“Percy,” Hazel cut in, “look, the giants aren’t the worst problem. Even ... even Gaea isn’t the worst problem. The thing you noticed about the gorgons, how they wouldn’t die, that’s our biggest worry.” She looked at Nico. She was getting dangerously close to her own secret now, but for some reason Hazel trusted Percy. Maybe because he was also an outsider, maybe because he’d saved Frank at the river. He deserved to know what they were facing.
“Nico and I,” she said carefully, “we think that what’s happening is…Death isn’t—”
Before she could finish, a shout came from down the hill.
Frank jogged toward them, wearing his jeans, purple camp shirt, and denim jacket. His hands were covered with grease from cleaning weapons.
As it did every time she saw Frank, Hazel’s heart performed a little skip-beat tap-dance—which really irritated her. Sure, he was a good friend—one of the only people at camp who didn’t treat her as if she had a contagious disease. But she didn’t like him in that way.
He was three years older than she was, and he wasn’t exactly Prince Charming, with that strange combination of baby face and bulky wrestler’s body. He looked like a cuddly koala bear with muscles. The fact that everyone always tried to pair them up—the two biggest losers at camp! You guys are perfect for each other—just made Hazel more determined not to like him.
But her heart wasn’t with the program. It went nuts whenever Frank was around. She hadn’t felt like that since ... well, since Sammy.
Stop it, she thought. You’re here for one reason—and it isn’t to get a new boyfriend.
Besides, Frank didn’t know her secret. If he knew, he wouldn’t be so nice to her.
He reached the shrine. “Hey, Nico…”
“Frank.” Nico smiled. He seemed to find Frank amusing, maybe because Frank was the only one at camp who wasn’t uneasy around the children of Pluto.
“Reyna sent me to get Percy,” Frank said. “Did Octavian accept you?”
“Yeah,” Percy said. “He slaughtered my panda.”
“He…Oh. The augury? Yeah, teddy bears must have nightmares about that guy. But you’re in! We need to get you cleaned up before evening muster.”
Hazel realized the sun was getting low over the hills. How had the day gone so fast? “You’re right,” she said. “We’d better—”
“Frank,” Nico interrupted, “why don’t you take Percy down? Hazel and I will be along soon.”
Uh-oh, Hazel thought. She tried not to look anxious.
“That’s—that’s a good idea,” she managed. “Go ahead, guys. We’ll catch up.”
Percy looked at Nico one more time, as though he was still trying to place a memory. “I’d like to talk with you some more. I can’t shake the feeling—”
“Sure,” Nico agreed. “Later. I’ll be staying overnight.”
“You will?” Hazel blurted. The campers were going to love that—the son of Neptune and the son of Pluto arriving on the same day. Now all they needed was some black cats and broken mirrors.
“Go on, Percy,” Nico said. “Settle in.” He turned to Hazel, and she got the sense that the worst part of her day was yet to come. “My sister and I need to talk.”
“You know him, don’t you,” Hazel said.
They sat on the roof of Pluto’s shrine, which was covered with bones and diamonds. As far as Hazel knew, the bones had always been there. The diamonds were her fault. If she sat anywhere too long, or just got anxious, they started popping up all around her like mushrooms after a rain. Several million dollars’ worth of stones glittered on the roof, but fortunately the other campers wouldn’t touch them. They knew better than to steal from temples—especially Pluto’s—and the fauns never came up here.
Hazel shuddered, remembering her close call with Don that afternoon. If she hadn’t moved quickly and snatched that diamond off the road…She didn’t want to think about it. She didn’t need another death on her conscience.
Nico swung his feet like a little kid. His Stygian iron sword lay by his side, next to Hazel’s spatha. He gazed across the valley, where construction crews were working in the Field of Mars, building fortifications for tonight’s games.
“Percy Jackson.” He said the name like an incantation. “Hazel, I have to be careful what I say. Important things are at work here. Some secrets need to stay secret. You of all people—you should understand that.”
Hazel’s cheeks felt hot. “But he’s not like…like me?”
“No,” Nico said. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. I can’t interfere. Percy has to find his own way at this camp.”
“Is he dangerous?” she asked.
Nico managed a dry smile. “Very. To his enemies. But he’s not a threat to Camp Jupiter. You can trust him.”
“Like I trust you,” Hazel said bitterly.
Nico twisted his skull ring. Around him, bones began to quiver as if they were trying to form a new skeleton. Whenever he got moody, Nico had that effect on the dead, kind of like Hazel’s curse. Between them, they represented Pluto’s two spheres of control: death and riches. Sometimes Hazel thought Nico had gotten the better end of the deal.
“Look, I know this is hard,” Nico said. “But you have a second chance. You can make things right.”