Riordan, Rick - Olympians 02 by Riordan Rick

Author:Riordan, Rick
Language: eng
Format: epub

"This is bad," Annabeth muttered.

We were crouching behind a tree, staring at the donut shop in the middle of the woods. It looked brand new, with brightly lit windows, a parking area, and a little road leading off into the forest, but there was nothing else around, and no cars parked in the lot. We could see one employee reading a magazine behind the cash register. That was it. On the store's marquis, in huge black letters that even I could read, it said:

MONSTER DONUT

A cartoon ogre was taking a bite out of the O in MONSTER.

The place smel ed good, like fresh-baked chocolate donuts.

"This shouldn't be here," Annabeth whispered. "It's wrong."

"What?" I asked. "It's a donut shop."

"Shhh!"

"Why are we whispering? Tyson went in and bought a dozen.

Nothing happened to him."

"He's a monster."

"Aw, c'mon, Annabeth. Monster Donut doesn't mean monsters! It's a chain. We've got them in New York."

"A chain," she agreed. "And don't you think it's strange that one appeared immediately after you told Tyson to get donuts? Right here in the middle of the woods?"

I thought about it. It did seem a little weird, but, I mean, donut shops weren't real high on my list of sinister forces.

"It could be a nest," Annabeth explained.

Tyson whimpered. I doubt he understood what Annabeth was

saying any better than I did, but her tone was making him nervous. He'd plowed through half a dozen donuts from his box and was getting powdered sugar al over his face.

"A nest for what?" I asked.

"Haven't you ever wondered how franchise stores pop up so fast?" she asked. "One day there's nothing and then the next day— boom, there's a new burger place or a coffee shop or whatever? First a single store, then two, then four— exact replicas spreading across the country?"

"Um, no. Never thought about it."

"Percy, some of the chains multiply so fast because al their locations are magical y linked to the life force of a monster.

Some children of Hermes figured out how to do it back in the 1950s. They breed—"

She froze.

"What?" I demanded. "They breed what?"

"No—sudden—moves," Annabeth said, like her life depended on it. "Very slowly, turn around."

Then I heard it: a scraping noise, like something large dragging its bel y through the leaves.

I turned and saw a rhino-size thing moving through the shadows of the trees. It was hissing, its front half writhing in al different directions. I couldn't understand what I was seeing at first. Then I realized the thing had multiple necks—

at least seven, each topped with a hissing reptilian head. Its skin was leathery, and under each neck it wore a plastic bib that read: I'M A MONSTER DONUT KID!

I took out my bal point pen, but Annabeth locked eyes with me—a silent warning. Not yet.

I understood. A lot of monsters have terrible eyesight. It was possible the Hydra might pass us by. But if I uncapped my sword now, the bronze glow would certainly get its attention.

We waited.

The Hydra was only a few feet away. It seemed to be sniffing the ground and the trees like it was hunting for something.

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