Burning Passion: A Leo Valdez Love Story

Chapter 27

"You can't burn me."

{LOUISE}

After a long time, although how long I'm not sure, I gave up on trying to contact Naia. It was pointless. She would be too busy to talk to me anyway, if she was still on the quest. For her sake, I hoped she was finished... but I doubted it. I had a feeling Hekate was not someone you'd want to mess with, or someone who'd make things easier for anyone.

But I could still pray that it would go well (Okay, that was stupid. Basically, just not include either of them dying).

I hoped she and Leo were okay, though. I was worried about them, but since I hadn't heard if either of them were in the underworld, I was pretty sure they were still alive.

And I had someone who was keeping me and Louis posted on the dead: Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. I'd recognized him one day, walking around near the entrance of Elysium. I think he wandered around here often. By here, I mean Hades... and I expected the most pleasant place here would be Elysium or the Isles of the Blessed. I would like to see Hades's palace, though.

But anyway, after a long time of him visiting me and my brother, he started to warm up to me. Not Louis so much, but me definitely.

I was talking to him that day, in fact, the day when I found out some things (bad things) about the state of the camp.

"Well, everyone's poisoned but me, and I'm trying to avoid them all. Apparently when everyone got the poison, I was away. Probably here." Nico shrugged. "I guess I have the dead to thank that I'm still alive. Of course, not everyone is dead... only a few of the weaker ones."

"Is Chiron alright?" I asked. The camp depended on him, and even though I felt awful singling someone out, he was probably the most important.

We were seated in my living room, Nico sitting on the sofa across from me. Louis wasn't here; I think he was at a party or something.

"Yeah, Chiron's fine." I breathed a sigh of relief. "What about Percy, or Annabeth, and Reyna, and Frank?" They were also important, being praetors/influential camp counsellors.

Nico paled a bit at Percy's name. "They're all suffering from it, but still alive. Leo and Naia have to get back soon, or...."

I nodded. Neither of us finished his sentence. It was pretty obvious.

"I wonder if I could try to find them," he mused, his voice hopeful. "They probably need help, with Hekate and all." I'd told him all I knew about the whole mess.

I nodded. "And you could have Naia explain. I'm really confused." I gave a nervous laugh.

Nico nodded. He seemed lost in thought, lines creasing his pale forehead. I noticed he had a lot of lines usually. He had a difficult life, I could tell.

"Nico," I asked tentatively, "what's going on with you and Percy?"

"What?" he asked, alarmed.

"I can tell something about him bothers you."

"Nothing's going on with us," he said. Quickly, like the topic worried him. Bitterly, like he wished he was lying.

"Do you like him?" I blurted. "You can talk to me, you know. It's not like I could tell anyone. Besides, it's completely fine."

He laughed humourlessly. "You must think I'm a big failure. Here I am, talking to a dead girl about my deepest feelings."

"So do you?" I asked. Although I knew the answer by then.

He nodded, a very small nod. "You can't tell anyone," he said. "Besides, it's not like it would come to anything. Percy's madly in love with Annabeth, and she loves him back just as much, even I can see that."

"Yeah. So you should find someone else."

He looked at me, raising his eyebrows. "That'll happen easily. Are there any gay guys at camp?"

"There has to be some," I reasoned. His face looked kinda desperate, as if he couldn't believe he was having this conversation with someone. I was glad I could talk to anyone like this. I missed human contact. I mean, I had Louis, but he wasn't the heartfelt-conversation type. "You should... I dunno, look around. What I usually do if I meet a hot guy is... admire them, and talk to them, and eventually ask them out or something."

"But it's easier for you," Nico said. "People expect you to find a guy attractive, because people always expect people to be straight."

"Well, give it a try," I told him. "It's always embarrassing and horrible being rejected, straight or gay, girl or guy."

He shook his head. "I lack the confidence. And everyone would know, it's a small camp."

"Don't you want people to know who you are?"

"Yes!" he said. "No!" he added hurriedly. He looked down. "I don't know."

"Think about it, okay? And you're only sixteen, right? You've got loads of time left."

"Sure," he muttered. "I'm the only single guy at camp. Fantastic."

"Look at it this way: you're saving yourself for someone special."

He shook his head.

"Anyway. How does this shadow-traveling thing work? Maybe you could use that to find them."

"What?" he asked. "I don't think that's going to improve my chances -"

"Naia and Leo, Nico," I explained patiently, trying not to laugh."

"Oh. Right." He blushed. "I think that would work... it's just, I don't know where they are."

"We'll find them," I told him. "I'm sure there's something we can use."

He nodded. "I'll look around."

"Okay." I grinned at him encouragingly.

"Anyway, I should go," he said.

"See you soon!" I smiled.

He nodded, and left. I watched him, worried that he was going to avoid me for the rest of his life (and death) because I'd figured out his secret.

I hoped not. I'd lose a good friend (or at least I thought he was my friend by now), and I didn't want to lose anyone. Like I'd lost Naia and Leo and all my other friends and family. Family who may not have known I was dead.

⋆⋆⋆a/n⋆⋆⋆

So, another short chapter, *sigh* as usual.

I'd give you my (true) excuse but it's not the most legitimate, so...

it's something about fire. And addiction. And overdosage.

Anyway, not much is new! See you next weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!