Page 21 of The Court of the Dead (The Nico di Angelo Adventures #2)

Savannah had strapped a leather cuirass over her camp tee and leg guards over her jeans.

Her long red hair fell loosely across her shoulders.

She wore an expression of intense concentration, her green eyes and orange freckles all seeming to gather in the center of her face as she focused on a point just beyond the tip of her nose.

She didn’t look like someone who’d recently had a full-blown panic attack, but Nico knew appearances could be deceiving.

As for Arielle, Nico was just glad she hadn’t fled camp yet. She’d reluctantly agreed to meet Savannah for another round of practice as long as Nico served as referee.

The empousa’s flaming hair guttered and flickered in the breeze.

She wore a pink tank top and white wide-legged skater pants today, so you couldn’t tell she had mismatched legs until you looked at her feet—one bronze, and the other a donkey’s hoof.

If she’d really spent last night sobbing, Nico couldn’t tell.

Her eyes were red, but they were always red.

Her frown conveyed worry and caution. Judging from her tense stance, she was taking this rematch seriously.

“Okay, you two,” Nico said. “We’re going to do this one step at a time. We’re just working on form for now. Savannah, don’t forget to breathe. Concentrate on Arielle’s blade and watch where she puts her feet.”

She nodded. “I can do that.”

“Perfect. Arielle, nothing fancy. Just strike, parry, strike, parry.”

“Yes,” the empousa said tightly.

Savannah brought her rudis up into a defensive position, planting her feet slightly apart.

“Starting slowly with Arielle,” Nico said. “Savannah, just block her swings. Don’t think too hard about it or worry about how you look, okay?”

She nodded. “Got it.”

“Begin,” Nico commanded.

They exchanged strikes, almost in slow motion. Savannah seemed to get the hang of it quickly. She pivoted to block, then swung from the opposite side. They picked up speed, got a rhythm going.

“Not bad,” Nico said, slowly circling the two. “One of the great things about being a demigod is that we have an innate ability to focus our attention when we need to. It’s not always perfect, though, so we need to practice honing it.”

They picked up the pace some more, pride swelling in Nico’s chest as Savannah managed to parry every one of Arielle’s attacks.

“And stop!” Nico grinned. “See? You’re a natural, Savannah.”

She lowered her sword. “I’m sorry for being so dramatic yesterday.”

She directed the apology at Nico, avoiding Arielle’s gaze.

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” he said. “ Especially with me. We all get scared and overwhelmed, even after years of experience.”

Savannah frowned, apparently finding that hard to believe.

“You did well, demigod,” Arielle said.

It was an innocuous comment, said with respect, but Savannah’s face drained of color. She made the mistake of locking eyes with Arielle.

Then, to Nico’s horror, Savannah screamed and charged.

Savannah swung down— hard —at Arielle’s head. The empousa barely managed to evade the strike.

“What are you doing?” Arielle yelled.

Savannah didn’t answer. She pulled back the blade, gripping it with both hands like a baseball bat, and swung again.

This time, Arielle wasn’t fast enough. Savannah’s wooden blade smacked her across the arm so hard it broke the skin. Arielle’s flaming hair roared higher, like someone had thrown gasoline on it.

“Stop that!” yelled the empousa. “Leave me alone!”

Nico jumped between them. “Savannah! Drop the sword!”

Savannah’s face twisted into a mask of rage. She threw her sword aside in disgust, then screamed again like she wanted the entire world to hear her.

“It’s her fault!” Savannah howled. “She did it!”

“I did nothing!” Arielle shot back.

Savannah rushed forward. Nico blocked her path, but Savannah’s strength surprised him. She tackled him, and they both crashed into the ground.

Savannah rolled off him. She drew in her knees and then let loose a terrible sob. “She did it,” she said again. “She killed my parents!”

The whole world seemed to drop out from under Nico, taking his heart along with it. He struggled to his feet and looked at Arielle, who was wide-eyed with disbelief.

“What?” the empousa asked, cradling her wounded arm. “I don’t even know who you are! I haven’t killed anyone in a long time!”

“It was you, or your kind.” Savannah shivered. The anger was draining out of her body, leaving her listless and defeated. The blankness in her eyes worried Nico even more than her attack.

“My kind ?” Arielle demanded. “So now I’m responsible for every empousa? We’re all the same?”

“Arielle,” Nico warned. “It might be best if you go back to your quarters.”

“But, Nico, I didn’t—”

“I know. I believe you. But please .”

Arielle stomped, cracking the dirt beneath her donkey hoof. “ This is why we have to leave.” A blood tear trickled down her cheek. “I don’t care if they catch me! I don’t care if they judge me—it couldn’t be worse than the judgment I’m getting right here!”

She turned and marched off toward the mythics’ quarters.

Nico filed her comments away for later. He needed to find out what she meant. But at the moment, Savannah’s condition was the bigger problem.

He knelt in front of her. As angry as he was with her for unfairly attacking Arielle, this wasn’t the moment to scold her. If her parents had been killed by empousai…no wonder Arielle’s presence had triggered her.

Her stare was unfocused. He could tell she was far away. He remembered what that felt like. A panic attack could be frightening, but it could also feel like everything was happening to someone else.

“Savannah,” he said, “I need you to breathe. In and out, slowly.”

He helped bring her back to herself with breathing exercises—the very ones that Mr. D had taught him over the past few months.

Finally, she seemed to regain her composure, but when she raised her eyes to Nico, rage still smoldered in them.

“Why is she allowed to be here?” Savannah asked. “Why are any of them? They ruined my life.”

They.

Monsters. All monsters.

Not so long ago, Nico wouldn’t have questioned Savannah’s statement.

Now everything felt a lot more complicated.

He thought about what Mr. D had told him—that the job of elder demigods was to help kids like Savannah adjust to their new world.

Nico had botched that completely. He felt like he’d failed today worse than Asterion or Orcus or Johan.

Nico swallowed his resentment and guilt. “Let’s get you to the infirmary,” he said. “Then we’ll figure out what to do next, okay?”

He helped her to her feet, and as they walked slowly back toward camp, Nico felt lost.

He had no idea how he was going to fix this.