The Depth Of The Darkness

Chapter 8

Hades takes a deep shuddering breath. The floor beneath Nico begins to rot, and he jumps back. 

“Sorry,” he mutters, not sounding sorry at all. 

“I- I didn’t know,” the Lord of the Dead begins. 

“Excuse me,” I raise my hand sarcastically. “But how do you have a kid and just forget about it. I’m not like the bills or the dry cleaning. Children are kind of hard to ignore.” Shock and anger I can deal with. I just have to stop myself from focusing on other, more unsavory, emotions. 

“My memories weren’t there. They started coming back two days ago; They’re still not complete,” he admits. 

“We brought Evangeline to camp around then,” Percy informs him. 

“If I’m not needed anymore, can I go? I have to get back to my hunters,” the new girl says. She has electric blue eyes, spiky black hair, and a spray of freckles. 

“Your what?” I ask her.

“The Hunter of Artemis. I’m her lieutenant, Thalia Grace,” she tells me, standing up straighter. 

Shaking my head, I reply, “Evangeline Evans, still lost, but it doesn’t matter.”

“The Hunters are maidens who have sworn loyalty to Artemis and reject love. You can join if you want. You’ll be immortal,” she tempts, her eyes alight with humor. “Unless you die in battle,” she tacks on as an afterthought.

“Um, no thanks. Maybe later,” I tell her. The immortal part sounds cool, but I’m not going to swear loyalty to someone I’ve never met. Much less throw-away love. 

“Yeah, you can go,” Percy tells her.  How can he forget about me? What’s wrong with him? How could he forget about my mom?!  If he didn’t care enough about her to even notice he had a kid, he shouldn’t be here now. I crack my knuckles. I’m gonna kill him. “On second thought, Thalia, maybe you should take Evangeline for a walk,” Percy amends, looking at me warily. He’s had enough experience with my temper to know when I’m about to explode. She cocks her head at me from the doorway. 

“Okay,” she shrugs. “Come on, Nico.” What? 

“What?” Nico gives her a sharp look. 

“Let’s go. You can get to know your sister, maybe teach her some stuff,” she tells him. He opens his mouth to argue, but Will catches his eye. Nico groans. Giving one last lingering glare to the Lord of the Dead, he follows me out the door with Will in tow. 

“So...What kind of parent is he?” I ask after a beat of silence, breaking the tension. 

“Not the kind you want,” Nico replies. 

“O-kay. What kind of cool stuff can we do?” I ask excitedly. 

“Um, I can shadow travel and stuff, but you might have different powers. Our Roman sister, Hazel, can summon precious gems and control the Mist,” he tells me. 

“What’s shadow traveling?” I ask. 

“Well, all shadows are connected and children of Hades can travel between them. Hazel can a little bit, but it’s different because she’s a daughter of Pluto and her powers are more wealth-related,” he explains.

“How many other siblings do we have?” I ask. I’ve always wanted a big family. 

“None,” he says sharply.

“You’re lying,” I call him out. 

“What? No, we don’t have any more siblings,” he says, his tone guarded.