The Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Diaries Read Online Free PDF Page A

whoever touches it gets burned to a pile of ashes.”
    I looked up at Hal. His face turned as gray as his hair. I took that as a confirmation.
    “Can you bypass the curse?” Thalia asked me.
    “I think so,” I said. “But it’s the second trap I’m worried about.”
    “The second trap?” she asked.
    “Nobody’s managed to trigger the combination,” I said. “I know that because there’s a poison canister ready to break as soon as you hit the third number. It’s never been activated.”
    Judging from Hal’s wide eyes, this was news to him.
    “I can try to disable it,” I said, “but if I mess up, this whole apartment is going to fill with gas. We’ll die.”
    Thalia swallowed. “I trust you. Just…don’t mess up.”
    I turned to the old man. “You could maybe hide in the bathtub. Put some wet towels over your face. It might protect you.”
    Hal shifted uneasily. The snakeskin fabric of his suit rippled as if it were still alive, trying to swallow something unpleasant. Emotions played across his face—fear, doubt, but mostly shame. I guess he couldn’t stand the idea of cowering in a bathtub while two kids risked their lives. Or maybe there was a little demigod spirit left in him after all. He gestured at the safe like: Go ahead.
    I touched the combination lock. I concentrated so hard I felt like I was dead-lifting five hundred pounds. My pulse quickened. A line of sweat trickled down my nose. Finally I felt gears turning. Metal groaned, tumblers clicked, and the bolts popped back. Carefully avoiding the handle, I pried open the door with my fingertips and extracted an unbroken vial of green liquid.
    Hal exhaled.
    Thalia kissed me on the cheek, which she probably shouldn’t have done while I was holding a tube of deadly poison.
    “You are so good,” she said.
    Did that make the risk worth it? Yeah, pretty much.
    I looked into the safe, and some of my enthusiasm faded. “That’s it ?”
    Thalia reached in and pulled out a bracelet.
    It didn’t look like much, just a row of polished silver links.
    Thalia latched it around her wrist. Nothing happened.
    She scowled. “It should do something. If Zeus sent me here—”
    Hal clapped his hands to get our attention. Suddenly his eyes looked almost as crazy as his hair. He gesticulated wildly, but I had no idea what he was trying to say. Finally he stamped his snakeskin boot in frustration and led us back to the main room.
    He sat at his computer and started to type. I glanced at the clock on his desk. Maybe time traveled faster in the house, or maybe time just flies when you’re waiting to die, but it was already past noon. Our day was half over.
    Hal showed us the short novel he’d written: You’re the ones!! You actually got the treasure!! I can’t believe it!! That safe has been sealed since before I was born!! Apollo told me my curse would end when the owner of the treasure claimed it!! If you’re the owner—
    There was more, with plenty more exclamation points, but before I could finish reading, Thalia said, “Hold it. I’ve never seen this bracelet. How could I be the owner? And if your curse is supposed to end now, does that mean the monsters are gone?”
    A clack, clack, clack from the hallway answered that question.
    I frowned at Hal. “Do you have your voice back?”
    He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His shoulders slumped.
    “Maybe Apollo meant we’re going to rescue you,” Thalia said.
    Hal typed a new sentence: Or maybe I die today.
    “Thank you, Mr. Cheerful,” I said. “I thought you could tell the future. You don’t know what will happen?”
    Hal typed: I can’t look. It’s too dangerous. You can see what happened to me last time I tried to use my powers.
    “Sure,” I grumbled. “Don’t take the risk. You might mess up this nice life you’ve got here.”
    I knew that was mean. But the old man’s cowardice annoyed me. He’d let the gods use him as a punching bag for too long. It was time he fought back,