It was one of those moments when Nico’s mind seemed to disconnect from the flow of time. He scanned his surroundings like a third-person observer. He saw Will struggling to his feet, apparently unhurt. He saw the blemmyae and the tiny griffin regaining their bearings as Semele fussed over them—a maternal cloud of smoke. He saw Hazel and himself with swords drawn, saved from somewhat-certain death at the hands of a headless witch by a statue with no arms. And he said to himself,This is really my life.
Terminus snarled. “You.”
The woman snarled right back. “Terminus. You useless chunk of marble.”
“Threaten these mortals again,” said the god, “and you will find out how useless I am.” He blinked. “That was a threat. It was meant to imply that I am actually very useful.”
“Terminus,” Hazel said in a low voice, “you know this person?”
Terminus scoffed. “You would have to dive very deep into Roman history to know her, Praetor Levesque. That’s how unimportant she is. This is Laverna, goddess of thieves, cheats, and liars. The disconnected head is a dead giveaway. It’s a thing she does.”
The goddess’s body did a grotesque curtsy that would have earned her a reprimand in the Fifth Cohort’s square-dancing classes. Her head floated down and reconnected with her neck.
“Delighted,” she said. “Always a pleasure to meet new Romans, steal from them, and disgrace their sorry excuse for a godly guardian.”
Terminus glowered. “Oh, you’re going to enjoy your time in a Roman jail!” He shifted on his pedestal. “That was sarcasm. It was meant to imply you will not enjoy your time at all.”
“Why are you stealing our friends?” Semele demanded, saving the god of boundaries from further awkwardness.
Laverna looked down her nose at the eidolon. “That word again.Friends.You are monsters.Actlike it! You will all face the judgment of the court!”
Nico’s hands felt sweaty on the hilt of his sword. “What court?”
The goddess laughed. “Jump in my bag, little demigod, and you will find out. If you think I am terrifying, wait until you meet the masters: the judges!”
“ENOUGH!”
For a microsecond, Nico thought the booming voice had come from Terminus. But it was Will. He marched toward Laverna, his whole body wreathed in light. He glowed like his father’s chariot, radiating enough heat to make steam curl off Nico’s jacket.
Nico was speechless. He’d seen Will glow before. He’d teased him for being a Care Bear. But since when could he dothis? Even stranger, the cacodemon Grief advanced at his heel, its antlers lowered.
Laverna hissed and backed away—perhaps because thieves and daylight do not go well together.
“You will tell us everything,” Will ordered. “Or you’ll burn.”
Even Terminus looked impressed. “That’s good. Do that!”
“It doesn’t matter,” the goddess growled. “You could kill me now, and a hundred more would be ready to take my place. We are putting the world to rights!”
“Who iswe?” Will raised his hand. Even at a distance, the heat from his fingers made angry red blisters erupt on Laverna’s face.
The goddess did the only sensible thing. She kicked Hazel in the shin and ran.
Nico jabbed at the goddess with his Stygian sword. He missed. Hazel stumbled into Will, who was forced to “flame off” to avoid incinerating her. Terminus yelled, “I’ve got her!” and tried to grab Laverna with his imaginary arms. Johan charged in to help, but with his horrible depth perception, he only managed to tackle Terminus. Orcus squawked. Semele shouted, “Stop her!” which was incredibly useful advice.
The goddess wove between her tormentors, doing her best to reach the stacks, where Nico figured she would try to disappear into the Mist. She would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn’t been for those pesky Cocoa Puffs.
Loneliness sprang onto her dress, latching its appendages into the sackcloth and burrowing into the nearest pocket. Grief launched itself at Laverna’s leg, sinking its teeth into her calf.
Laverna howled. She tried to shake the cacodemon off her leg, but Grief bit down even harder.
“Whatareyou?” she screamed at the dark, spiky attack emotion. “Why do I feel so terrible?”
Nico almost laughed. Grief was probably not something a thief goddess was used to dealing with. She stumbled and fell to her knees, shrieking…and then she literally unraveled. Her hair turned into dirty threads like the head of a mop. Her face transformed into coils of jute. The goddess collapsed, her flesh and clothes disintegrating until there was nothing left but a pile of rotten ropes.
Grief stood atop the pile, proudly shaking its antlers like,Yeah, I did that.
Loneliness shook itself free of the ropes. It was chewing on some kind of laminated card it must have retrieved from Laverna’s pocket—maybe a stolen ID? That seemed like the sort of thing a thief goddess would carry.
