Death's Reason

Chapter 24

(Hazel- )

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Having a flashback always made her day worse. Having one about that day really hit it home. But she was with the one person she knew could understand, and that helped ease the pain somewhat.

"You have to work on controlling those memories," Nico warned. "If a flashback like that happens when you're in combat—"

"I know," she said. "I'm trying."

Nico moved closer before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. A sense of protection washed over her, and suddenly her racing heart didn't hurt as much.

"It's okay," he said. "I think it's a side effect from...you know, your time in the Underworld. Hopefully, it'll get easier."

"I can't go north again," Hazel said. "Nico, if I have to go back to where it happened—"

"You'll be fine," he promised. "You'll have friends this time. Percy Jackson—he's got a role to play in this. You can sense that, can't you? He's a good person to have at your side."

Hazel remembered what Pluto told her long ago: A descendant of Neptune will wash away your curse and give you peace

"Where did he come from?" she asked. "Why do the ghosts call him the Greek?"

Before Nico could respond, horns blew across the river. The legionnaires were gathering for evening muster.

"We'd better get down there," Nico said. "I have a feeling tonight's war games are going to be interesting."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

The gold bar popped out of the ground just in time for her foot to hit it. Nico caught her before she could hit the ground, but that dose of adrenaline still shot through her veins.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded but stared at the gold with that sinking feeling in her stomach. "It should sink back underground after I leave, eventually, but just to be sure..."

She'd been practicing this trick, but never with something so heavy and dense. She pointed at the gold bar and tried to concentrate.

The gold levitated. She channeled her anger, which wasn't hard—she hated that gold, she hated her curse, she hated thinking about her past and all the ways she'd failed. Her fingers tingled. The gold bar glowed with heat.

Nico didn't say a word. And even though she hadn't shown anyone this, something told her he already expected her to do it.

She made a fist. The gold bent like putty. Hazel forced it to twist into a giant, lumpy ring. Then she flicked her hand toward the ground. Her million-dollar doughnut slammed into the earth. It sank so deep, nothing was left but a scar of fresh dirt.

"You've been practicing," Nico summed up.

Hazel nodded. It didn't seem so much like a victory anymore.

But that happened a lot with Nico. She'd do something, want to show him or tell him, like the unicorn stampede. She'd want to make him proud. But he was never surprised. He always knew what was going on.

He had the same face when she stood for Percy Jackson.

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His face only changed when it came to Percy Jackson. The son of Neptune was drinking some kind of blue drink, maybe soda, with a nostalgic smile.