Death's Son (And All Its Perks)

Chapter 20

Nico let another week go by before heading to talk to Will about what they actually needed to talk about. It was one thing to let things calm down, but Nico couldn't ignore it anymore. Not after his dreams.

The first dream started with his time on the streets. He watched himself kill that man, over and over, but every time he would see Almaji in the background, his eyes red, his face pale, blood splattered on his clothes.

The night after that, he dreamt about the three Fates. They were busy putting back together a ball of yarn, discarded remnants around their feet and a look of annoyance on their faces. Before the dream ended, they'd look at Nico as if he had killed their puppy.

The third dream consisted of Almaji playing with a deck of cards while sitting in a pool of blood. A body laid next to him and the city was seen behind him. His smile never dropped and his eyes seemed to be redder than Hades' when he got mad.

Everything about these dreams made Nico too uncomfortable to leave Almaji alone. He made sure an experienced camper was always at his side. Others thought Nico was worried about Almaji's safety, but it was just the opposite.

He finally went to Will about it during lunchtime, his conscious getting the better of him. If something happened and he had known beforehand... But would anybody believe him? Almaji was as innocent as they got.

But why did he keep showing up in Nico's dreams?

"Will," Nico pulled him away from the Infirmary. "You're not allowed to go eat, yet."

Will followed, his hands still full of bandages. "Nico, if you wanted to hang out, you could have just-"

"That's not what's happening, Solace." Nico scowled as they got to the Hades cabin. Nico made sure to check everywhere to make sure they weren't being spied on before looking back to the son of Apollo. "We have to talk about something really important."

Will recognized the urgency in Nico's voice and quickly lost his joking manner. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"You need to promise to hear me out, okay?" Nico crossed his arms. "I'm being really serious, but it might sound stupid at first."

"Okay, okay. I'm listening. Is this about Anubis or something?" Will asked. "I mean, I've been having questions about him, too. Like if he'll actually disappear from your mind when we go on dates-"

"Will!" Nico cut him off for the second time that day, his blush spreading across his cheeks. "That is definitely not what I was planning on talking about. We can discuss that later."

"Ah, so you're curious, too."

Nico rolled his dark eyes. "William Solace."

"Right, sorry." Will held his hands up in surrender. "I apologize for wanting only one soul in my boyfriend when I kiss him. I don't want to kiss an Egyptian god."

"I don't even think Anubis is gay," Nico admitted. "Just calm down about that. This is about Almaji."

Will's playful smile dropped. "What happened? Is he okay?"

"He's eating lunch with the Stolls right now." Nico sat by Will on the hard bed. "He isn't in immediate danger or whatever. I just...had to tell you something about him. I have to tell someone. And...and...I maybe...trust you. Don't let that go to your head, got it? I'm just saying that I need to tell you."

Will smiled again. "Go on,"

Nico told him about his dreams and everything that Anubis had leaked out about screwing with the Fates. He didn't hold anything back in the dreams, even when he had to tell Will that he killed that man. Things with Almaji were just too important to hide things like that. Will knew Nico was dangerous, they had established that. Acting like it was an accident was enough to get the point across.