Page 42 of The Court of the Dead (The Nico di Angelo Adventures #2)

Frank clawed the table with his fingertips. Nico hadn’t seen Frank shape-shift into an animal in quite a while. He assumed Frank still had that ability. But even in human form, Frank’s big hands reminded him of a grizzly’s paws.

“Hazel could see— can see through the Mist better than anyone I know,” Frank said. “It’s possible she saw something in the way Asterion disintegrated, or she realized something about it afterward, that told her this turn-to-ash moment wasn’t death. It was something else.”

“There’s a precedent,” Will said. “Years ago, Percy’s mom was turned into a golden burst of dust”—he glanced sheepishly at Semele—“by Asterion, actually. But she wasn’t killed. Hades transported her to the Underworld.”

Semele made a sound like she was clearing her throat. (Which made Nico wonder if eidolons even had throats to clear.) “You believe our friends were taken to the Underworld, then? Do these judges have such power?”

Nico stared at his half-eaten apple. “I’m not sure about the Underworld. We don’t know enough about the judges, or their purpose, but they had half a dozen minor gods in that court. If Hazel and Asterion were taken somewhere…”

“They could still be alive,” Semele said. “Perhaps Quinoa and Arielle, too. I am not familiar with this Pirithous, but I can ask Johan to search the archives. Perhaps he can find out more. Or any mention of this court.”

“Good idea,” said Frank. “In the meantime, we’ll get our strike team ready.”

Nico felt an electric charge pass through his body. “Strike team?”

“We’re getting our people back,” Frank said.

“A small group of our most versatile fighters—” When Nico started to protest, Frank raised his hand.

“This is going to be a rescue operation, not a pitched battle. Bringing the entire legion would be too unwieldy. Besides, we don’t have enough coverage for everyone. ”

“Coverage?” Nico asked.

Will smiled. “That’s my contribution to the plan. With your permission, of course. My idea is Wearable Cocoa Puffs.”

Nico’s mouth fell open. “Wearable…like accessories ?”

“They’ve helped us see through the Mist,” Will reminded him. “They seem to heighten our senses, right? So why not train the mythics and a few other legionnaires to use them without getting overwhelmed? We could use every advantage we can get.”

“That’s not a terrible idea,” Nico said.

Will gave him a mock bow, like You flatter me.

“Besides,” Will said, “if we have extra Puffs, they’re great for throwing at our enemies. We’ve seen that they can confuse even gods.”

“Just what we need,” Frank grumbled. “More confusion.”

“Frank, it’s something ,” said Will.

“I know, I know. I just hate this feeling. I trust my bow, my sword, even my ability to turn into a mountain lion. But trusting cacodemons that none of us understand, when Hazel could be…”

“She’s not gone,” Nico assured him. “Remember how I knew Jason was dead? This isn’t the same, Frank. She’ll be okay. We have to hold on to that.”

“And the others,” Semele added dryly. “Asterion, Arielle, Quinoa.”

“Of course,” Nico said. “We’ll rescue them all.”

Semele drifted back across the table and hovered at Will’s shoulder. “Very well. This leaves us with a few small questions. When do we go? Where are we going? And what do we do when we get there?”

Nico smirked. He suspected that eidolons could get away with such a high level of snark because they were impossible to strangle.

“It’s true, we’re in the dark here,” he admitted.

“I’m tempted to leave right now. I’m terrified of what kind of danger our friends might be in.

But we need at least some time for our team to get used to the Cocoa Puffs.

I suggest we train all day tomorrow and leave in the evening.

Unless I sense something in the meantime that, uh, changes the time frame… .”

He didn’t elaborate on what that might mean. Frank’s expression darkened, but he nodded in agreement.

“That seems wise,” Semele said. “Making decisions from a place of fear is not advisable.”

Frank wiped at his reddened eyes. “In terms of where we go…Unless we get a different lead from Johan’s research, we should start at the courthouse. And once we get there…”

There was no way to finish that. There were too many unknowns. But Nico imagined some of the thoughts running through Frank’s head. He suspected the wrath of Frank Zhang was going to make the court sorry they’d ever picked up their gavels.

“Tomorrow, then,” said Semele. “The mythics will be ready.”

Her smoky form dissolved, leaving the three demigods in an uncomfortable silence. Nico looked at Frank and Will and wondered if either of them had gotten any sleep that day.

Knowing them…probably not.

“We need to rest,” he said.

Will opened his mouth to speak, but Nico held up a finger. “Yes, I’m well aware that I’m the one telling us to rest.”

“How dare you kill my joke before I could tell it,” said Will.

Frank’s eyes were still glassy and red. “I just wish I could talk to her,” he said, his voice breaking. “If I could have some sort of proof that she’s alive…”

An idea formed in Nico’s mind. It was probably a bad idea, but it seemed silly not to try it. “You know, she was wearing a tessera bracelet….”

Frank seemed to put those words together slowly, letting the meaning sink in.

He grabbed his own bracelet and rubbed his thumb along the glossy ceramic pendant. “Show me Hazel Levesque,” he said. “Wherever she is.”

But nothing happened. No rainbow-tinted sphere. No Hazel. Just darkness and silence.