Hakim was not having a good week. It had been his bad luck to get stuck with the Kane assignment. Those snotty kids were proving to be more slippery than eels to catch, and this was even after they'd forsaken the powers of Horus and Isis. At times Hakim wished they hadn't. Then he wouldn't be on this crappy detail. He was good, but he wasn't a good enough magician to go up against one of the five great gods. Someone more powerful and important would be charged with tracking down those brats.

Of course that wasn't the only thing that was going wrong for him. No. Things were much, much worse, thanks to his stupid partner Aziza running off her mouth about every little detail of the "godling" that she'd dispatched. Word of that had gotten to the higher ups, who had realized from the details in her description that Aziza's "godling" was actually a demigod. By killing that stupid anemic kid, they'd breached an ancient unspoken treaty between the House of Life and the Greek pantheon, and now they were in trouble for it. It didn't matter that the kid had been smart-mouthed, and weak, with one foot in the grave already, and was probably the son of some god so minor that it didn't merit a mention in most school text books. The House of Life simply wanted to discipline someone just because of the principle of it, the hypocrites. There wasn't a magician in the entire house who actually liked those half-blood bastards. Everyone thought the world would be better off without them and their self-important parents. So why was Hakim getting extra shifts and a pay dock as punishment for being around when his partner got rid of one of them?

"That could have gone much worse," said Aziza as she and Hakim exited their audience with Desjardins.

"It wouldn't have gone on at all if you hadn't bragged about killing that demigod," griped Hakim.

"I thought it was a godling," Aziza shot back. "And you did too. If you'd been the one to kill it, you would have been bragging about it too, I guarantee."

She was right, of course, but Hakim had to deny it just out of principle. "I know when to hold my tongue."

"That demigod would be holding your corpse right now if I hadn't killed him for you," Aziza reminded him. "He's still holding your familiar, I believe? You haven't been able to summon Mutef since the incident, have you?"

"I can only summon him once every few days."

"So that's a no," sniffed Aziza. "Even dead, the demigod still defeats you."

"Silence, woman," growled Hakim.

At that moment the ground started to shake. Softly, at first, a rumbling like machinery, or a minor earthquake, but then the shaking grew until the ground split open and the screaming started as three hideous winged creatures flew out amidst plumes of smoke and hell-fire.

"What in the world?" asked Hakim, staring stupidly at the beasts, because he couldn't really get his mind around the idea that the first nome was being attacked.

There was complete and utter pandemonium as the three creatures flitted about, causing havoc, overturning carts in the open air market, setting stalls and kiosks afire, clawing any upturned face they came close enough to, and screaming in a language that Hakim did not understand.

Some of the magicians tried to rally to fight against the things, but they were ill-fated from the start. The bird monsters were swift and in constant motion, while the magicians were bound to the earth and their actions were muddled and hampered by all the people around them. They dodged every fireball and every other spell thrown at them, and laughed at the mortals and their cackles sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard.

"Hear me, foolish magicians!" shouted one of the creatures, still circling high overhead to avoid getting hit. "Weak-blooded scum of long conquored pharaohs that you are! In your stupidity you have roused Lord Hades' anger and now he gives you but one chance to save your miserable organization from utter ruin!"

"One amongst your number has abducted a son of the House of Hades!" crowed another one of the furies, and furies were what they had to be, since there were three of them and they were acting as messengers from the god Hades. "Lord Hades demands that his son be returned with in three days, and demands the heads of the culprits as tribute! If you do not heed his wishes then we will consider this act of kidnapping a declaration of war, and the House of Life and all its outposts will be razed to the ground!"

"Consider this a taste of things to come if you do not return the son of Hades!" shrieked the last fury, then as one all three of them dived back into the fissures in the ground.

Hakim had just breathed a sigh of relief, foolishly believing that the spectacle was over, when suddenly more high pitched screams filled the air. There were corpses climbing out of the rifts in the ground, clawing their way out of the Greek underworld. They began attacking the civilians as soon as they made it to their rotting, putrid feet, and once again pandemonium was widespread.

There were only a few casualties. The magicians in the crowd got their act together fairly fast after the dreaded furies were gone and managed to hack apart or incinerate the walking corpses. After that Hakim and Aziza were hustled back to Desjardin for another friendly chat. And throughout the whole ordeal a gold spotted cat with an amulet on its collar watched from the relative safety of the rooftops with great interest.

..............................

Percy wasted no time after finishing the Iris message with Nico. He didn't bother changing into armor since he didn't really need it. He just pulled on some clothes, grabbed a canteen of nectar, his bag of emergency ambrosia, and an extra jacket since it seemed to mean so much to Nico, ran outside, and ran to the pegasus stables where Blackjack was lounging.

Yo, boss! Got something?

"A lead on Nico," Percy told him. "You can carry both of us, right?"

Percy knew that Blackjack wasn't crazy about the way Nico smelled, but to its credit, the pegasus didn't balk.

Sure thing, boss. That kid's so skinny a foal could carry him. Both of you will be no problem for me.

They flew at Blackjack's top speed, which was pretty darn fast.

"We're looking for a big building off the East River," Percy told him. "A room with the lights on that's facing the harbor. There will be a sliding glass door with white curtains that might or might not be pulled."

And all we have to do is pick him up?

"Well, I might have to break in and beat down a couple of magicians if we can't get the door open. If that happens I'll need you standing by ready for a quick getaway."

Fast getaways happen to be my specialty. You and the corpse kid have got nothin' to worry about.

"I know you don't like how he smells," Percy said, patting the side of Blackjack's neck, "But I need you to try your hardest to get past that tonight. I'm not sure what kind of shape he's in." The memory of Nico's hazy expression was still fresh in his mind. "I'm not sure if he'll even be conscious. If I get him on your back and tell you to go, then I need you to go, and fly as steadily as you can. He might not be able to hold on."

You got it boss. Your friends are my friends, even if they smell like the corpse kid does. I'll get him out of there and somewhere safe, then come back for you.

"No. I'll get out of there myself. All I'll have to do is make it to the river, then I'm home free." Percy chewed on his lip as he tried to figure out the best rendezvous point. "If we have to separate then fly Nico to Liberty Island and wait on the shore. I'll catch up to you there."

Alright, boss. I can do that.

"I know you can. You're the best." Percy patted Blackjack's neck affectionately one more time.

So we're looking for a five story building with a sliding glass window facing the Statue of Liberty?

"Yep."

With the lights on and white curtains?

"Exactly."

What about with a skull drawn on the window?

"What? Where?"

Right there.

Percy tried to see what Blackjack was talking about but couldn't. "Where?"

The building we're in front of right now, boss.

"All I see is a rundown old warehouse."

Look closer. Through the Mist.

Percy squinted, willing himself to see what was really there instead of what might be illusion. And then he saw it. On top of the warehouse was a five story mansion. One of the windows facing the river was lit up, and a skull had been painted onto the glass with some dark liquid.

Percy could see through the glass clearly since it was backlit. The room beyond it was very bright, with white walls. He could see a small figure in black sitting right next to the sliding door, leaning against the glass. Nico.

Then he saw something else. There were other people in the room, he realized. It was Sadie and Carter. Then there was something else. A humanoid figure that wasn't actually human. It had gold fur and wore a purple basketball jersey, and was hopping around like a rabid chimpanzee. It wasn't a chimpanzee though, but some other kind of primate. Percy didn't know what kind; he'd never paid much attention in school to what kind of monkey was which. It didn't matter much at that moment anyway, because Percy saw something else that caught his attention.

There was a sword in Sadie's hand. A three foot long black sword made of Stygian Iron. Nico's sword, Percy recognized. She stood over Nico and was saying something to him, looking cross. As Percy watched, his parallel cousin looked up at Sadie weakly and said something in response to her interrogations. Sadie's face twisted up making her look quite unattractive, and she kicked Nico, even though he was on the ground.

She's going to kill him, thought Percy with horror. "Blackjack, we need to get in that room right now! Batter down the glass!"

Alright, boss! Hold on tight!

Blackjack rose up into the air and then dropped like a stone, shooting toward the glass window in an almost vertical dive. At the very last second, before he crashed headfirst into the pane, he pulled up and struck with all four hooves. The glass shattered and Percy and Blackjack barreled in.

..............................

Carter and Sadie had been getting ready to go to bed when Khufu started going ape. He cocked his head and then jumped up from the basketball game that he was watching and started hooting.

The siblings traded glances then looked back at the baboon.

"What's wrong, Khufu?" Carter asked.

"Agh!" Khufu shouted at him. "Ugga!" Then he took off running up the stairs, hooting all the way.

Sadie and Carter followed, and somehow Carter was not surprised when the baboon came to a stop in front of the door of the guest room that they had given to Nico di Angelo and/or Anubis, depending on who was in control at the time.

Sadie immediately took out her key and was about to unlock the door, but Carter stopped her. He knocked, since it was polite.

"Nico?" he called out. "Are you awake?"

"Or Anubis?" added Sadie. "If you're the one whose awake right now." She sounded hopeful.

There was no answer. Khufu pounded on the door.

"Nico," Carter tried again. "We're starting to think something's wrong. Can you answer us?" He waited, but there was only silence. "If you don't answer then we're going to have to come in and check on you."

Again they waited, but received no response.

"I'm going in," announced Sadie, and this time Carter didn't stop her from inserting her key into the lock. She unlocked the door then turned the knob. Though the knob turned, the door did not open when she pushed against it. She looked at Carter confused then tried again.

Carter tried when she had no luck. Then they tried combining their strength but still the door did not open, not even when Khufu joined in the pushing with them.

"Nico!" Carter shouted. "Open the door!"

"Anubis!" called Sadie. "Hey Anubis, can you wake up and take control for a few minutes? Nico's somehow locked us out!"

They waited, but again got no response.

"What now?" asked Carter.

Sadie whipped out her staff. "What do you think?"

Carter sighed and stepped back as his sister pointed her staff at the door. "Ha-di!" she shouted, and hieroglyphics glowed in the air. The door split into pieces and the chair that Nico must have jammed under the knob fell to the ground with a clatter. Sadie strode inside confidently, her staff held in front of her, ready to blast the demigod if he caused any more problems. "You've been a bad, bad boy, Nico di Angelo," she sang out. "What are you up to, huh?"

The light was on. Directly under it was a crystal ashtray that Carter had seen on the counter when he'd stocked the fridge with healthy food for Nico. He'd left it alone because he hadn't thought Nico would be able to do anything dangerous with it. Now it was sitting on the floor and it was filled with water, and somehow Carter got the feeling that leaving it in there had been a mistake.

The bed was empty, but they didn't have to look far for their errant demigod. He was curled up in a ball, right beside the sliding glass door. On the floor beside him was a three foot long, wicked looking black sword that he definitely hadn't had on him when Carter and Sadie locked him in his room. Carter noticed that there were strips of white fabric wrapped around one of Nico's hands. They looked suspiciously like the towels that they'd left in the bathroom. And on the window was a picture painted in some opaque black liquid. A skull, Carter could tell from the shape. Crude and hastily done, but still recognizable.

"Nico?" asked Carter. "Hey, Nico?"

Sadie hurried over and got the sword before Nico could stir and get it himself. She picked it up by the hilt then stepped back and nudged the sleeping boy with her toe. "Hey, Death Boy. Wake up."

"Mmmm," Nico moaned and curled in on himself tighter. "Sono stanco."

"What? Speak English." Sadie nudged him again.

Big black eyes opened and looked up with sleepy confusion. "Percy?" he asked, then his eyes focused on Sadie and he groaned.

"Nope. Not Percy. Even better. It's me, Sadie!" Sadie flung her arms wide like a broadway actress in the middle of a number, despite the fact that she still had Nico's sword I her hand.

Nico's eyes narrowed into a glare as he realized his weapon had been confiscated. "That's mine," he growled, staring at the sword.

"Sorry, Death Boy, but until we're sure you won't try to slit our throats, you're not allowed to hold onto any sharp objects," Sadie told him.

A smile curled on Nico's lips. Combined with his corpse pale skin and the dark circles under his eyes, he looked like the poster child for creepy horror movie kids. "Try holding onto it," he told her. "Just try."

"Believe me, I'll do more than try."

"Nico," said Carter, "why was the door locked? What were you doing?"

"Plotting my escape."

"Your escape involves window art?" asked Sadie derisively.

Nico pushed himself up off the ground and sat up, leaning against the window for support. "I want to leave here now," he told them. "This is your only chance to let me go."

"Oh yeah?" said Sadie. "And what happens if we say no?"

"Bad things," Nico told them.

"Nico," said Carter, trying to be reasonable, "we're not holding your prisoner here, but you're not well enough to leave yet. I mean, can you even stand up?"

"I got from my bed to here."

"By crawling?" asked Carter.

"I walked. Around the room some too. And I got a bath."

"In your clothes," sneered Sadie.

"They were bloody."

"So you took a bath in them then went to sleep with them still on and still soaked. Bloody brilliant. Are you trying to catch pneumonia and die?"

Nico gave Sadie a look that said he thought she was stupid and annoying. Then he closed his eyes and rested the side of his face against the glass, like a kid on a school bus, preparing to fall asleep.

"What is that ugly thing you drew supposed to be, anyway?" asked Sadie.

"Your portrait."

"Sadie, don't –" Carter tried to say, but Sadie was already moving, and wouldn't have been likely to listen to him anyway. She kicked Nico in the ribs, harder than she needed to. Nico exhaled sharply in pain and curled away from her. "Stop it, Sadie! He's injured and he doesn't deserve that."

Sadie made an angry motion with the hand that held the sword. Not really a threatening motion, just one of her normal angry hand waves, as though she'd forgotten she still had the sword. "He called me ugly!"

"You called yourself ugly," said Carter to draw his sister's anger toward him so that she'd stop kicking their invalid guest.

"Why you –"

Suddenly the window shattered. There was no warning or anything. Just a loud noise like cracking ice, and suddenly shards of glass were flying everywhere. A large dark shape barreled into the room so fast that Carter could barely make sense of it.

A horse, he thought feeling stupid and slow. With wings.

Sadie had squealed and scrambled backward when the window went. Her staff was in her hand again, which was a good move. Carter reached into the Duat and extracted his own sword, but even before he'd managed to do that, Sadie had been disarmed. A patch of shadow had detached itself from the winged horse's back and disarmed Sadie with a glowing bronze sword.

"Don't do anything stupid, magicians!" shouted the teenager who now had his sword point to Sadie's throat. "I don't want anyone to be hurt tonight, but if you insist on trying to fight us, you'll be the ones who die."

Carter froze. He didn't like the sight of a sword-blade at his sister's throat.

"Drop the sword," ordered the older teen. Carter immediately obeyed and let his khopesh fall to the hardwood floor.

"Percy?" Nico asked, looking up dazed.

"Nico," said Percy, sparing a glance at the younger boy. "Are you okay?"

"Percy?" asked Nico again.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Percy, my blood is black."

It was true, Carter saw. There were a few superficial cuts on Nico's face from the glass. Black droplets slowly made their way down his corpse pale skin. And the makeshift bandage of cut up towels on his hand was stained black too, now that Carter looked at it closely.

The look on Percy's face made it clear that he wasn't extremely pleased about this. "Is that normal for you, Nico? For people of your lineage, I mean?"

"Don't know."

"How long has it been like that?"

"Don't know."

Percy did not look happy. "Get on Blackjack, Nico. Okay?"

"But he doesn't like me."

"He likes you fine," Percy assured his friend. "My friends are his friends. He wants to rescue you just as much as I do."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Wait," said Carter as Nico tottered to his feet. "Percy, is it?"

"It is," Percy told him coldly. "And you idiots are Carter and Sadie."

"Who are you calling an idiot?" demanded Sadie.

"Sadie shut up," Carter told her. To Percy he said, "Look man . . . we don't have to be enemies."

"You kidnapped my cousin," said Percy darkly.

"Cousin?" asked Sadie.

"Yes. My cousin," snapped Percy. "He tried to help you and your boyfriend and you repay him by holding him against his will."

"Carter is not my boyfriend you bloody fool! He's my brother!"

Carter focused on the more important issue. "We didn't kidnap him, Percy. He got in the middle of a fight we were having with a couple of our real enemies. He got drug into it by . . . odd circumstances. They attacked him. The three of us were on the same side. He passed out during the fight and we brought him home with us."

"And locked him up."

"In case you haven't noticed," Carter decided to point out, "he's kind of dangerous."

"Not to his allies, he's not. If you were really on the same side as him, you wouldn't have anything to worry about," said Percy.

"We didn't know how dangerous or stable he was," Carter tried to reason. "So we locked the door to his room since we were going to sleep."

"If you're really not our enemies, as you claim, then you won't stop us trying to leave," said Percy.

"We're not going to try to stop you," said Carter quickly. "If you're his cousin and Nico trusts you, we have no problem with him going home with you. Like I said, we're not your enemies."

"That's very good for you."

"Percy?"

"What Nico?"

"The horsie's too tall. I can't get on it."

Percy, too his credit, didn't get mad at Nico even though the situation was undoubtedly a very stressful one for him, and the childlike state of Nico's drowsy mind obviously wasn't helping anything. "Okay. Hang on a second," he said to his cousin, then glared at Sadie and Carter. "Put your hands on your heads," he told them. They obeyed. "Now back up, slowly. Keep backing up. Okay, stop. Now Nico and I are leaving. If you try anything stupid, I swear on the River Styx, I will make you regret it."

"We won't do anything stupid," Carter told him. "We won't try to stop you. But –"

"But?" There was pure danger in Percy's glare.

"Some of the things Nico saw . . . and some of the . . . problems he might be having now –"

"Your problems aren't his," said Percy sharply.

"No. He's got some problems of his own now, because of what happened the other night. He knows what I'm talking about too. Don't you, Nico?"

Nico looked panicked for a moment then shook his head violently. Then stumbled and fell. "I don't . . . I don't . . ."

"Enough," said Percy angrily. "We're leaving."

"Nico might need to talk to us again," said Carter quickly. "If you do . . . if he does . . ."

"Then we know where to find you." Percy stepped back and closer to his cousin. He stabbed his sword into the floor, pulled Nico off the ground, then put his hands together, making a step for him. "Come on. I'll give you a boost."

Nico accepted the help and managed to climb onto the pegasus' back. "My boots are gone," he said dimly. He wiggled his bare toes. "My socks too."

"I'll get you another pair," said Percy in a strained voice. He pulled his sword out of the floor then vaulted onto the black winged horse's back, behind Nico. Probably didn't trust the younger boy to hold on and figured it was safer to hold his cousin in front of him. "Come on, Blackjack. Time to go."

At its master's words, the black pegasus galloped back out the window and took to the air, disappearing into the dark night.

"Well," said Sadie, watching as their guests disappeared into the night sky, "that went well."

"Shut up, Sadie," said Carter wearily. He picked up his sword and pointed it at the window. "Hi-nehm." The glass shards flew off the floor and fitted themselves back into place in the window pane like a jigsaw puzzle. Within moments the sliding glass door was whole again, complete with the creepy black blood skull.

"Don't act like I'm responsible for what just happened there. I didn't ask that crazy Pegasus Kid to come riding in like one of your stupid cowboys."

"I'm willing to bet quite a bit that he came charging in like the Lone Ranger because he saw you waving that sword around and kicking his cousin. Speaking of which, where is the sword?" Carter looked around for it but it was nowhere to be found.

"They must have taken it with them," said Sadie with a shrug. "And I wasn't hurting the stupid Yank."

"Kicking someone when they're on the ground looks back from any standpoint," Carter told her. "And you looked pretty darn scary waving that sword around. If I didn't know you, I probably would have thought you were going to hurt him. Percy had every reason to assume you were going to kill his cousin, so he did what he thought he had to. What either of us would have done if we'd been in his shoes."

Sadie huffed like she couldn't believe Carter had the nerve to look at the situation objectively.

"Now we've got a Greek demigod possessed by an Egyptian death god, and a sword wielding pegasus rider, who is probably a demigod himself, who might decide to be our enemies now. Like we didn't have enough of them before."

"Oh shut up," said Sadie angrily.

"When Bast and Amos get back they are not going to be happy," said Carter. He spotted part of a cut up towel on the floor and picked it up intending to wipe Nico's window art away.

"Agh!" grunted Khufu, appearing out of nowhere and jumping in front of him before he could reach the window. "Ugh gah!"

"What is it, Khufu?"

"Guh agha!" Khufu pointed frantically at the skull of black blood and allowed Carter to step closer cautiously.

"I don't believe this," Carter muttered when he saw what Khufu was going on about.

"What?"

"Nico's blood . . . it's eating away at the glass."

"Huh?"

"His blood is dissolving the freaking glass!" said Carter in disbelief. "How is that even possible? There's a reason that glass is used for storing all kinds of chemicals and acids, and that reason is because it's so resistive to corrosive liquids! And now some anemic kid's blood is dissolving it like papyrus in water!"

"The blood of a death god's son," mused Sadie. "Or the blood of a death god's host. I wonder which is what made it turn black and icky?"

"Black and icky . . ." Carter gave Sadie a weary look.

"Well, it is black and icky."

Carter shook his head and sighed. "I don't know what to do about it. Khufu obviously doesn't want us to touch it, even with a towel, but I kind of don't want to just leave it there. What if it messes up the mansion's magic protections?"

"What if it already has?" Sadie asked. "Pegasus Kid shouldn't have been able to ride in here like he was bloody Chuck Norris on a winged stallion. Who's to say Death Boy's blood didn't dissolve our magic protections along with the glass. It would make sense why Khufu started going ape."

Carter tossed the towel aside. "We can research how to put magic protections back up tomorrow," he said. "Hopefully the only place that's affected is this window."

..............................

Percy intended to take Nico directly back to Camp Half-Blood, but he quickly came to the conclusion that that might not be the best idea.

For one thing, Nico was soaking wet. Spring wasn't a long way off, but it was still far enough, especially in New York, and flying above the city, it was freaking cold. He wasn't sure what the son of a death god's physiology was like, or whether or not Nico could or would get sick, but after four days and nights of worrying about the kid, he really didn't feel like taking any chances.

"Blackjack," he said to his pegasus, "head to my mom's place."

Right on, boss.

Nico slouched against Percy's chest, most likely unconscious if the way his head was lolling was any clue. Percy felt him start to shiver and heard his teeth start to chatter, and decided that he had indeed made the right decision to get Nico indoors again as quickly as possible. And he doubted that he had to worry about any pursuit, even though he was keeping a constant eye out for any signs of it. Carter at least hadn't seemed like a bad guy. Sadie hadn't seemed too bad either, just impetuous and unwilling to admit when she was being stupid or wrong. Percy now had his doubts as to whether or not she had really been planning on killing Nico. Not that he regretted his actions. From his point of view, she'd certainly looked like she was going to kill him, and he couldn't have left something like that up to chance.

Within only minutes Blackjack was landing on the fire escape of Percy's apartment. Percy slid off the pegasus' side and pulled Nico down as well.

"Thanks, Blackjack. You're awesome."

We're awesome boss. We make an awesome team. You just whistle when you need a ride back to camp, and I'll come flyin'.

Percy nodded his thanks and set Nico down with his back against the wall while he opened the window to his room. Then he carried Nico inside and lay the younger boy down on his bed.

Nico moaned fitfully and curled into a ball, still shivering. Percy turned on the light and waited for his cousin to open his eyes, but Nico remained asleep.

"Hey Nico?" he said, feeling a bit bad, but he felt that this was necessary. "Wake up for a minute, will you? You need to change out of those clothes."

"Mmm," Nico moaned when Percy shook him by the shoulder.

"Nico, you're going to get pneumonia if you don't put on something dry." But Nico remained out cold.

Percy sighed and went to his closet. He pulled out a dark green sweatshirt and dug his darkest pair of jeans out from one of his clothes drawers, and a pair of thick wool socks from another then returned to Nico's side. "Last chance to wake up and change yourself, Nico," he tried. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you keep wearing those."

"Plus five hundred special attack on elementals," muttered Nico, obviously not aware of what Percy was saying at all.

With another sigh, Percy unbuttoned his cousin's jeans, pulled them off, and replaced them with a dry pair, which were definitely way too big, but better than a pair that fit but was frozen with frost. Then he grabbed the hem of Nico's shirt and pulled the garment over his head and carefully worked his cousin's arms out of the sleeves.

Then he froze as the object in the center of Nico's chest caught his eye. "What the . . ."

His reaction to seeing the black stone scarab that was imbedded in Nico's chest as much better than Nico's own reaction. Though if he had discovered it in his own chest, Percy would likely have freaked out too. He touched the carved stone tentatively, searching for edges that he could get his fingers under to peel it away, but found none. Its warmth disturbed him, as did the black blood vessels that spiraled out around it, and the fact that it seemed to have its own heart beat. Experimentally, he put two of his own fingers over Nico's wrist and his other hand on the scarab. Sure enough, the scarab's heartbeat was in sync with Nico's own.

That's why he wanted the jacket, Percy realized, but he checked the insides of Nico's arms just to be sure. There were no cut scars or old needle marks. Well there was one needle mark, but it was recent and Percy remembered Nico saying something about a monkey hooking him up to an IV. Nico hadn't wanted long sleeves to cover his arms though. He'd wanted something bulky to cover the bulge under his T-shirt. He'd planned on hiding the . . . whatever it was. Percy couldn't exactly blame him, but was a bit stung to realize that Nico probably hadn't intended to tell him about it.

Nico's teeth started chattering again and Percy quickly came back to his senses. He pulled the sweatshirt over Nico's head and got his arms through the sleeves. Then he put the socks on his cousin's feet and pulled down the covers on the other half of the bed. He moved Nico beneath them and covered him. Nico kept shivering, so Percy got an extra blanket out of his closet and draped that over him as well. He waited a moment to see if his cousin's teeth would stop chattering, and was about to go get the blanket off of the sofa and add that onto the stack when Nico finally stopped shivering.

"That's something at least," muttered Percy as he closed the window and flipped off the light. He would have to fill Paul and his mother in on what was going on, and tomorrow he and Nico needed to have a talk about a lot of things. Like what was up with those two magicians, and whether or not the House of Life needed to be given a warning to leave demigods alone, or else. And above all, what was that winged scarab stuck to his chest for. But all those things could wait until tomorrow.

Percy looked forward to his first decent night's sleep in four days, now that he knew his friend was alive and safe. For the moment, at least.