‘THREE DAYS?’
Nico wasn’t sure he’d heard her right the first dozen times.
‘We couldn’t move you,’ Reyna said. ‘I mean … literally, you couldn’t be moved. You had almost no substance. If it weren’t for Coach Hedge –’
‘No biggie,’ the coach assured him. ‘One time in the middle of a play-off game I had to splint a quarterback’s leg with nothing but tree branches and strapping tape.’
Despite his nonchalance, the satyr had bags under his eyes. His cheeks were sunken. He looked almost as bad as Nico felt.
Nico couldn’t believe he’d been unconscious for so long. He recounted his weird dreams – the mutterings of Ella the harpy, the glimpse of Mellie the cloud nymph (which worried the coach) – but Nico felt as if those visions had lasted only seconds. According to Reyna, it was the afternoon of 30 July. He’d been in a shadow coma for days.
‘The Romans will attack Camp Half-Blood the day after tomorrow.’ Nico sipped more Gatorade, which was nice and cold, but without flavour. His taste buds seemed to have phased into the shadow world permanently. ‘We have to hurry. I have to get ready.’
‘No.’ Reyna pressed her hand against his forearm, making the bandages crinkle. ‘Any more shadow-travel would kill you.’
He gritted his teeth. ‘If it kills me, it kills me. We have to get the statue to Camp Half-Blood.’
‘Hey, kid,’ said the coach, ‘I appreciate your dedication, but, if you zap us all into eternal darkness along with the Athena Parthenos, it’s not going to help anybody. Bryce Lawrence was right about that.’
At the mention of Bryce, Reyna’s metallic dogs pricked up their ears and snarled.
Reyna stared at the cairn of rocks, her eyes full of torment, as if more unwelcome spirits might emerge from the grave.
Nico took a breath, getting a nose full of Hedge’s fragrant home remedy. ‘Reyna, I … I didn’t think. What I did to Bryce –’
‘You destroyed him,’ Reyna said. ‘You turned him into a ghost. And, yes, it reminded me of what happened to my father.’
‘I didn’t mean to scare you,’ Nico said bitterly. ‘I didn’t mean to … to poison another friendship. I’m sorry.’
Reyna studied his face. ‘Nico, I have to admit, the first day you were unconscious, I didn’t know what to think or feel. What you did was hard to watch … hard to process.’
Coach Hedge chewed on a stick. ‘I gotta agree with the girl on this one, kid. Smashing somebody’s head in with a baseball bat, that’s one thing. But ghostifying that creep? That was some dark stuff.’
Nico expected to feel angry – to shout at them for trying to judge him. That’s what he normally did.
But his anger wouldn’t materialize. He still felt plenty of rage towards Bryce Lawrence, and Gaia and the giants. He wanted to find the augur Octavian and strangle him with his chain belt. But he wasn’t mad at Reyna or the coach.
‘Why did you bring me back?’ he asked. ‘You knew I couldn’t help you any more. You should’ve found another way to keep going with the statue. But you wasted three days watching over me. Why?’
Coach Hedge snorted. ‘You’re part of the team, you idiot. We’re not going to leave you behind.’
‘It’s more than that.’ Reyna rested her hand on Nico’s. ‘While you were asleep, I did a lot of thinking. What I told you about my father … I’d never shared that with anyone. I guess I knew you were the right person to confide in. You lifted some of my burden. I trust you, Nico.’
Nico stared at her, mystified. ‘How can you trust me? You both felt my anger, saw my worst feelings …’
‘Hey, kid,’ said Coach Hedge, his tone softer. ‘We all get angry. Even a sweetheart like me.’
Reyna smirked. She squeezed Nico’s hand. ‘Coach is right, Nico. You’re not the only one who lets out the darkness once in a while. I told you what happened with my dad, and you supported me. You shared your painful experiences; how can we not support you? We’re friends.’
Nico wasn’t sure what to say. They’d seen his deepest secrets. They knew who he was, what he was.
But they didn’t seem to care. No … they cared more.
They weren’t judging him. They were concerned. None of it made sense to him.
‘But Bryce. I …’ Nico couldn’t continue.
‘You did what had to be done. I see that now,’ Reyna said. ‘Just promise me: no more turning people into ghosts if we can avoid it.’
‘Yeah,’ Coach said. ‘Unless you let me whale on them first. Besides, it’s not all bad news.’
Reyna nodded. ‘We’ve seen no sign of other Romans, so it appears Bryce didn’t notify anyone else where he was. Also, no sign of Orion. Hopefully that means he was taken down by the Hunters.’
‘And Hylla?’ Nico asked. ‘Thalia?’
The lines tightened around Reyna’s mouth. ‘No word. But I have to believe they’re still alive.’
‘You didn’t tell him the best news,’ the coach prompted.
Reyna frowned. ‘Maybe because it’s so hard to believe. Coach Hedge thinks he’s found another way to transport the statue. It’s all he’s talked about for the past three days. But so far we’ve seen no sign of –’
‘Hey, it’ll happen!’ Coach grinned at Nico. ‘You remember that paper aeroplane I got right before Creepmeister Lawrence showed up? It was a message from one of Mellie’s contacts in the palace of Aeolus. This harpy, Nuggets – she and Mellie go way back. Anyway … she knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a horse who knows a goat who knows another horse –’
‘Coach,’ Reyna chided, ‘you’ll make him sorry he came out of his coma.’
‘Fine,’ the satyr huffed. ‘Long story short, I pulled in a lot of favours. I got word to the right wind-type spirits that we needed help. The letter I ate? Confirmation that the cavalry is coming. They said it would take a while to organize, but he should be here soon – any minute, in fact.’
‘Who’s he?’ Nico asked. ‘What cavalry?’
Reyna stood abruptly. She stared towards the north, her face slack with awe. ‘That cavalry …’
Nico followed her gaze. A flock of birds was approaching – large birds.
They got closer, and Nico realized they were horses with wings – at least half a dozen in V formation, without riders.
Flying on point was a massive stallion with a golden coat and multicoloured plumage like an eagle’s, his wingspan twice as wide as the other horses’.
‘Pegasi,’ Nico said. ‘You summoned enough to carry the statue.’
Coach laughed with delight. ‘Not just any pegasi, kid. You’re in for a real treat.’
‘The stallion in front …’ Reyna shook her head in disbelief. ‘That’s the Pegasus, the immortal lord of horses.’
