The Boy of Shadows and Sin

Chapter 7

Nico had woken up in the middle of the day, long before the others; they were still sleeping. His shoulder was throbbing but he managed to ignore it as he started up the fire again and began prepping breakfast for himself, Will and Ricky.

They both looked very different in their sleep compared to when they were awake—Will looked slightly tense, and Ricky seemed to be soft and gentle. Her jaw didn't have that harsh clench to it, and with the sunlight the piercings in her face looked almost like jewels.

That was when she stretched, punching Will in the face, and sat up. The illusion was ruined.

Ricky clambered to her feet and rubbed her eyes. "Gods, it's late. Why didn't you wake us up sooner?" In opposition to her words, Will—who managed to sleep through Ricky's punch—muttered something unintelligible and rolled over.

Ricky sighed and pulled off the blanket from Will. She proceeded to grab the corners of the tarp and drag him over beside a stream they camped beside. Nico couldn't hide his grin as she dumped him into the (Nico knew from experience) ice-cold water.

Will jumped out of the water cursing and sputtering. Ricky herself almost fell in, and Nico's sides hurt, they were laughing so hard.

"Not funny, guys!" Will yelled, which only fuelled their hysterics.

"Boreas' balls," Ricky guffawed, "did you see his face! Gods, that was perfect!"

He was still swearing like an Ares kid stuck in a rose garden (ahem, Clarisse) when he muttered a few words that Nico couldn't quite make out. He turned back to the fire and the aluminium pot with boiling water and added in the contents of the some dehydrated soup/stew stuff to the pot.

Ricky and Will walked over to Nico. Will crinkled his nose. "What is that stuff?"

Ricky gave him a sidelong glance. "You—" Immediately, she clapped a hand over her mouth. She had sung the word in a soprano voice. She turned her red eyes to Will and glared at him. "Why you—" But it happened again. She swore, not bothering to avoid singing.

Will winced and turned to Nico. "If I had known that she was a soprano, I wouldn't have used this curse. Normally, I am an avid music fan, but..."

Nico nodded, the corners of his mouth still pulled up in a grin. "But her voice is high enough to shatter bulletproof glass."

"Yep."

"How long'll that last for?"

"It should stick around for a day or two. Hopefully she'll be quiet for that long. I don't think she likes singing much." They both glanced at Ricky, who looked like she was trying to set Will on fire using her eyes. The glowing only added to the effect.

Nico filled three bowls with the soup. "Grub's up," he announced.

Will pulled a face. "Who says that anymore? 'Grub's up'."

"Just eat the godsdamned soup. Then we need to get to Paris."

Ricky looked like she wanted to say something.

Will sighed. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I don't quite feel like facing Thorn's minions in the dark, but I also don't feel like sleeping on the streets of Paris at night."

The girl gestured frantically with her hands, but all it succeeded in doing was making Will laugh.

Nico smiled. As much as he himself hurt, it was good to see Will smiling again. It was unnatural for a child of Apollo to be so gloomy. Of course, it was also perfectly understandable, considering his younger (mortal) sister was in danger of death and he felt like it was all his fault. That didn't mean it didn't unnerve Nico. Will was always laughing, smiling, cracking jokes, practically radiating humour.