The Blood of Olympus

Reyna wakes up with her hands bound and tied to a chair and the sack still over her head. When she hears someone coming, she feigns sleep and then uses her advantage to overcome her captor—Thalia, leader of the Hunters of Artemis. She received Nico’s message and decided to intercept the demigods. Revealing that the Hunters and the Amazons are working together to fight monsters across the North American continent, she takes Reyna to her sister, Amazon queen Hylla, in the Amazons’ underground bunker before departing for guard duty.

Although Hylla saved Reyna’s life “many times over” (175), the sisters’ history is complicated. Reyna sarcastically thanks her sister for abducting her, but Hylla insists that “[r]ules are rules” (176) and Reyna should appreciate being a praetor. The Amazons and Hunters are both concerned about Orion, who Hylla says “takes a special interest in killing” (177) strong women. In ancient times, he joined the hunters of Artemis and fell in love with her. After she rebuffed him, he died. When he rose from Tartarus, he became the “bitterest enemy” (178) of Artemis.

Reyna realizes that she’s the bait to ambush and kill Orion, which she doesn’t object to since killing him will remove a significant obstacle to fulfilling her quest. She asks if the Amazons can ship the Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood, but Hylla doesn’t think the statue will accept that, since the Amazons are honorary daughters of Ares. Besides, the quest can succeed only if the three demigods themselves deliver the statue. However, the Amazons have repaired Reyna’s dogs and will provide magic camping provisions.

An Amazon comes running in to announce that Orion has somehow breached their defenses—and the doors explode.

As Amazons and Hunters are struck down, Hylla insists that Reyna must escape to complete her quest. She spirits Reyna through the underground lair, which exits into their childhood home. Reyna is shocked and angry that Hylla would take possession of the house, but they don’t have time to fight. Emerging into the daylight, Orion is waiting for them. Reyna is shocked to discover that Orion resembles a handsome mortal man, not the “towering ugly demon” (184) she expected. Hoping to gain useful information from him, Reyna keeps him talking about his past. When he unwittingly reveals that he was tracking her, not the Athena Parthenos, Reyna takes the cue to attack him before he can find it. If she dies, Hedge and Nico can still deliver the statue.

Reyna and Hylla battle Orion together until Nico, Hedge, and the Hunters appear and help them. Reyna doesn’t want to leave her sister, but Hylla insists, as she did six years earlier when “they escaped their father’s house” (189). As Reyna reluctantly departs with Nico and Hedge, all three notice ghosts on the balcony of Reyna’s home, some bearing violent wounds. They whisper to Reyna that she can’t run away from her crime.