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He had to try it, too.

Nico held up his free hand towards Will and the swarming cacodemons, then issued the command.

‘STOP!’

There was no hesitation. Immediately, every cacodemon froze. Then they turned back to face him.

Nyx roared. ‘No!’ she screamed. ‘Attack the demigod! Now!’

The cacodemons swivelled between Nyx and Nico.

Then they climbed off Will and scampered over to his boyfriend.

Will clutched his bleeding hand to his chest. ‘Nico,’ he said. ‘You’re … That’s … Oh, Apollo, I can’t believe this.’

The cacodemons stared at Nico, their glowing white eyes open wide, eager for his next command.

‘They obey you,’ Bob said in awe as he reached down and helped Will to his feet.

‘They do,’ said Nico, and he examined them. They all looked slightly different from one another. They wereunique, even if they seemed to be made of the same swirling darkness as Nyx.

Unique and …his.

He rose.

He faced Nyx.

The words came from his mouth, from memory.

‘Go forth and find the one who calls out your name;

Who suffers and despairs for refusing to remain;

There leave something of equal value behind,

Or your body and soul no one will ever find.’

‘I don’t care about your silly poetry, child!’ Nyx hissed. ‘Kneel before me and admit I am right. I will encase you in the same prison as Iapetus if I must!’

‘No, you won’t,’ said Nico. ‘This is a quest, and you didn’t account for me fulfilling itmyway.’

‘A quest?’ The air temperature around Nyx dropped. ‘I do not assignquests. This was a trap! One you walked directly into!’

‘Yes, and that was my choice,’ said Nico. ‘Bob is myfriend, and I wasalwaysgoing to try to save him!’

Will limped to Nico’s side, and Nico took his hand.

‘Will was always going to come with me.’

And then he looked up at Bob’s beautiful face and smiled.

‘And we would find the third person to be part of our quest.’

Small Bob meowed.

‘Okay, maybe four,’ said Nico.

‘Do ghost cats count towards quest numbers?’ Will asked.