… all of them.”
    “Great.” Percy handed the bucket of tar to Frank and Annabeth. “You guys help Leo. I’ll hold off the water spirits as long as I can.”
    “On it!” Frank promised.
    The three of them ran off, leaving Hazel at the cabin door. The ship listed again, and Hazel hugged her stomach like she was going to be sick.
    “I’ll just…” She swallowed, pointed weakly down the passageway, and ran off.
    Jason and Piper stayed below as the ship rocked back and forth. For a hero, Piper felt pretty useless. Waves crashed against the hull as angry voices came from above deck—Percy shouting, Coach Hedge yelling at the lake. Festus the figurehead breathed fire several times. Down the hall, Hazel moaned miserably in her cabin. In the engine room below, it sounded like Leo and the others were doing an Irish line dance with anvils tied to their feet. After what seemed like hours, the engine began to hum. The oars creaked and groaned, and Piper felt the ship lift into the air.
    The rocking and shaking stopped. The ship became quiet except for the drone of machinery. Finally Leo emerged from the engine room. He was caked in sweat, lime dust, and tar. His T-shirt looked like it had been caught in an escalator and chewed to shreds. The TEAM LEO on his chest now read: AM LEO . But he grinned like a madman and announced that they were safely under way.
    “Meeting in the mess hall, one hour,” he said. “Crazy day, huh?”
     
    After everyone had cleaned