“I held out my dad’s magic box and let it o, sure it would smash to the floor. Instead, the box disappeared.“Cool,” I said. “Sure you I can get it back?”“No,” Bast said. “Now come on!”

“Now, now," Bast said. "It's not so bad.""Right," I said. "We're stuck in Washington, D.C. We have two days to make it to Arizona and stop a god we don't know how to stop. And if we can't, we'll never see our dad or Amos again, and the world might end.""That's the spirit!" Bast said brightly. "Now, let's have a picnic.”

“There will be guards,” Bast said. “And traps. And alarms. You can bet the house is heavily charmed to keep out gods.”“Magicians can do that?” I asked. I imagined a big can of pesticide labeled God-Away.”

“Then something occurred to me."Get closer," I told Blackjack.He whinnied in protest."Just within shouting distance," I said. "I need to talk to the statue."Now I'm sure you've lost it, boss, Blackjack said”

“I past another telkhine, who was so startled he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box. I left him alive - partly because he had a cool lunch box...”

“Before I could lose my courage, I said, "Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of a tradition, right?"I figured she would punch me. Instead, she drew her knife and stared at the army marching toward us. "Come back alive, Seaweed Brain. Then, we'll see.”

“Percy," my mom said. "I give you my blessing.""Be safe brother!" Tyson pleaded."Enchiladas!" Grover said. I wasn't sure where that came from, but it didn't seem to help much.”