The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5)(121)

‘They’re gods,’ Nico said. ‘That’s their nature.’

‘Maybe, but I can try to make it better. I guess Leo would say I’m acting like a mechanic, doing preventative maintenance.’

Nico sensed Jason’s sorrow like an oncoming storm. ‘You know, you couldn’t have stopped Leo. There’s nothing you could have done differently. He knew what had to happen.’

‘I – I guess. I don’t suppose you can tell if he’s still –’

‘He’s gone,’ Nico said. ‘I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I sensed his death.’

Jason stared into the distance.

Nico felt guilty for squashing his hopes. He was almost tempted to mention his own doubts … what a different sensation Leo’s death had given him, as if Leo’s soul had invented its own way into the Underworld, something that involved lots of gears, levers and steam-powered pistons.

Nevertheless, Nico was sure Leo Valdez had died. And death was death. It wouldn’t be fair to give Jason false expectations.

In the distance, the Romans were picking up their gear and toting it across the hill. On the other side, so Nico had heard, a fleet of black SUVs waited to transport the legion cross-country back to California. Nico guessed that would be an interesting road trip. He imagined the entire Twelfth Legion in the drive-through lane at Burger King. He imagined some hapless monster terrorizing a random demigod in Kansas, only to find itself surrounded by several dozen carloads of heavily armoured Romans.

‘Ella the harpy is going with them, you know,’ Jason said. ‘She and Tyson. Even Rachel Elizabeth Dare. They’re going to work together to try to reconstruct the Sibylline Books.’

‘That should be interesting.’

‘Could take years,’ Jason said. ‘But with the voice of Delphi extinguished …’

‘Rachel still can’t see the future?’

Jason shook his head. ‘I wish I knew what happened to Apollo in Athens. Maybe Artemis will get him out of trouble with Zeus and the power of prophecy will work again. But for now those Sibylline Books might be our only way to get guidance for quests.’

‘Personally,’ Nico said, ‘I could do without prophecies or quests for a while.’

‘You’ve got a point.’ He straightened his glasses. ‘Look, Nico, the reason I wanted to talk to you … I know what you said back at Auster’s palace. I know you already turned down a place at Camp Jupiter. I – I probably can’t change your mind about leaving Camp Half-Blood, but I have to –’

‘I’m staying.’

Jason blinked. ‘What?’

‘At Camp Half-Blood. The Hades cabin needs a head counsellor. Have you seen the decor? It’s disgusting. I’ll have to renovate. And someone needs to do the burial rites properly, since demigods insist on dying heroically.’

‘That’s – that’s fantastic! Dude!’ Jason opened his arms for a hug, then froze. ‘Right. No touching. Sorry.’

Nico grunted. ‘I suppose we can make an exception.’

Jason squeezed him so hard Nico thought his ribs would crack.

‘Oh, man,’ Jason said. ‘Wait till I tell Piper. Hey, since I’m all alone in my cabin too, you and I can share a table in the dining hall. We can team up for capture the flag and sing-along contests and –’

‘Are you trying to scare me away?’

‘Sorry. Sorry. Whatever you say, Nico. I’m just glad.’

The funny thing was Nico believed him.

Nico happened to glance towards the cabins and saw someone waving at him. Will Solace stood in the doorway of the Apollo cabin, a stern look on his face. He pointed to the ground at his feet, like You. Here. Now.

‘Jason,’ Nico said, ‘would you excuse me?’

‘So where were you?’ Will demanded. He was wearing a green surgeon’s shirt with jeans and flip-flops, which was probably not standard hospital protocol.

‘What do you mean?’ Nico asked.

‘I’ve been stuck in the infirmary for, like, two days. You don’t come by. You don’t offer to help.’

‘I … what? Why would you want a son of Hades in the same room with people you’re trying to heal? Why would anyone want that?’

‘You can’t help out a friend? Maybe cut bandages? Bring me a soda or a snack? Or just a simple How’s it going, Will? You don’t think I could stand to see a friendly face?’

‘What … my face?’

The words simply didn’t make sense together: Friendly face. Nico di Angelo.

‘You’re so dense,’ Will noted. ‘I hope you got over that nonsense about leaving Camp Half-Blood.’

‘I – yeah. I did. I mean, I’m staying.’

‘Good. So you may be dense, but you’re not an idiot.’

‘How can you even talk to me like that? Don’t you know I can summon zombies and skeletons and –’

‘Right now you couldn’t summon a wishbone without melting into a puddle of darkness, di Angelo,’ Will said. ‘I told you, no more Underworldy stuff, doctor’s orders. You owe me at least three days of rest in the infirmary. Starting now.’

Nico felt like a hundred skeletal butterflies were resurrecting in his stomach. ‘Three days? I – I suppose that would be okay.’