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‘Cows,’ Will grumbled. ‘Those aren’t related to tauri silvestres, are they?’

Before Nico could answer, he was distracted by movement in the nearest orchard. From the shadows of the trees, an enormous humanoid creature emerged.

Nico’s heart sank.

Now, too late, he realized where they were and who they were facing. The creature had the head of a red Angus bull, the shirtless torso of a muscular man with crimson skin, and black leather pants over dark work boots.

‘Minotaur!’ Will yelped, assuming a defensive stance. ‘Should we run?’

‘That’s not the Minotaur,’ said Nico. ‘And no, we should not run.’

The bull-man sprinted up the hill, charging straight towards them.

‘Um, you sure about that?’ Will asked.

‘He will not attack you!’ Screech-Bling promised cheerfully. ‘It is much worse than that!’

Nico sighed. ‘He’s a demon, Will, and he doesn’t want to fight us. He wants –’

The bull-man skidded to a stop right in front of them, panting heavily.

‘Oh, good!’ he bellowed, his voice so deep it rattled Nico’s teeth. ‘I amsoglad I spotted you, because you are not going anywhere!’

‘I want to make it clear that I didn’t actually know what I was doing,’ said Nico. ‘Like, we have to establish that.’

Gorgyra tilted her head. ‘There is no judgement here.’

‘I was mostly saying that to Will, because helovesteasing me about this.’

‘Only every once in a while!’ said Will. Then he raised his hand to the side of his mouth and stage-whispered to Gorgyra, ‘I do it all the time.’

‘Look,’ said Nico, ‘you know what Camp Half-Bloodreallyneeds to be teaching us?’

Gorgyra shook her head.

‘We need courses onhuman emotions,’ said Nico. ‘Classes on how to come out, how to talk about feelings, how to ask a cute boy on a date –’

‘You did just fine,’ said Will.

‘Well, I definitely didn’t intend to come outandask you on a date in front of the whole camp!’

Will started laughing, but it quickly turned to a deep, shaking cough. Nico put his arm around his boyfriend’s waist.

Will held up a hand. ‘I’m fine.’

‘No, you’re not.’ Nico frowned at Gorgyra. ‘He’s getting worse. We need that boatnow. We’ve wasted too much time!’

The lines tightened around Gorgyra’s eyes. ‘Stories are never a waste of time, son of Hades. We are all of us made of stories.’

‘Just keep going,’ Will said, waving his hand.

Nico sat back down with a grunt. ‘Anyway,’ he said, looking back to Gorgyra, ‘I was terrified to tell Will the truth. Every time I was around him, I thought I was gonna burst into flames.’

Will wiped his forehead. ‘You had me fooled. I thoughtIwas the one who was obviously a mess.’

Nico shook his head. ‘Not at all. Even though I sensed there was something there, it was still frightening to think about … I don’t know. Declaring it. And not knowing how anyone – not just Will – would react.’

‘Not that Camp Half-Blood is full of bigots or anything,’ Will said, leaning towards Gorgyra. ‘It’s just that … well, in our world, you learn to tread carefully. You never know if someone’s feelings will change towards you once you tell them who you really are.’