Free The Demigods of Olympus: An Interactive Adventure by Rick Riordan

his bag, nearly tripping down the stairs. As my second foot reached the floor, I squeezed my eyes even tighter and focused on matching my breath to the shuffling of our feet. IN. Slide right, slide left. OUT. Slide right, slide left. IN. Just sliding along. OUT. Nothing creepy going on.
    Then…before I knew it, Sam’s backpack lifted as we stepped onto the opposite staircase.
    He turned to me. “You did it!” he exclaimed. As he hugged me, the flashlight cast weird shadows across the walls.
    Blood pumped in my ears and I could barely hear the squeaking anymore. I did do it. Maybe there was something heroic inside of me after all.
    I cleared my throat, hoping my voice would come out strong. “Thanks,” I said. “Let’s get upstairs.”
    Sam pointed the light up at a door, then bowed and extended his arm. “After you,” he said. “You earned it.”
    My knees were weak as I climbed into the library’s main reading room. I hadn’t been there since I was a little kid. Stacks of books marched off in all directions. A few bookshelves had been overturned. Some books formed piles in the corners like snowdrifts. Others were torn and strewn around, smashed by muddy footprints. Judging from the piles of wrappers and cans, and the articles of old clothing strewn across the furniture, we weren’t the only ones who had discovered a way in. On the marble floor near the exit were the remnants of an old campfire.
    I had mixed feelings about this place, but whatever you thought of libraries, there was no denying that this one was sad. Nobody had even bothered to sell or give away the books. The building had just been abandoned. Even the transients or local teenagers who’d broken in over the years didn’t care enough to bother with the books—except to use them as tinder for fires.
    In the center of the room, under the ornate domed ceiling, a ten-foot-tall statue stood on a high pedestal.
    The figure wore flowing robes. She held an open book in one hand like she was about to recite a poem. Her face was beautiful but stern. Her dark hair fell in ringlets around her face.
    I’m sure I’d seen the statue before, but I’d never paid it much attention. Now I realized what it was.
    “A Greek goddess?” I asked.
    Sam nodded. “The goddess of memory and language: Mnemosyne.”
    He pronounced it like Nemo Sign , though as far as I could tell, the goddess had nothing to do with cartoon fish.
    “Never heard of her,” I admitted. “She’s not one of the big gods, I guess.”
    Sam cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t say things like that.”
    “It’s only a statue.”
    “It’s a statue of a goddess, and the gods are real. She’s one of the early Titan deities, one of the good Titans. She’s the mother of the Nine Muses who oversee all the arts: music, poetry, dancing, and whatnot. Anyway, libraries are Mnemosyne’s sacred place. Her spirit is strong here. She protects this place.”
    I looked around at the ruined furniture and piles of trash. “She’s doing a great job.”
    “Seriously, be more respectful.” Sam glanced at the goddess’s face. “Her presence will keep the monsters at bay. At least…it should. We’ll get our supplies together, rest here for the night, and figure out our next move.”
    “Our next move…” My heart sank. “So even if we defeat this other lion that’s following us—”
    “There will always be more monsters,” Sam said grimly. “Now that they’ve located you, they’ll never stop trying to kill you. You’re a demigod. Your life…well, from here on out, it’ll be hard. But I’ll be with you. You’re not alone.”
    I appreciated Sam saying that, but I was starting to process the fact that I couldn’t go home. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. My life had fundamentally changed. I would never be able to go back to anything resembling normal.
    Sam approached the base of the statue. He pushed the bronze plaque inscribed with the goddess’s name. The pedestal hissed, and the front