Page 65 of The Court of the Dead (The Nico di Angelo Adventures #2)

N ico knelt along with the rest of the group. It seemed like the right thing to do when the goddess of magic was staring at them with her dark, glittering eyes, like an eagle marking its prey.

Next to him, Deion whispered, “Another goddess. And she’s one I’ve actually heard of!”

“Shh!” Savannah elbowed him. “Don’t say that! It’s rude!”

Hecate frowned—taking in the strange assembly of demigods and mythics, the beat-up judge, the crashed Chevy.

“Hazel Levesque,” she said, “what in the name of all the gods have you been doing to the Mist?”

Hazel smiled as if she wasn’t fazed by the flaming Triple Goddess with the scary pets. “It’s a long story, my lady.”

Hecate crossed her arms. “I’m immortal. I have time.”

And so Hazel brought her up to speed. That took a while. Fortunately, Hazel stood up about halfway through, so Nico felt free to do the same. All the kneeling was killing him.

When Hazel finished her story, Hecate sighed. She didn’t look angry so much as exasperated, like, You crazy kids and your Mist.

“You demigods have been keeping me very busy as of late,” she said. “I need another vacation.”

Pirithous groveled, clawing his way toward the goddess. “O Great Hecate!” he cried. “Please hear me now! I was only trying to restore order to the world.”

“Oh, I’ve been hearing you,” said the goddess. “You and your little group of cronies have caused quite a commotion.” She stopped and looked around. “It appears they’ve all abandoned you now. They were smart.”

Pirithous pressed his face to the pavement, which must have really hurt with that giant chunk of glass in his forehead. “It doesn’t matter! If I got your attention, if I showed the mortal world how chaotic the Underworld is, how much we need change—then I achieved what I needed to.”

“Please don’t listen to him,” said Nico. “He’s caused so much—”

Hecate raised a hand, and the words died in his mouth.

“So, Pirithous,” said the goddess, “do I understand correctly that you wish to put Hades on trial? You wish to stand in judgment of an Olympian?”

The judge glanced up, probably trying to gauge the tone of her voice. If it had been Nico, he would’ve said, No, there’s been a mistake. I’m good! I’ll just be on my way.

Instead, Pirithous said, “Yes, my lady! It is my deepest desire. I know I can do a better job of ordering the Underworld.”

Apate snorted, but Hecate shot her a look that said You shut it too.

“I see,” said Hecate. “You believe you are worthy of this great honor.”

“Yes!” Pirithous cried.

“Just as you would make a more worthy husband for Persephone?”

“I— Yes! Yes, of course! Finally , a goddess who understands me!”

“Indeed,” said Hecate. “I understand you.”

Her form shimmered, becoming a single person rather than three—an adult woman in a sleeveless black gown, her dark hair crowned with a silver tiara. Her hellhound and polecat dissolved into shadows, going back to wherever scary supernatural pets came from.

Hecate snapped her fingers. A massive boulder erupted from the middle of the street. It was a chunk of schist roughly shaped like a king-size bed.

“Here is your throne,” Hecate said. “Be seated, new king of the Underworld, and receive your reward!”

Nico glanced at his friends. By now, he realized Hecate had no intention of rewarding Pirithous. Judging from his friends’ faces, they knew it too. The only one who seemed to believe in Pirithous’s well-deserved reward was Pirithous.

“Thank you, great goddess!” He groveled some more, and Nico realized he was a natural at it.

Then the disgraced judge crawled to the boulder, which he seemed to think was an actual throne.

With a great deal of effort and whimpering, he managed to climb on top of it.

He lay back, facing the sky, and began to sink into the stone until his back half was stuck.

He had a blissful expression on his face.

“Bring forth the accused,” he muttered dreamily. Then he closed his eyes and started to snore.

Dolus laughed. “So much for him. Great job, Lady Hecate!”

“Silence, Dolus.”

“Yes, Lady Hecate!”

The goddess rolled her eyes. “Well then. I will return our new king of the Underworld to Asphodel, unless anyone would like to keep him.” She paused. “He would make an excellent doorstop, or paperweight.”

“Hold on.” Nico suspected it might not be wise of him to speak up, but he was too exhausted to care.

“Are you telling me he’s getting his old punishment, but he thinks he’s being rewarded?

Is that…? Do all punishments and rewards in the Underworld work that way?

It’s just a matter of what you believe?”

Hecate’s eyes gleamed mischievously. “I never said that, son of Hades. Nor would I ever give away your father’s trade secrets.”

That wasn’t a no. And it didn’t make Nico feel any better.

“Last call for a Pirithous paperweight?” the goddess said. “No? Very well.”

She snapped her fingers again, and the boulder sank into the earth, taking with it the worst judge ever.

Relief flooded Nico’s body. Unfortunately, his body decided that meant its work was done. His knees buckled.

“Whoa there.” Will grabbed his arm, struggling to keep him upright.

It is time, Nico , said Semele. I must vacate your mind.

Hecate focused on him with renewed interest. “Semele? Is that you ? Get out of that poor boy!”

All the air was sucked out of Nico’s body, and he dropped to the ground. Suddenly, there was so much space in his mind, like his thoughts finally had room to swim around in. The Kit Kat bar he’d just eaten threatened to come up, but he managed to swallow back his nausea.

“I’ve got you.” Will’s gentle voice kept him from slipping into unconsciousness. Nico didn’t think he could stand again, but he managed to sit cross-legged, hoping Hecate would excuse his bad manners. At least he didn’t throw up on her.

When his vision cleared, he saw Semele hovering before him.

Once again, she was a faint swirl of gray.

Immediately, Nico felt a pang of loss. As difficult as it had been, he missed her voice in his mind, her comforting strength.

But most of all, he missed seeing her true form as a woman made of smoke and stars.

Hecate regarded the eidolon with a sad smile. “It has been too long, Semele Thyone. When you faded from Olympus, I wondered what had happened to you. But an eidolon ? That is far below your station.”

“I made the best of it,” said Semele. “I found friends whom I would not trade for all the thrones on Mount Olympus.”

Nico’s head was still spinning. The memories he had absorbed from Semele, tiny glimpses of her past, started to stitch together and form a picture.

“Wait…” His jaw dropped open. “You’re a goddess?”

Apate laughed. “You didn’t know ? This is Semele Thyone, the goddess of frenzy! The mother—”

“I was .” Semele cut her off. “I am no longer.”

“ Another god?” exclaimed Deion. “That’s four in one day!”

“It’s way more than that,” remarked Hazel as Deion’s eyes widened. “There were tons of them here.”

Hecate approached the eidolon. “I commend your dedication to these demigods and mythics. I know what it is like to be forgotten, shut out of Olympus, and my choices were not as noble as yours.”

Her dark eyes suddenly seemed sad. “I allied myself with Kronos. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but now I know it was a decision based on pain and bitterness. I am thankful I had another opportunity to choose differently, much like the opportunity you and these demigods have given the mythics.”

She ran her fingers through the wisps of smoke as if caressing Semele’s hair. “It seems only fair that you have another chance as well. If you would allow me…You have been incorporeal for too long.”

Semele’s smoky form churned and twisted. “I— Would Olympus allow it?”

Hecate chuckled. “Olympus doesn’t know what it is doing most of the time. And I have missed you.”

Her hand flared with purple fire.

Nico watched in shock as the smoke thickened, solidifying into a beautiful woman in a long blue gown and a black shawl, her brown hair pulled up in intricate braids. It was the same face he’d seen in the fireworks, now made of flesh.

Semele ran her hands down the front of her gown. “I am myself once again!”

“You are,” said Hecate. “You have earned it.”

Semele threw her arms around Hecate.

The goddess of magic laughed. Then she whispered something in Semele’s ear.

Semele pulled away, her eyes filled with tears. “Yes. Yes, I will go see him now.” She turned to Nico. “Thank you for allowing me to share your mind. It is a beautiful place.” Then she faced Asterion. “And you, you gorgeous cow. I can properly hug you.”

She tackled the bull-man around the waist, much to his surprise.

“I will be back,” she promised. “But first…I have someone to see.”

Semele dissolved in a frenzy of golden glitter.

“Well then!” said Hecate. “Dolus and Apate, it’s your turn.”

The twin gods flinched.

“Look, about the house cat thing…” Dolus said. “We may have gotten carried away….”

Hecate laughed. “I am not upset. The Ferris wheel illusion was particularly nice. In fact, I was impressed by your contributions today.”

“You were?” Apate said. “I mean, yes, of course! Thank you!”

Hecate smiled at Nico and Will. “It has given me great pride to know that Camp Half-Blood has honored me with a cabin. I imagine they would be happy to do the same for our twin deceivers, yes?”

A terrifying image flashed through Nico’s mind of Dolus and Apate campers at Camp Half-Blood—the trickery, the guile, the epic toilet-paper fights with the Hermes cabin.

“We’d be happy to arrange that,” he said. He hoped he sounded honest, or at least properly deceitful.

The goddess’s gaze moved to Hazel. “And you and I, Hazel Levesque—our history is deeply intertwined. We have fought together, and I have great respect for you.”

“Thank you,” said Hazel. “The feeling is very mutual.”

“I imagine you will ensure that shrines are constructed on Temple Hill for our trickster friends?”

Hazel grinned at Frank, and then saluted the goddess. “We’ll see to it right away.”

Apate’s face turned red. “You honor us, Hecate! You know, we were just about to do a Mist volcano, if you’d like to see it—”

“You may leave us now,” Hecate said.

The twin gods gulped. Then, because they knew an exit cue when they heard one, they vanished in a cloud of rhinestones and flowers.

Will exhaled in relief. “Thank you, Lady Hecate. I think I’ve had enough guile and trickery for one day. But, uh, speaking of that…” He glanced up at the news helicopter. “What about all the humans who saw everything?”

“Oh, them.” Hecate waved her hand dismissively. The helicopter veered away and flew off toward downtown San Francisco. The mortal bystanders who were still in the park lowered their phones, looked momentarily stunned, and then wandered off in different directions.

“Mortal minds are easy to manipulate,” said Hecate. “They’ll have a dozen different explanations for what they saw today, and none of them will be correct. In the end, as always, they’ll believe only what they want to believe.”

“What if they want to believe they saw a bunch of mythics fighting a bunch of gods?” Will asked, his eyes wide.

“That is their prerogative,” she answered, grinning.

Nico took Will’s hand. “So it’s over? We can relax?”

Hecate smirked. “Well, I’m not sure demigods can ever relax, Nico di Angelo.

But you’ve done quite enough for now. You have helped usher in a new world!

First by defeating Kronos, then Gaea, and then by rescuing a Titan from Tartarus.

Now you’ve befriended mythics who thought they only had one choice in life.

You are helping them choose to be something else, if they wish. ”

“She is right,” said Asterion, beaming with pride. “I do not know if we would still be alive if it were not for your kindness, friends.”

Quinoa fluttered over to Hazel and hugged her around the neck. “You make me want to be a better pseudo-grain!”

Hazel laughed. “Thank you, Quinoa. I know a group of kindergartners who will be really happy to see you again.”

“Excellent.” Hecate nodded in satisfaction. “You younger demigods, behave yourselves. And try to learn from the example of your elders.” She pointed at Nico.

“Um,” he said, “I’m only a few years older than—”

“Elders,” Hecate repeated, a bit more forcefully.

Nico decided not to fight it. “Thank you, Hecate. For helping us.”

The goddess smiled, and then faded into shadow.

Nico gazed at the others around him. What a strange group they were—deadly monsters turned allies; Greek and Roman demigods working side by side; clueless kids like Nico suddenly being called “elders,” charged with teaching newer recruits how to survive in the world.

“What a day,” Will marveled. “I’m gonna be honest…I don’t think we’ve ever been through anything quite this wild.”

“Eight gods,” said Deion. “We got to meet eight gods, you guys!”

“He’s such a baby,” Savannah said to Arielle. “He’ll grow out of it, though.”

Arielle snickered, looping her arm through Savannah’s like they’d been best friends forever. The empousa glanced at Nico. Thank you , she mouthed.

“Let’s get home,” said Nico. “I mean to Camp Jupiter…if someone would help me up.”

Will pulled him to his feet, and then kissed the back of his hand. “You know I got you.”

“We all do,” said Hazel.

Nico didn’t remember much about the trip back.

Hazel released Arion so she could take the BART with everyone else.

Surrounded by his friends and family, Nico closed his eyes as they rode under the bay.

He allowed himself to pass out, knowing he was with people who would watch over him, and treat him as he deserved.