𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐌𝐀 [𝐩𝐣𝐨 𝐱 𝐡𝐩]

❝ THE PIT ❞

|| CHAPTER THIRTY NINE||

❝ THE PIT ❞

LILITH WAS HAVING A DREAM.

She saw the dark shore of a river. Wisps of fog drifted across black water. The beach was strewn with jagged volcanic rock.

A young boy squatted at the riverbank, tending a campfire. The flames burned an unnatural blue colour.

Lilith gasped when she saw the boy's face. It was Nico di Angelo.

He was throwing pieces of paper into the fire – Mythomagic trading cards, part of the game he’d been obsessed with last winter.

Lilith almost cried when she looked over Nico. He was only eleven, but he looked older. His hair had grown longer. It was shaggy and almost touched his shoulders. His eyes were dark. His olive skin had turned paler.

He wore ripped black jeans and a battered aviator’s jacket unzipped over a black shirt. Lilith was in a conflict of emotions right now, her heart was crying over his stated and was happy seeing that he was keeping the aviator jacket that she gave him.

His face was grimy, his eyes a little wild. He looked like a kid who’d been living on the streets.

Lilith tried to move forward, to hold Nico back in her arms and give him all the happiness but she couldn't move.

It was a dream.

Nico tossed another trading card into the blue flames. "Useless," he muttered. "I can’t believe I ever liked this stuff."

"A childish game, master," another voice agreed. It seemed to come from near the fire, but Lilith's couldn't see who was talking.

Nico stared across the river. On the far shore was a black beach shrouded in haze.

Lilith recognized it: the Underworld.

Nico was camping at the edge of the River Styx.

"I’ve failed," he muttered. "There’s no way to get her back."

Lilith's blood ran cold and the other voice kept silent.

Nico turned towards it doubtfully. "Is there? Speak."