the_blood_of_olympus_-_rick_riordan

Coach Hedge chewed on a stick. ‘I gotta agree with the girl on this one, kid. Smashing somebody’s
head in with a baseball bat, that’s one thing. But ghostifying that creep? That was some dark stuff.’
Nico expected to feel angry – to shout at them for trying to judge him. That’s what he normally did.
But his anger wouldn’t materialize. He still felt plenty of rage towards Bryce Lawrence, and Gaia
and the giants. He wanted to find the augur Octavian and strangle him with his chain belt. But he
wasn’t mad at Reyna or the coach.
‘Why did you bring me back?’ he asked. ‘You knew I couldn’t help you any more. You should’ve
found another way to keep going with the statue. But you wasted three days watching over me. Why?’
Coach Hedge snorted. ‘You’re part of the team, you idiot. We’re not going to leave you behind.’
‘It’s more than that.’ Reyna rested her hand on Nico’s. ‘While you were asleep, I did a lot of
thinking. What I told you about my father … I’d never shared that with anyone. I guess I knew you
were the right person to confide in. You lifted some of my burden. I trust you, Nico.’
Nico stared at her, mystified. ‘How can you trust me? You both felt my anger, saw my worst
feelings …’
‘Hey, kid,’ said Coach Hedge, his tone softer. ‘We all get angry. Even a sweetheart like me.’
Reyna smirked. She squeezed Nico’s hand. ‘Coach is right, Nico. You’re not the only one who lets
out the darkness once in a while. I told you what happened with my dad, and you supported me. You
shared your painful experiences; how can we not support you? We’re friends.’
Nico wasn’t sure what to say. They’d seen his deepest secrets. They knew who he was, what he
was.
But they didn’t seem to care. No … they cared more.
They weren’t judging him. They were concerned. None of it made sense to him.
‘But Bryce. I …’ Nico couldn’t continue.
‘You did what had to be done. I see that now,’ Reyna said. ‘Just promise me: no more turning
people into ghosts if we can avoid it.’
‘Yeah,’ Coach said. ‘Unless you let me whale on them first. Besides, it’s not all bad news.’
Reyna nodded. ‘We’ve seen no sign of other Romans, so it appears Bryce didn’t notify anyone else
where he was. Also, no sign of Orion. Hopefully that means he was taken down by the Hunters.’
‘And Hylla?’ Nico asked. ‘Thalia?’
The lines tightened around Reyna’s mouth. ‘No word. But I have to believe they’re still alive.’
‘You didn’t tell him the best news,’ the coach prompted.
Reyna frowned. ‘Maybe because it’s so hard to believe. Coach Hedge thinks he’s found another
way to transport the statue. It’s all he’s talked about for the past three days. But so far we’ve seen no
sign of –’
‘Hey, it’ll happen!’ Coach grinned at Nico. ‘You remember that paper aeroplane I got right before
Creepmeister Lawrence showed up? It was a message from one of Mellie’s contacts in the palace of
Aeolus. This harpy, Nuggets – she and Mellie go way back. Anyway … she knows a guy who knows
a guy who knows a horse who knows a goat who knows another horse –’
‘Coach,’ Reyna chided, ‘you’ll make him sorry he came out of his coma.’
‘Fine,’ the satyr huffed. ‘Long story short, I pulled in a lot of favours. I got word to the right wind-