Read Online The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, Book Three) by Rick Riordan - Free Book Online Page B

Nemesis flicked a finger over the slip of paper, and the letters changed to red. “ You will die painfully when you most expect it. There! Much better.”
    “That’s horrible!” Hazel said. “You’d let someone read that in their fortune cookie, and it would come true?”
    Nemesis sneered. It really was creepy, seeing that expression on Aunt Rosa’s face. “My dear Hazel, haven’t you ever wished horrible things on Mrs. Leer for the way she treated you?”
    “That doesn’t mean I’d want them to come true!”
    “Bah.” The goddess resealed the cookie and tossed it in her basket. “Tyche would be Fortuna for you, I suppose, being Roman. Like the others, she’s in a horrible way right now. Me? I’m not affected. I am called Nemesis in both Greek and Roman. I do not change, because revenge is universal.”
    “What are you talking about?” Leo asked. “What are you doing here?”
    Nemesis opened another cookie. “Lucky numbers. Ridiculous! That’s not even a proper fortune!” She crushed the cookie and scattered the pieces around her feet.
    “To answer your question, Leo Valdez, the gods are in terrible shape. It always happens when a civil war is brewing between you Romans and Greeks. The Olympians are torn between their two natures, called on by both sides. They become quite schizophrenic, I’m afraid. Splitting headaches. Disorientation.”
    “But we’re not at war,” Leo insisted.
    “Um, Leo…” Hazel winced. “Except for the fact that you recently blew up large sections of New Rome.”
    Leo stared at her, wondering whose side she was on. “Not on purpose!”
    “I know…” Hazel said, “but the Romans don’t realize that. And they’ll be pursuing us in retaliation.”
    Nemesis cackled. “Leo, listen to the girl. War is coming. Gaea has seen to it, with your help. And can you guess whom the gods blame for their predicament?”
    Leo’s mouth tasted like calcium carbonate. “Me.”
    The goddess snorted. “Well, don’t you have a high opinion of yourself. You’re just a pawn on the chessboard, Leo Valdez. I was referring to the player who set this ridiculous quest in motion, bringing the Greeks and Romans together. The gods blame Hera—or Juno, if you prefer! The queen of the heavens has fled Olympus to escape the wrath of her family. Don’t expect any more help from your patron!”
    Leo’s head throbbed. He had mixed feelings about Hera. She’d meddled in his life since he was a baby, molding him to serve her purpose in this big prophecy, but at least she had been on their side, more or less. If she was out of the picture now…
    “So why are you here?” he asked.
    “Why, to offer my help!” Nemesis smiled wickedly.
    Leo glanced at Hazel. She looked like she’d just been offered a free snake.
    “Your help,” Leo said.
    “Of course!” said the goddess. “I enjoy tearing down the proud and powerful, and there are none who deserve tearing down like Gaea and her giants. Still, I must warn you that I will not suffer undeserved success. Good luck is a sham. The wheel of fortune is a Ponzi scheme. True success requires sacrifice.”
    “Sacrifice?” Hazel’s voice was tight. “I lost my mother. I died and came back. Now my brother is missing. Isn’t that enough sacrifice for you?”
    Leo could totally relate. He wanted to scream that he’d lost his mom too. His whole life had been one misery after another. He’d lost his dragon, Festus. He’d nearly killed himself trying to finish the Argo II . Now he’d fired on the Roman camp, most likely started a war, and maybe lost the trust of his friends.
    “Right now,” he said, trying to control his anger, “all I want is some Celestial bronze.”
    “Oh, that’s easy,” Nemesis said. “It’s just over the rise. You’ll find it with the sweethearts.”
    “Wait,” Hazel said. “What sweethearts?”
    Nemesis popped a cookie in her mouth and swallowed it, fortune and all. “You’ll see. Perhaps they will teach you a