The Tower of Nero (The Trials of Apollo #5)(13)

The more I thought about this, the less absurd it seemed. Nero wouldn’t bother with the technicalities of parenthood. Signing a permission slip? Taking Meg to the doctor? No, thanks. He would delegate such things. And legal status? Nero didn’t care about formal guardianship. In his mind, he owned Meg.

“Lu taught me swords.” Meg squirmed in her new pink dress. “She taught me…well, most stuff. When I lived in the palace, Nero’s tower, Lu tried to help me. She was…She was the nice one.”

I studied the giant Gaul in her Electronics Mega-Mart shirt and her bath-towel kilt. I could think of many descriptions for her. Nice wasn’t the first one that sprang to mind.

However, I could imagine her being nicer than Nero. That was a low bar. And I could imagine Nero using Lu as his proxy—giving Meg another authority figure to look up to, a woman warrior. After dealing with Nero and his terrifying alternate personality the Beast, Meg would have seen Lu as a welcome relief.

“You were the good cop,” I guessed.

Lu’s neck veins bulged against her golden torque. “Call me what you like. I didn’t do enough for my Sapling, but I did what I could. She and I trained together for years.”

“Sapling?” Paul asked. “Oh, right. Because Meg’s a daughter of Demeter.” His expression remained serious, but his eyes twinkled, like he couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to be having this conversation.

I didn’t feel quite as fortunate. I was gripping my fork so tightly my fist trembled. The gesture might have looked threatening if the tines hadn’t been topped with a cherry tomato.

“You were Meg’s legal guardian.” I glared at Lu. “You could have taken her out of that tower. You could have relocated. Run with her. But you stayed. For years.”

“Hey,” Meg warned.

“No, he’s right.” Lu’s eyes bored a hole in the casserole dish. “I owed Nero my life. Back in the old times, he spared me from…Well, it doesn’t matter now, but I served him for centuries. I’ve done many hard things for him. Then the sapling came along. I did my best. Wasn’t enough. Then Meg ran away with you. I heard what Nero was planning, what would happen when you two came back to the city…” She shook her head. “It was too much. I couldn’t bring Meg back to that tower.”

“You followed your conscience,” Sally said.

I wished I could be as forgiving as our hostess. “Nero doesn’t hire warriors for their consciences.”

The big woman scowled. “That’s true, little Lester. Believe me, or don’t. But if we can’t work together, if you don’t listen to me, then Nero will win. He’ll destroy all of this.”

She gestured around the room. Whether she meant the world, Manhattan, or the Jackson/Blofis apartment, any of those possibilities was unacceptable.

“I believe you,” Sally announced.

It seemed ridiculous that a huge warrior like Lu would care about Sally Jackson’s approval, but the Gaul looked genuinely relieved. Her facial muscles relaxed. The elongated Celtic tattoos on her arms settled back into concentric circles. “Thank you, Jackson Mother.”

“I believe you, too.” Meg frowned at me, her meaning clear: And so will you, or I’ll order you to run into a wall.

I set down my tomato-topped fork. It was the best gesture of peace I could offer.

I couldn’t make myself trust Luguselwa completely. A “good cop” was still a cop…still a part of the mind game. And Nero was an expert at playing with people’s heads. I glanced at Paul, hoping for support, but he gave me an almost imperceptible shrug: What else can you do?

“Very well, Luguselwa,” I said. “Tell us your plan.”

Paul and Sally leaned forward, ready for marching orders.

Lu shook her head. “Not you, my good hosts. I have no doubt you are brave and strong, but I will not see any harm come to this family.”

I nodded. “On that, at least, we agree. Once the morning comes, we’re out of here. Possibly after a good breakfast, if it’s not too much trouble.”

Sally smiled, though there was a tinge of disappointment in her eyes, as if she’d been looking forward to busting some evil Roman heads. “I still want to hear the plan. What will you do?”

“Best to not share too many details,” Lu said. “But there is a secret way into Nero’s tower—from below. It is the way that Nero takes to visit…the reptile.”

Coils of lasagna seemed to tighten in my stomach. The reptile. Python. Interloper at Delphi, my archnemesis, and winner of Olympus Magazine’s Least Popular Serpent award for four thousand years running.

“That sounds like a terrible way in,” I noted.

“It is not wonderful,” Lu agreed.

“But we can use it to sneak in,” Meg guessed. “Surprise Nero?”

Lu snorted. “Nothing so easy, Sapling. The way is secret, but it is still heavily guarded and under constant surveillance. If you tried to sneak in, you would be caught.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m still not hearing anything resembling a plan.”

Lu took a moment to gather her patience. I was familiar with this look. I got it often from Meg, and my sister Artemis, and…well, everyone, actually.

“The way is not for you,” she said. “But it could be used to sneak in a small squad of demigods, if any were brave enough and sufficiently skilled at navigating underground.”