16 Chapter 16

"But…"

Alex chose that search suggestion, and an article popped up immediately.

Hal peered over his shoulder, and Alex looked at him. "I thought this stuff was just a legend?"

I don't know, Hal admitted in his writing. I only know some of its history, but the recipe was supposedly lost in the vials of time.

But then something crossed the old man's mind, and he rapped his knuckles on the desk to get Alex's attention. His face was animated. He pointed at his bookshelves.

"Ancient history books," Alex said. "You're right. A lot of those are really old. They probably have information that wouldn't be on the internet."

The two of them ran to the shelves. They started pulling out books. Soon, Hal's library looked like it had been hit by a hurricane, but the old man didn't seem to care. He tossed titles and flipped through pages as fast as Alex did. In fact, without him, Alex never would've found the answer. After lots of fruitless searching, he came racing over, tapping a page in an old leather-bound book.

Alex scanned the list of ingredients, and his excitement built. "This is it. The recipe for Greek fire."

Perhaps his mother had finally nudged him in the right direction, guiding him to the way out. Perhaps it was simply luck, and that an historian had searched for it and the browser used it. But now Alex knew he had a chance at escaping.

Everything we needed was in this room. I'd seen all of the ingredients when we'd gone through the supplies from defeated demigods: pitch from the old torches, a bottle of godly nectar, alcohol from Hal's first-aid kit, demigod blood, and a catalyst.

"A catalyst?" Alex looked at Hal.

The old man's eyes moved to the celestial bronze scraps. He then wrote: It might be dangerous.

"It'll be fine." Alex tried to sound confident. "I'll prepare the mixture. When it's ready, you'll grab some of the scraps and we'll mix it in."

And set the house on fire, Hal wrote.

"We'll do it anyway if we succeed," Alex said.

Hal typed, You do understand how dangerous Greek fire is?

Alex swallowed. "Yeah. Magical fire. Whatever it touches, it burns. You can't put it out with water, or a fire extinguisher, or anything else. But if we can make enough for some kind of bomb and throw it at the leucrotae… please tell me they aren't immune to fire."

Hal knit his eyebrows. I don't think so, he typed. But Greek fire will turn this room into an inferno. It will spread through the entire house in a matter of seconds.

Alex looked at the empty enclosure. According to Hal's clock, he had roughly an hour before sunset. When those bars rose and the leucrotae attacked, he might have a chance — if they could surprise the monsters with an explosion, and if he could somehow get around them and reach the escape panel at the back of the cage without getting eaten or burned alive. Too many ifs.

His mind ran through a dozen different strategies, but it kept coming back to what Hal had said. Alex couldn't escape the feeling there was no way all the two of them could get out alive.

"Let's make the Greek fire," He said. "Then we'll figure out the rest."

Hal helped Alex gather the things we needed, even cutting his own hand to get the blood needed. They started Hal's stovetop and did some extremely dangerous cooking. Time passed too quickly. Outside in the hallway, the leucrotae growled and clacked their jaws.

The drapes on the window blocked out all sunlight, but the clock told them they were almost out of time.

Alex's face beaded with sweat as he mixed the ingredients. Every time he blinked, he remembered Hal's words in that diary, as if they'd been burned onto the back of my eyes: You could burn the whole house down.

He tried to focus on his work. He didn't really know what he was doing, but he had no choice. Maybe his mom was watching out for him, lending some of her powers. Or maybe he just got lucky. Finally, he had a pot full of goopy black gunk, which he poured into an old glass jelly jar and set on the carpet.

"There," Alex turned to Hal. "Can you put some celestial bronze in it? You have to immediately close it after, or the glass won't stop it from exploding."

The old man didn't look thrilled but nodded nonetheless. He picked up his green leather diary. He gestured for Alex to follow him. They walked to the closet doorway, where Hal took a pen from his jacket and flipped through the book. Alex again saw pages and pages of neat, cramped handwriting. Finally, Hal found an empty page and scribbled something.

He handed the book to the boy.

The note read, Alexander, I want you to take this diary. It has my predictions, my notes about the future, and my thoughts about where I went wrong. I think it might help you.

Alex shook his head. "Hal, this is yours. Keep it."

But the old man shoved the diary into Alex's hand, then went to fetch his computer to communicate.

Running out of time, he typed. I'll try to read the future.

Alex frowned "I thought you said it was too dangerous."

It doesn't matter, Hal typed. You're right. I'm a cowardly old man, but Apollo can't punish me any worse than he already has. Perhaps I'll see something that will help you. Alex, give me your hands.

Alex hesitated.

Outside the apartment, the leucrotae growled and scraped against the corridor. They sounded hungry.

Alex placed his hands in Halcyon Green's. The old man closed his eyes and concentrated, the same way Alex did when trying to understand a difficult recipe.

He winced, then took a shaky breath. He looked up at Alex with an expression of sympathy. He turned to the keyboard and hesitated a long time before starting to type.

You are destined to survive today, Hal typed.

"That's — that's good, right?" Alex asked. "Why do you look so sad?"

Hal stared at the blinking cursor. He typed, Someday soon, you will sacrifice yourself to save your friends. I see things that are… hard to describe. A tough task. Someone you care for standing tall and still, alive but sleeping, and another you considered a friend betraying… someone. A pool of blood. Years of fighting, but never changing. And then…

Alex, seeing his hesitation, asked. "Then what, Hal?"

…nothing, the old man typed. I saw nothing. Blackness, the void… death.

The young demigod's voice was hoarse. "You mean… I'll die after… everything you said happens?"

Hal pursed his lips. He typed, I'm sorry. I don't control what I see. Perhaps I'm mistaken.

Alex almost backed up into the drapes. He caught himself just in time, but he felt dizzy as if he'd just stepped off a roller coaster. But he still had the feeling that Hal wasn't telling him everything, especially what had caused such fear.

Setting the computer down, he grabbed the diary and wrote. You have an important future. Your choices will change the world. You can learn from my mistakes. Continue the diary. It might help you with your decisions.

"What decisions?" Alex asked. "What did you see that scared you so badly?"

His pen hovered over the page for a long time. Alex thought he finally understood why the man was cursed, he wrote. Apollo was right. Sometimes the future really is better left a mystery.

"Hal, your father was a jerk. You didn't deserve—"

Hal tapped the page insistently. He scribbled, Just promise me you'll keep up with the diary. If I'd started recording my thoughts earlier in my life, I might have avoided some stupid mistakes. And one more thing—

He set the pen in his diary and unclipped the Celestial bronze dagger from his belt. He offered it to Alex.

"I can't," Alex told him. "I mean, I appreciate it, but I'm more of a sword guy. And besides, you're coming with me. You'll need that weapon."

He shook his head and put the dagger into Alex's hands. He returned to writing: That blade was a gift from the girl I saved. She promised me it would always protect its owner.

Hal took a shaky breath. He must've known how bitterly ironic that promise sounded, given his curse. He wrote; A dagger doesn't have the power or reach of a sword, but it can be an excellent weapon in the right hands. I'll feel better knowing you have it.

He met Alex's eyes, and the boy finally understood what he was planning.

"Don't," Alex pleaded. "We can both make it out."

Hal pursed his lips. He wrote; We both know that's impossible. I can communicate with the leucrotae. I am the logical choice for bait. You wait in the closet. I'll lure the monsters into the bathroom. I'll buy you a few seconds to reach the exit panel before I set off the explosion. It's the only way you'll have time.

"No," Alex said.

But Hal's expression was grim and determined. He didn't look like a cowardly old man anymore. He looked like a demigod, ready to go out fighting.

Alex couldn't believe this old tormented guy was offering to sacrifice his life for a kid he'd just met, especially after he'd suffered for so many years. And yet, Alex didn't need pen and paper to see what he was thinking. This was his chance at redemption. He would do one last heroic thing, and his curse would end today, just as Apollo had foreseen.

He scribbled something and handed Alex the diary. The last word read: Promise.

Alex took a deep breath and closed the book. "Yeah. I promise."

A few moments later, something like an earthquake shook the house and Hal sat up grinning, flashing a thumbs-up to Alex. In the man's hands was a jelly jar of Greek Fire now glowing green.

He ran to his computer and typed: Someone ordered a magic bomb?

Just then, the clock registered 7:03. The enclosure's bars began to rise, and the panel at the back started to open.

They were out of time.

The old man held out his hand, and Alex nodded grimly. The bars had risen halfway to the ceiling. The trapdoor ground opened slowly. A red hoof thrust its way through the crack. Inside the chute, the leucrotae growled and clacked their jaws.

Hal gave the boy a brave smile, and Alex remembered the final words he'd written: Promise.

He slipped the diary and dagger into his pack and went inside the closet.

A split second later, he heard the leucrotae burst into the room. All three of the monsters hissed and growled and trampled across the furniture, anxious to feed.

"In here!" Hal's voice called. It must've been one of the monsters speaking for him, but his words sounded brave and confident. "I've got them trapped in the bathroom! Come on, you ugly mutts!"

It was strange hearing a leucrota insult itself, but the ploy seemed to work. The creatures galloped toward the bathroom.

Now, Alex thought.

He burst out of the closet and sprinted for the enclosure. Inside, the panel was already closing. One of the leucrotae snarled in surprise and turned to follow him, but he didn't dare look back. He scrambled into the cage. He lunged for the exit panel, wedging it open and crawling in.

From the bathroom, Hal's voice yelled, "You know what this is, you Tartarus scum dogs? This is your last meal!"

The leucrota landed on Alex. He twisted, yelling to give himself courage, as its bony mouth snapped at the air where his face had just been. He managed to punch its snout, but it was like hitting a bag of wet cement even if the beast let him go for a second.

Rolling out of the way, the panel closed, trapping the monsters with Hal.

Alex crawled through a metal duct into another bedroom and stumbled for the door. He heard Halcyon Green, shouting a battle cry: "For Apollo!"

And the mansion shook with a massive explosion.