“So many,” Grover said.
“Yes, well, Apollo is too busy to see them,” Geryon explained, “so he subcontracts to us. We breed them vigorously because there’s such a demand.”
“For what?” I asked.
Geryon raised an eyebrow. “Meat, of course! Armies have to eat.”
“You kill the sacred cows of the sun god for hamburger meat?” Grover said. “That’s the against ancient laws!”
“Oh, don’t get so worked up, satyr. They’re just animals.”
“Just animals!”
“Yes, and if Apollo cared, I’m sure he would tell us.”
“If he knew,” I muttered.
Nico sat forward. “I don’t care about any of this, Geryon. We had business to discuss, and this wasn’t it!”
“All in good time, Mr. di Angelo. Look over here; some of my exotic game.”
The next field was ringed in barbed wire. The whole area was crawling with giant scorpions.
“Triple G Ranch,” I said, suddenly remembering. “Your mark was on the crates at camp. Quintus got his scorpions from you.”
“Quintus…” Geryon mused. “Short gray hair, muscular, swordsman?”
“Yeah.”
“Never heard of him,” Geryon said. “Now, over here are my prize stables! You must see them.”
I didn’t need to see them, because as soon as we got within three hundred yards I started to smell them. Near the banks of a green river was a horse corral the size of a football field. Stables lined one side of it. About a hundred horses were milling around in the muck—and when I say muck, I mean horse poop. It was the most disgusting thing I’d ever seen, like a poop blizzard had come through and dumped four feet of the stuff overnight. The horses were really gross from wading through it, and the stables were just as bad. It reeked like you would not believe—worse than the garbage boats on the East River.
Even Nico gagged. “What is that?”
“My stables!” Geryon said. “Well, actually they belong to Aegas, but we watch over them for a small monthly fee. Aren’t they lovely?”
“They’re disgusting!” Annabeth said.
“Lots of poop,” Tyson observed.
“How can you keep animals like that?” Grover cried.
“Y’all getting’ on my nerves,” Geryon said. “These are flesh-eating horses, see? They like these conditions.”
“Plus, you’re too cheap to have them cleaned,” Eurytion mumbled from under his hat.
“Quiet!” Geryon snapped. “All right, perhaps the stables are a bit challenging to clean. Perhaps they do make me nauseous when the wind blows the wrong way. But so what? My clients still pay me well.”
“What clients?” I demanded.
“Oh, you’d be surprised how many people will pay for a flesh-eating horse. They make great garbage disposals. Wonderful way to terrify your enemies. Great at birthday parties! We rent them out all the time.”
“You’re a monster,” Annabeth decided.
Geryon stopped the moo-mobile and turned to look at her. “What gave it away? Was it the three bodies?”
“You have to let these animals go,” Grover said. “It’s not right!”
“And the clients you keep talking about,” Annabeth said. “You work for Kronos, don’t you? You’re supplying his army with horses, food, whatever they need.”
Geryon shrugged, which was very weird since he had three sets of shoulders. It looked like he was doing the wave all by himself. “I work for anyone with gold, young lady. I’m a businessman. And I sell them anything I have to offer.”
He climbed out of the moo-mobile and strolled toward the stables as if enjoying the fresh air. It would’ve been a nice view, with the river and the trees and hills and all, except for the quagmire of horse muck.
Nico got out of the back car and stormed over to Geryon. The cowherd Eurytion wasn’t as sleepy as he looked. He hefted his club and walked after Nico.
“I came here for business, Geryon,” Nico said. “And you haven’t answered me.”
“Mmm.” Geryon examined a cactus. His left arm reached over and scratched his middle-chest. “Yes, you’ll get a deal, all right.”
“My ghost told me you could help. He said you could guide us to the soul we need.”
“Wait a second,” I said. “I thought I was the soul you wanted.”
Nico looked at me like I was crazy. “You? Why would I want you? Bianca’s soul is worth a thousand of yours! Now, can you help me, Geryon, or not?”
“Oh, I imagine I could,” the rancher said. “Your ghost friend, by the way, where is he?”
Nico looked uneasy. “He can’t form in broad daylight. It’s hard for him. But he’s around somewhere.”
Geryon smiled. “I’m sure. Minos likes to disappear when things get…difficult.”
“Minos?” I remembered the man I’d seen in my dreams, with the golden crown, the pointed beard, and the cruel eyes. “You mean that evil king? That’s the ghost who’s been giving you advice?”
“It’s none of your business, Percy!” Nico turned back to Geryon. “And what do you mean about things getting difficult?”
The three-bodied man sighed. “Well, you see, Nico—can I call you Nico?”
“No.”
“You see, Nico, Luke Castellan is offering very good money for half-bloods. Especially powerful half-bloods. And I’m sure when he learns your little secret, who you really are, he’ll pay very, very well indeed.”
Nico drew his sword, but Eurytion knocked it out of his hand. Before I could get up, Orthus pounced on my chest and growled, his faces an inch away from mine.