The nearest guard set down her reading tablet. “Why can’t you walk another thirty paces, Kinzie?”
“Um, because—”
“Ooof!” Hazel fell to her knees and tried to put on her best seasick face. “I’m feeling nauseous! Can’t…walk. Amazons . . . too . . . scary. ”
“There you go,” Kinzie told the guards. “Now, are you going to come take the prisoner, or should I tell Queen Hylla you’re not doing your duty?”
The nearest guard rolled her eyes and trudged over. Hazel had hoped the other two guards would come too, but she’d have to worry about that later.
The first guard grabbed Hazel’s arm. “Fine. I’ll take custody of the prisoner. But if I were you, Kinzie, I wouldn’t worry about Hylla. She won’t be queen much longer. ”
“We’ll see, Doris. ” Kinzie turned to leave. Hazel waited until her steps receded down the catwalk.
The guard Doris pulled on Hazel’s arm. “Well? Come on. ”
Hazel concentrated on the wall of jewelry next to her:forty large boxes of silver bracelets. “Not…feeling so good. ”
“You are not throwing up on me,” Doris growled. She tried to yank Hazel to her feet, but Hazel went limp, like a kid throwing a fit in a store. Next to her, the boxes began to tremble.
“Lulu!” Doris yelled to one of her comrades. “Help me with this lame little girl. ”
Amazons named Doris and Lulu? Hazel thought. Okay . . .
The second guard jogged over. Hazel figured this was her best chance. Before they could haul her to her feet, she yelled, “Ooooh!” and flattened herself against the catwalk.
Doris started to say, “Oh, give me a—”
The entire pallet of jewelry exploded with a sound like a thousand slot machines hitting the jackpot. A tidal wave of silver friendship bracelets poured across the catwalk, washing Doris and Lulu right over the railing.
They would’ve fallen to their deaths, but Hazel wasn’t that mean. She summoned a few hundred bracelets, which leaped at the guards and lashed around their ankles, leaving them hanging upside down from the bottom of the catwalk, screaming like lame little girls.
Hazel turned toward the third guard. She broke her bonds, which were about as sturdy as toilet paper. She picked up one of the fallen guards’ spears. She was terrible with spears, but she hoped the third Amazon didn’t know that.
“Should I kill you from here?” Hazel snarled. “Or are you going to make me come over there?”
The guard turned and ran.
Hazel shouted over the side to Doris and Lulu. “Amazon cards! Pass them up, unless you want me to undo those friendship bracelets and let you drop!”
Four and a half seconds later, Hazel had two Amazon cards. She raced over to the cages and swiped a card. The doors popped open.
Frank stared at her in astonishment. “Hazel, that was…amazing. ”
Percy nodded. “I will never wear jewelry again. ”
“Except this. ” Hazel tossed him his necklace. “Our weapons and supplies are at the end of the catwalk. We should hurry. Pretty soon—”
Alarms began wailing throughout the cavern.
“Yeah,” she said, “that’ll happen. Let’s go!”
The first part of the escape was easy. They retrieved their things with no problem, then started climbing down the ladder. Every time Amazons swarmed beneath them, demanding their surrender, Hazel made a crate of jewelry explode, burying their enemies in a Niagara Falls of gold and silver. When they got to the bottom of the ladder, they found a scene that looked like Mardi Gras Armageddon—Amazons trapped up to their necks in bead necklaces, several more upside down in a mountain of amethyst earrings, and a battle forklift buried in silver charm bracelets.
“You, Hazel Levesque,” Frank said, “are entirely freaking incredible. ”
She wanted to kiss him right there, but they had no time. They ran back to the throne room.
They stumbled across one Amazon who must’ve been loyal to Hylla. As soon as she saw the escapees, she turned away like they were invisible.
Percy started to ask, “What the—”
“Some of them want us to escape,” Hazel said. “I’ll explain later. ”
The second Amazon they met wasn’t so friendly. She was dressed in full armor, blocking the throne-room entrance. She spun her spear with lightning speed, but this time Percy was ready. He drew Riptide and stepped into battle. As the Amazon jabbed at him, he sidestepped, cut her spear shaft in half, and slammed the hilt of his sword against her helmet.
The guard crumpled.
“Mars Almighty,” Frank said. “How did you—that wasn’t any Roman technique!”
Percy grinned. “The graecus has some moves, my friend. After you. ”
They ran into the throne room. As promised, Hylla and her guards had cleared out. Hazel dashed over to Arion’s cage and swiped an Amazon card across the lock. Instantly the stallion burst forth, rearing in triumph.
Percy and Frank stumbled backward.
“Um…is that thing tame?” Frank said.
The horse whinnied angrily.
“I don’t think so,” Percy guessed. “He just said, ‘I will trample you to death, silly Chinese Canadian baby man. ’”
“You speak horse?” Hazel asked.