she seemed.
‘The storm isn’t completely random,’ Annabeth said. ‘See there? And there? Bits of material are coming together, forming some kind of structure inside the building.’
Sadie frowned. ‘Looks like bricks in a blender to me.’
Annabeth wasn’t sure how to explain it, but she’d studied architecture and engineering long enough to recognize the details. Copper piping was reconnecting like arteries and veins in a circulatory system. Sections of old walls were piecing themselves together to form a new jigsaw puzzle. Every so often, more bricks or girders peeled off the outer walls to join the tornado.
‘He’s cannibalizing the building,’ she said. ‘I don’t know how long the outer walls will last.’
Sadie swore under her breath. ‘Please tell me he’s not building a pyramid. Anything but that.’
Annabeth wondered why an Egyptian magician would hate pyramids, but she shook her head. ‘I’d guess it’s some kind of conical tower. There’s only one way to know for sure.’
‘Ask the builder.’ Sadie gazed up at the remnant of the thirtieth floor.
The man on the ledge hadn’t moved, but Annabeth could swear he’d grown larger. Red light swirled around him. In silhouette, he looked like he was wearing a tall angular top hat à la Abe Lincoln.
Sadie shouldered her backpack. ‘So, if that’s our mystery god, where’s the –’
Right on cue, a three-part howl cut through the din. At the opposite end of the building, a set of metal doors burst open and the crab monster loped inside.
Unfortunately, the beast now had all three heads – wolf, lion and dog. Its long spiral shell glowed with Greek and hieroglyphic inscriptions. Completely ignoring the flying debris, the monster clambered inside on its six forelegs, then leaped into the air. The storm carried it upward, spiralling through the chaos.
‘It’s heading for its master,’ Annabeth said. ‘We have to stop it.’
‘Lovely,’ Sadie grumbled. ‘This is going to drain me.’
‘What will?’
Sadie raised her staff. ‘N’dah.’
A golden hieroglyph blazed in the air above them:
And suddenly they were surrounded in a sphere of light.
Annabeth’s spine tingled. She’d been encased in a protective bubble like this once before, when she, Percy and Grover had used magic pearls to escape the Underworld. The experience had been … claustrophobic.
‘This will shield us from the storm?’ she asked.
‘Hopefully.’ Sadie’s face was now beaded with sweat. ‘Come on.’
She led the way up the steps.
Immediately, their shield was put to the test. A flying kitchen counter would have decapitated them, but it shattered against Sadie’s force field. Chunks of marble swirled harmlessly around them.
‘Brilliant,’ Sadie said. ‘Now, hold the staff while I turn into a bird.’
‘Wait. What?’
Sadie rolled her eyes. ‘We’re thinking on our feet, remember? I’ll fly up there and stop the staff monster. You try to distract that god … whoever he is. Get his attention.’
‘Fine, but I’m no magician. I can’t maintain a spell.’
‘The shield will hold for a few minutes, as long as you use the staff.’
‘But what about you? If you’re not inside the shield –’
‘I have an idea. It might even work.’