Burning Passion: A Leo Valdez Love Story

Chapter 31

"So...giants who can throw mountains. Friendly wolves that will eat us if we show weakness. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn't the best time to bring up my psycho babysitter."

{NICO}

Connor and I had been walking through the lamias' headquarters for about half an hour, and we'd found nothing. I was worried about Jason, and the effect his death would have on all of us, and the Labyrinth brought back bad memories of when I was younger.

Connor was panting; I guess the cure hadn't worn off entirely. I wasn't sure what to say to him; sure, I knew what it was like to have a sibling die, but I never knew what to say. Especially since I didn't really know Connor - and even less so now that he wasn't his usual prank-ful self.

I glanced at him, and asked if he was alright, and he half-smiled. "Just... tired," he said.

"Do you want to stop?" I suggested.

"Nah, I'm fine."

I nodded. The light dimmed slightly; there weren't many doorways here.

"Nico..." he said, a few minutes later, "when did you get over Bianca's death?"

I was surprised by that question. But I responded, "I never got over her death."

"No..." he said, shaking his head, "that's not what I meant. What I mean is... when did you start feeling better about it?"

"I didn't really, for a long time. But around last year I started feeling sort of happy again. It's hard for me, though, because I'm..." I stopped myself suddenly. What was I just about to tell him?

"What?" he asked.

"Because I'm not good with people," I said.

"You don't seem that bad. I annoy people, anyway," he said, grinning ruefully.

"Well, I freak people out," I told him. "But you don't annoy me."

"You don't freak me out," Connor told me quietly.

We looked at each other in silence for a few moments, and then I turned away, feeling my cheeks warm. It had been ages since I'd really talked to anyone, other than Lou, and she was probably the most approachable person in the entire world, and also dead, which helped - for me, anyway.

Then finally we came across a room full of potions and stuff. The place was eerily quiet; I wondered if Naia and Leo'd killed all the lamias, or if they were just lying in wait, about to pounce at any second.

"What's the cure look like?" Connor asked, picking up a bottle and examining it carefully.

"It's purple and liquid," I said.

"Like this?" He gingerly handed me a vial.

"Must be." I took it from him. Naia had told me what it looked like a few hours ago.

"Hang on," he said suddenly. "That was the same potion as the one that didn't work. Don't we have to find something different?"

"Oh..." I said. "Right. Let's hurry, then, and try to avoid any monsters..."

I still don't know if I jinxed myself, or it was just a bad coincidence, but as I turned around, there was a chimera standing in the doorway.

The first thing I thought was, why a chimera? And second, how were we going to kill it? I doubted there was any lead here.

I glanced at Connor, who'd pulled out a sword. I summoned my black blade, and then tried to think. What would kill it? Would it be possible to just throw a sword down its neck? Probably. But would that actually kill it? I stated at it as it stopped walking about ten feet away from us, wondering what it was going to do.