“It’s not working,” Will fretted. “You’re killing him!”
“No,” Nico managed to say. Or was it Semele using his voice? “Wait.”
I’m sorry, Nico.Semele’s voice was deeply distressed.I have not done this in many centuries. I do not want to hurt you.
Nico believed her. Semele may have acted aloof at first, but she had never shown him anything but respect. She didn’t want to harm anyone.
She just wanted to help.
His consciousness began to stitch together with hers over this epiphany—their shared desire to protect the ones they loved.
You understand me, she said.
“I do,” he said aloud.
Nico sensed Semele’s character, her memories, her centuries of life. She had been so many different things. She had suffered, and lost, and suffered more. There was too much history for him to absorb at once, but he understood her basic goodness, her determination, her hard-won understanding of her own identity. It seemed to fit perfectly with Nico’s own.
The darkness began to fade away. In its place, a new feeling grew:
Power.
It expanded from his mind into his chest, and then out to his limbs. The ache in his muscles evaporated. His pulse stopped pounding in his temples. With Will’s help, he stood. He no longer felt like he was going to fall over and disintegrate.
He breathed in, and this time, he knew he was breathing for two souls.
Will studied his face with concern. “Are you okay? Are you…you?”
Nico kissed him. He felt the same electric charge right down to his toes that he’d felt with their very first kiss.
“Yep,” he decided. “I’m still me. Now let’s get to work.”
He turned to survey the bizarre scene in the park. There were mythics everywhere—hundreds crowded together in the plaza, just as Naomi had described, and another group encircling them, no doubt allies of Pirithous.
The funnel cloud had disappeared, but where it had touched down, two unearthly figures now lay on the pavement, struggling under the weight of a giant black chain. Nico had no idea who they were, but they were screaming in pain as Pirithous paraded around them, his arms wide while he yelled at the sky—something about Hades.
Pirithous.Semele’s voice was a snarl at the back of Nico’s occipital lobe.I would like to destroy him now.
“Agreed,” said Nico.
“What?” Will asked.
“Sorry—talking to myself. To Semele. It doesn’t matter. Is everyone okay?”
His friends nodded. Lavinia did a little tap dance, just to make sure she still could. Savannah drew her sword. Yazan and Deion gave each other a fist bump. Johan helped Lucius Silver to his feet and then said, “I think we could all use a nice cup of tea after this, but right now, yes. I am ready to boop some heads.”
“Bust some heads,” Frank offered. “That’s the expression.”
From across the plaza, Pirithous’s voice rang out. “Together, we will bring Hades to his knees!”
Anger burned triple-hot in Nico’s chest—his own, Semele’s, and the concentrated fury of his cacodemon Anger. He drew his Stygian sword and charged, his friends at his side.
They’d closed half the distance when Hazel’s voice reached them. “ATTACK!”
And the park devolved into chaos.
When Hazel Levesque yells “ATTACK!” and charges you with a sword, followed by an angry Minotaur, the only sensible thing to do is run. Nico saw Pirithous do just that—at least at first. The judge scrambled back to the safety of his own guards as Hazel led her forces forward, taking control of the museum’s front drive and forming a defensive ring around the two chained beings.
We must reach her, Semele said in Nico’s mind.
