I woke to a ship’s whistle and a voice on the intercom—some guy with an Australian accent who sounded way too happy.
“Good morning, passengers! We’ll be at sea all day today. Excellent weather for the poolside mambo party! Don’t forget million-dollar bingo in the Kraken Lounge at one o’clock, and for ourspecial guests, disemboweling practice on the Promenade!”
I sat up in bed. “What did he say?”
Tyson groaned, still half asleep. He was lying facedown on the couch, his feet so far over the edge they were in the bathroom. “The happy man said…bowling practice?”
I hoped he was right, but then there was an urgent knock on the suite’s interior door. Annabeth stuck her head in—her blond hair in a rat’s nest. “Disembowelingpractice?”
Once we were all dressed, we ventured out into the ship and were surprised to see other people. A dozen senior citizens were heading to breakfast. A dad was taking his kids to the pool for a morning swim. Crew members in crisp white uniforms strolled the deck, tipping their hats to the passengers.
Nobody asked who we were. Nobody paid us much attention. But there was something wrong.
As the family of swimmers passed us, the dad told his kids: “We are on a cruise. We are having fun.”
“Yes,” his three kids said in unison, their expressions blank. “We are having a blast. We will swim in the pool.”
They wandered off.
“Good morning,” a crew member told us, his eyes glazed. “We are all enjoying ourselves aboard thePrincess Andromeda. Have a nice day.” He drifted away.
“Percy, this is weird,” Annabeth whispered. “They’re all in some kind of trance.”
Then we passed a cafeteria and saw our first monster. It was a hellhound—a black mastiff with its front paws up on the buffet line and its muzzle buried in the scrambled eggs. It must’ve been young, because it was small compared to most—no bigger than a grizzly bear. Still, my blood turned cold. I’d almost gotten killed by one of those before.
The weird thing was: a middle-aged couple was standing in the buffet line right behind the devil dog, patiently waiting their turn for the eggs. They didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.
“Not hungry anymore,” Tyson murmured.
Before Annabeth or I could reply, a reptilian voice came from down the corridor, “Ssssix more joined yesssterday.”
Annabeth gestured frantically toward the nearest hiding place—the women’s room—and all three of us ducked inside. I was so freaked out it didn’t even occur to me to be embarrassed.
Something—or more liketwosomethings—slithered past the bathroom door, making sounds like sandpaper against the carpet.
“Yesss,” a second reptilian voice said. “He drawssss them. Ssssoon we will be sssstrong.”
The things slithered into the cafeteria with a cold hissing that might have been snake laughter.
Annabeth looked at me. “We have to get out of here.”
“You think Iwantto be in the girls’ restroom?”
“I mean the ship, Percy! We have to get off the ship.”
“Smells bad,” Tyson agreed. “And dogs eat all the eggs. Annabeth is right. We must leave the restroom and ship.”
I shuddered. If Annabeth and Tyson were actuallyagreeingabout something, I figured I’d better listen.
Then I heard another voice outside—one that chilled me worse than any monster’s.
“—only a matter of time. Don’t push me, Agrius!”
It was Luke, beyond a doubt. I could never forget his voice.
“I’m not pushing you!” another guy growled. His voice was deeper and even angrier than Luke’s. “I’m just saying, if this gamble doesn’t pay off—”
“It’ll pay off,” Luke snapped. “They’ll take the bait. Now, come, we’ve got to get to the admiralty suite and check on the casket.”
