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"Oh, ht-up fighting isn’t "

"Hold the Celestial bronze" Hazel drew her sword "Get behind ed girl was racing ahead of theher arms as if she meant to personally shield him

"Echo?" Leo could hardly talk with the lump in his throat "You’re one brave nymph"

"Brave nymph?" Her tone made it a question

"I’m proud to have you on Teaet Narcissus"

"Forget Narcissus?" she said uncertainly

"You’re way too good for him"

The nymphs surrounded them in a semicircle

"Trickery!" Narcissus said "They don’t love irls screamed, except for one confused nymph in a yellow dress who squeaked, "Team Leo!"

"Kill theed forward, but the sand in front of the thethe ny their eyes

"I love this horse!" Leo said

The ny Narcissus stu to hit a piñata

Hazel climbed into the saddle, hoisted up the bronze, and offered Leo a hand

"We can’t leave Echo!" Leo said

"Leave Echo," the nymph repeated

She smiled, and for the first time Leo could clearly see her face She really was pretty Her eyes were bluer than he’d realized How had he missed that?

"Why?" Leo asked "You don’t think you can still save Narcissus…"

"Save Narcissus," she said confidently And even though it was only an echo, Leo could tell that she iven a second chance at life, and she was deteruy she loved--even if he was a coh very handsome) moron

Leo wanted to protest, but Echo leaned forward and kissed hiently away

"Leo, come on!" Hazel called

The other ny to recover They wiped the lier Leo looked for Echo again, but she had dissolved into the scenery

"Yeah," he said, his throat dry "Yeah, okay"

He climbed up behind Hazel Arion took off across the water, the nyo II, Leo remembered what Nemesis had said about Echo and Narcissus: Perhaps they’ll teach you a lesson

Leo had thought she’d meant Narcissus, but noondered if the real lesson for him was Echo--invisible to her brethren, cursed to love someone who didn’t care for her A seventh wheel He tried to shake that thought He clung to the sheet of bronze like a shield

He was deteret Echo’s face She deserved at least one person who saw her and kne good she was Leo closed his eyes, but the

Chapter 9

Piper didn’t want to use the knife

But sitting in Jason’s cabin, waiting for him to wake up, she felt alone and helpless

Jason’s face was so pale, he ht’ve been dead She re his forehead--an injury that had happened only because he’d tried to shield her from the Romans

Even with the nectar and aed to force-feed him, Piper couldn’t be sure he would be okay when he woke up What if he’d lost his ain--but this time, his memories of her?

That would be the cruelest trick the gods had played on her yet, and they’d played soe in his roo--"Stars and Stripes Forever," maybe? Since the satellite TV was out, the satyr was probably sitting on his bunk reading back issues of Guns & Aazine He wasn’t a bad chaperone, but he was definitely the oat Piper had ever rateful to the satyr He had helped her dad,kidnapped by giants the past winter A feeeks ago, Hedge had asked his girlfriend, Mellie, to take charge of the McLean household so he could coe had tried toto Camp Half-Blood had been all his idea, but Piper suspected there was more to it The last feeeks, whenever Piper called ho Maybe so in her voice had tipped them off

Piper couldn’t share the visions she’d seen They were too disturbing Besides, her dad had taken a potion that had erased all of Piper’s deod secrets from his memory But he could still tell when she was upset, and she was pretty sure her dad had encouraged Coach to look out for her

She shouldn’t draw her blade It would only make her feel worse

Finally the tereat She unsheathed Katoptris It didn’t look very special, just a triangular blade with an unadorned hilt, but it had once been owned by Helen of Troy The dagger’s naazed at the bronze blade At first, she saw only her reflection Then light rippled across the athered in the foru to the ist was obvious: We need to kill those Greeks!