Breaking the Gods

chapter 15

"Get away from my cousin!"

Jason held up his hands to show he didn't mean any harm, but didn't scoot away from Nico. "Hey, hey," he said hastily when the other demigod got a look in his eyes that Jason suspected meant he was about to spring, "I'm not going to hurt him. You and I aren't enemies."

"I don't care, get away from him now!"

Jason really didn't want to, but he could tell that nothing he said was going to make a difference right now. So he backed off a few steps. "He's hurt," he told the other demigod, as he advanced once Jason backed off. "I couldn't find a pulse and he's not breathing. That machine did something to him when it exploded."

The other demigod, who Jason was pretty sure was Percy, knelt down beside Nico to check for himself. "Damn it . . ."

"I was about to give him CPR," said Jason, "but I don't know if it will work with that . . . thing on his chest."

"I don't know either," growled Percy. "Just . . . you just stay back."

"I'm not your enemy," Jason told him again. "I busted in here to rescue Nico too. You, you're Percy right? Hurricane Percy?"

"What?" demanded Percy. "What did you just call me?"

Jason winced. "Actually, Nico called you that. I thought it might be a nickname, or a title."

That must have sounded like something Nico would say, because a little bit of the suspicion in Percy's eyes went away and he started giving Nico chest compressions. "How long has he been like this?"

"Less than a minute. I can help -"

"You can stay back," snapped Percy, before giving Nico two rescue breaths. "What in Hades is that guy over there screaming about?" he asked once he switched back to chest compressions.

"He got hit by the power dampener's blast when it blew up too," explained Jason. "Nico got the worst of it. He shielded me."

A little bit of surprise crossed Percy's face but he didn't comment on what it was he found unusual. Jason couldn't help but wonder, even though he didn't want to distract Percy by asking. Was it unusual for Nico to prioritize others over his own safety? That wasn't in line with what Jason knew about him, not that he knew all that much. Nico had infiltrated the school of his own volition. Risked his own safety for all those other demigods. As much as Jason would have liked to think that maybe Nico had acted out of character and shielded Jason because they were cousins, he didn't think it was true. No, Nico was a natural born hero if Jason had ever known one, and Jason knew that he could have been anyone and Nico would still have shielded him.

He watched in silence as Percy continued trying to revive Nico, growing more and more desperate as one minute turned into two.

"Please," he tried again, "let me help."

Percy's green eyes boiled with suspicion.

"I can't possibly make things any worse," said Jason.

Finally, Percy nodded and Jason hurried over and took over giving chest compressions.

Two minutes turned into three. Then four.

"Nico, Nico, come on!" Percy began growing even more desperate. "Wake up, you little hellion! Wake up!"

"Percy -"

"No, it's not too late! Don't even suggest it!"

"There's one more thing I can try," said Jason, "but you'll want to stand back."

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"Give him a jolt," said Jason, then clarified. "Of electricity. See if I can jumpstart his heart . . . stone . . . thing."