Nico di Angelo, Flowers of Death

Chapter 42

Amber's P.O.V

We ended up walking north along S Lake Shore Drive, a busy highway slightly west of Lake Michigan, cars whipped past us so fast that they all looked like one singular blur. The only thing separating Nico and me from the lake was a small, but dense, forest. The highway wasn't precisely our safest bet, but it prevented us from getting lost.

I couldn't stop myself from repeatedly looking over at Nico, who apparently had the same train of thought as me. After about the 10th time making awkward eye contact, I decided I needed to say something.

"Is everything okay?" I ask. I mean, was anything really okay?

Instead of looking over at me, Nico glanced down, turning the skull ring on his finger. I can tell something is eating at him, but I just don't know what. One car, in particular, zoomed past us at an alarming speed and honked their horn at us. Probably mumbling about the two stupid, homeless kids wandering around the highway.

"What did Antheia mean when she mentioned a curse?" Nico asks me.

"uhhhhh."

It wasn't that I didn't want to tell Nico about the curse, it was just that I hadn't fully come to terms with it myself. The last two days had felt like months. I hadn't even had time to process all his new information, from finding out my mom is Persephone, to learning that I'm cursed, going on a quest, to Nico kissing me. Everything was happening so fast, and I was overwhelmed all the time that I felt like I was drowning.

A part of me had been desperately wanting to talk with Nico about everything that was happening. But there was never any time, and I knew that as soon as I did tell him about any of this, I wouldn't be able to stop myself. If I told him about the curse, then I would speak to him about my feelings. Antheia and Artemis had both warned me the people I loved always died. Maybe it's childish to think that if I don't voice the thought of my love for Nico out loud, then the curse won't affect him. I only really knew one thing: that I couldn't lose Nico.

However, I never got the chance to answer Nico's question or voice any of these thoughts to him. Our conversation was quickly interrupted. Under any other circumstance, I would have been happy with our discussion getting cut short. However, I would have preferred that awkward explanation over getting attacked by a Hyena.

"Nico" called out a girl's voice. Something inside of me turned at hearing that voice, whoever it was sounded so nurturing, and happy. A strange feeling washed over my body, like a warm blanket fresh from the dryer being draped across my shoulder. I found myself lulling at the voice.

Nico went slack, his eyes rounded, whether in fear or anticipation I wasn't sure, all the colour drained from his face, and he sucked in a large breath. I tried to find the owner of the voice, but there was no one around us, just cars whizzing past us.

"Nico," the girl called out again, her voice like an angel. My eyelids feel droopy, and I swayed on my feet while twisting my head, looking for anyone close enough to be the speaker. "Brother, come to me," I realized that whoever was calling Nico was hiding in the thicket. Nico didn't move, he just stared in front of him, looking as if he had only seen a ghost. Or more acutely, heard one.

"Bianca," he breathed out, even standing so close I barely heard him. A wave of realization flows over me that voice the loving, nurturing voice was his sisters. Calling out to him like a siren to a sailor, trying to lure him away, into a trap. But it wasn't Bianca, it couldn't be. The warm blanket feeling I had earlier was instantly gone and replaced with a rush of adrenaline.

"Brother, I have missed you. Please, come to me," called the girl. Nico turned towards the voice and took a step forward. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him back.