“There, now,” Pirithous said. “You probably have…oh, a couple of minutes to relax. Of course, every time is exponentially more painful. I have to give Zeus credit. When he designs an eternal punishment, he doesn’t mess around.”
“We will destroy you,” said Apate, but there was no force behind her words. She sounded like she was about to cry.
“Let us out,” croaked Dolus. “What do you want?”
“Oh, it’s simple!” Pirithous said. “Bind yourself to me, as all these others have done before you. Serve the Court of the Dead. Swear your oath, and I will release you. Understand, you are not who I’m after. Together, we will bring Hades to his knees!”
Hazel could see it in the gods’ faces—they were about to relent. They could not stand the pain. And once Pirithous had them on his side, he would be more powerful than ever. She and her friends would be turned to dust. Pirithous would keep going, collecting followers, enslaving the gods themselves, until finally her father would have no choice but to respond—and possibly be enslaved.
“No,” she decided. She turned to her friends. “We can’t flee.”
Asterion nodded solemnly. “We are outnumbered. I do not think we can win. But if we must fight, I will be honored to die at your side.”
Arielle grimaced. “I can’t believe I am saying this, but me, too. I will fight with you, Hazel Levesque.”
Quinoa grunted. “Why not? Even the best grain can’t last forever. Say when.”
A warm sensation coursed through Hazel’s body. At first, she thought it was simply gratitude for having these friends at her side. And that was part of it, yes. But it was also a sense that something had changed, like a shifting tide.
She scanned the park.
There. Down the road to the south, about a hundred feet from the plaza, a group of people were running in their direction. And the one in the lead wore a bomber jacket.
Hazel laughed with delight, startling even her friends.
Asterion frowned. “What is it, Hazel?”
“The cavalry,” she said. Then she raised her sword and shouted loudly enough for all the mythics to hear. “ATTACK!”
Nico was charging forward in full battle mode when the Mist broke.
Suddenly his body wouldn’t respond. A wave of exhaustion brought him to his knees. His legs turned to lead.
Defiance screamed in his chest pouch. Around him, the other Puffs chimed in, howling in pain and outrage.
The world spun. Darkness loomed at the corners of his vision.
“Will?” he called. He felt so weak he wasn’t sure if the word made it out of his mouth.
“Nico!” a voice called out. He looked for whoever it was, but he saw no one. He knew his friends must still be close only because of their screaming cacodemons.
Then the voice was closer, speaking right in his ear.
“Nico, listen to me.” It was Semele, her tone urgent. “The Mist has been broken. You need to lose your cacodemonnow.”
He struggled to process that. Sweat poured down his face. He didn’t want to lose his cacodemon. It washiscacodemon. But maybe that was just Defiance being defiant.
“I don’t understand….” His throat felt cracked and dry.
He managed to turn his head. His friends were all in similar distress. Lavinia lay flat on her back, her magical dance shoes making her legs twitch as if they might do the jitterbug all on their own. Poor Orcus had beak-planted on the pavement, his wings splayed like he was doing his impression of roadkill. And Will…
Oh, gods—no. Will was curled into a fetal position. He was sobbing along with his Puff, Loneliness, which radiated heartbreak so strong Nico could practically see the emotion rippling through the air.
“Stand up, son of Hades!” commanded Semele. Her voice was like a slap to the face. “You willnotdie this way!”
Die?he thought.Am I dying?
But that wasn’t what shocked him to his senses. It was the realization that Will needed his help. Somehow, he got to one knee. His muscles screamed in protest.
