the_blood_of_olympus_-_rick_riordan

do anything for him. He hated himself for that.
‘So …’ Reyna’s voice jarred him from his thoughts. ‘Will Camp Half-Blood wait for August first,
or will they attack?’
‘We have to hope they wait,’ Nico said. ‘We can’t … I can’t get the statue back any faster.’
Even at this rate, my dad thinks I might die. Nico kept that thought private.
He wished Hazel was with him. Together they had shadow-travelled the entire crew of the Argo II
out of the House of Hades. When they shared their power, Nico felt like anything was possible. The
trip to Camp Half-Blood could’ve been done in half the time.
Besides, Hades’s words about one of the crew dying had sent a chill through him. He couldn’t lose
Hazel. Not another sister. Not again.
Coach Hedge looked up from counting the change in his baseball cap. ‘And you’re sure Clarisse
said Mellie was okay?’
‘Yes, Coach. Clarisse is taking good care of her.’
‘That’s a relief. I don’t like what Grover said about Gaia whispering to the nymphs and dryads. If
the nature spirits turn evil … that’s not going to be pretty.’
Nico had never heard of such a thing happening. Then again, Gaia hadn’t been awake since the
dawn of humanity.
Reyna took a bite of her pastry. Her chain mail glittered in the afternoon sun. ‘I wonder about these
wolves … Is it possible we’ve misunderstood the message? The goddess Lupa has been very quiet.
Perhaps she is sending us aid. The wolves could be from her – to defend us from Orion and his pack.’
The hopefulness in her voice was as thin as gauze. Nico decided not to rip through it.
‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘But wouldn’t Lupa be busy with the war between the camps? I thought she’d be
sending wolves to help your legion.’
Reyna shook her head. ‘Wolves are not front-line fighters. I don’t think she would help Octavian.
Her wolves might be patrolling Camp Jupiter, defending it in the legion’s absence, but I just don’t
know …’
She crossed her legs at the ankles, and the iron tips of her combat boots glinted. Nico made a
mental note not to get into any kicking contests with Roman legionnaires.
‘There’s something else,’ she said. ‘I haven’t had any luck contacting my sister, Hylla. It makes me
uneasy that both the wolves and the Amazons have gone silent. If something has happened on the West
Coast … I fear the only hope for either camp lies with us. We must return the statue soon. That means
the greatest burden is on you, son of Hades.’
Nico tried to swallow his bile. He wasn’t mad at Reyna. He kind of liked Reyna. But so often he’d
been called on to do the impossible. Normally, as soon as he accomplished it, he was forgotten.
He remembered how nice the kids at Camp Half-Blood had been to him after the war with Kronos.
Great job, Nico! Thanks for bringing the armies of the Underworld to save us!
Everybody smiled. They all invited him to sit at their table.
After about a week, his welcome wore thin. Campers would jump when he walked up behind them.
He would emerge from the shadows at the campfire, startle somebody and see the discomfort in their
eyes: Are you still here? Why are you here?