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Nico sighed. ‘Fine.’

Which is why, a few minutes later, Nico and Will packed themselves into a boring yellow taxi on Farm Road 3.141. The driver was hunched over in the front seat. He had on a grey cardigan and a black driver’s cap, and his car smelled vaguely of something smoky and dead.

The driver twisted around to stare at them. ‘You boys going to the Long Island Rail Road station in Montauk?’

‘Uh, yeah,’ said Will. ‘Our train leaves in fifteen minutes. Will we be late?’

The man smiled, and he had a gold cap on one of his front teeth. ‘Not in this car you won’t.’

The engine revved, and the car seemed to jump forward as it sped away from Camp Half-Blood. There was no Grey Sisters magic at work here. No, this was just the beauty of a Long Island cabdriver on a tight schedule.

Nico had a blast with the window rolled down. As the traffic whizzed by on the Sunrise Highway, the driver regaled them with a story of how he once got a movie-star client from Sag Harbor to the Islip airport in under thirty minutes. As for Will, he was not doing as well. He had a white-knuckle grip on the door, his eyes were wide with terror, and he was obviously trying to get a handle on his breathing.

The driver got them to the station with six minutes to spare.

They raced up the steps to the platform, Nico easily outrunning his boyfriend, though that was mostly due to Will having to get his land legs again. ‘Was that worse than the Grey Sisters?’ Will panted. ‘’Cause it felt like it was worse than the Grey Sisters.’

‘You were the one who wanted to travel like a normal human,’ said Nico.

By the time the train arrived, they’d fallen into an uncomfortable silence. The doors opened, and they quickly moved inside. The car they’d chosen was about a third full, so they headed to a part where there were fewer people. Will struggled to fit his knapsack on the luggage rack above the seats.

‘I’m telling you,’ said Nico, sliding into the seat closest to the window, ‘you won’t need half that stuff on the journey.’

‘We’ll see about –’ Will began, and then something toppled out of his bag and smacked him in the face. ‘Ow!’

Nico restrained himself, because he knew laughing wouldn’t make the situation better, even though it was very, very funny. Will rubbed at his face and then crouched down to pick up the thing that had fallen – a white sphere about the size of a softball.

‘Will, what is that?’

‘Nothing,’ he said, and stuffed it back into his knapsack.

‘Oh, no. I must know what that is.’

Will sighed, brought it back down and handed it over. When Nico gripped it, the entire thing lit up so blazingly bright he almost dropped it.

‘Sweet Hades, what is this?’ Nico blinked repeatedly as little white spots appeared in his vision.

‘Don’t laugh,’ Will warned.

‘I can’t guarantee that I won’t.’

‘It’s a battery-powered sunlamp.’

‘Awhat?’

‘Look,’ said Will, ‘I don’t know what it’s like down in the Underworld, and plenty of people use these things to help them get through the winter months when the sun is weak. It’s a form of light therapy. I used to have one when I travelled with Mom.’

Nico was actually impressed. ‘Okay, that’s kind of amazing. And maybe it’ll delay the effects of the Underworld on you.’

‘That’s the idea.’ Will returned the sunlamp to his bag and sat down next to Nico. ‘I brought extra batteries, too.’

‘Whatdidn’tyou bring on this quest, Will Solace?’

Will didn’t answer. Moments later the train crawled forward, and soon the various Long Island neighbourhoods were whizzing past them. Nico enjoyed the panorama: the woods, the industrial parks, the run-down strip malls and rows of cosy brick houses where normal mortals lived normal lives. Will, however, was clearly nervous. He bounced his right leg up and down as he glanced around the train carriage.

Nico reached over and placed his hand on the bobbing thigh. ‘Will, you can’t do that the whole train ride.’

‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘Just trying to focus.’