BLOOD OF OLYMPUS

xlvii
Nico
NICO WASN’T SURE whether to kick himself or Will Solace.
If he hadn’t been so distracted bickering with the son of Apollo, he would never have allowed the
enemy to get so close.
As the dog-headed men barrelled forward, Nico raised his sword. He doubted he had the strength
left to win, but, before he could attack them, Will let out a piercing taxicab whistle.
All six dog-men dropped their weapons, grabbed their ears and fell down in agony.
‘Dude.’ Cecil opened his mouth to pop his ears. ‘What the actual Hades? A little warning next
time.’
‘It’s even worse for the dogs.’ Will shrugged. ‘One of my few musical talents. I do a really awful
ultrasonic whistle.’
Nico didn’t complain. He waded through the dog-men, jabbing them with his sword. They
dissolved into shadows.
Octavian and the other Romans seemed too stunned to react.
‘My – my elite guard!’ Octavian looked around for sympathy. ‘Did you see what he did to my elite
guard?’
‘Some dogs need to be put down.’ Nico took a step forward. ‘Like you.’
For one beautiful moment, the entire First Cohort wavered. Then they remembered themselves and
levelled their pila.
‘You will be destroyed!’ Octavian shrieked. ‘You Graeci sneak around, sabotaging our weapons,
attacking our men –’
‘You mean the weapons you were about to fire at us?’ Cecil asked.
‘And the men who were about to burn our camp to ashes?’ added Lou Ellen.
‘Just like a Greek!’ Octavian yelled. ‘Trying to twist things around! Well, it won’t work!’ He
pointed to the nearest legionnaires. ‘You, you, you and you. Check all the onagers. Make sure they’re
operational. I want them fired simultaneously as soon as possible. Go!’
The four Romans ran.
Nico tried to keep his expression neutral.
Please don’t check the firing trajectory, he thought.
He hoped Cecil had done his work well. It was one thing to screw up a huge weapon. It was
another thing to screw it up so subtly that no one noticed until it was too late. But if anyone had that
skill it would be a child of Hermes, god of trickery.
Octavian marched up to Nico. To his credit, the augur didn’t seem afraid, though his only weapon