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Nico. Nico di Angelo.
He knew who it was, and his heart sank. Had Nyx decided to hurt him through his dreams because they’d managed to escape?
He pulled his dream blanket tighter over his head. ‘I’m sleeping this off,’ he announced. ‘Give it up, Nyx!’
‘I don’t know why you think I’m Nyx,’ said another familiar voice.
He slowly prised the blanket back.
He was in the Lotus Hotel once more, but … no, this was different. It wasn’t like the dream that had tormented him all summer. Somehow this one felt morereal. The details weren’t fuzzy aroundthe edges. The blanket he was wrapped in … He ran his fingers over it. He could feel every thread, every fibre that it was made of.
‘Nico.’
He looked to his left.
Bianca sat next to him in bed, dressed as one of the Hunters of Artemis. She glowed vaguely, as if … as if …
As if she were a ghost.
‘Bianca?’ said Nico, kicking off the blanket. ‘What is this?’
‘Calm down, Nico,’ she said, smiling from ear to ear. ‘I know you’ve been through a terribly difficult experience, and that’s going to make this harder for you to believe.’
She reached over.
Shetouchedhim.
Her hand was cold, but it was there, her fingertips lightly running over the back of his hand, and it sent goosebumps up and down his skin.
‘This is a dream,’ said Bianca, ‘but it is also very real.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Nico, and his whole body went still.
‘You will soon,’ she said. ‘An exception was made.’
‘An exception?’ He tried to get out of the bed, but the blanket became tangled with his feet. He tumbled onto the floor, landing so that he faced the leather chair tucked into the corner.
Someone was in it.
Nico backed up until his shoulders hit the mattress, his heart in his throat.
A beautiful woman was sitting in the armchair. She wore a long black skirt that came down to her shins, and there was a veiled black hat on her head.
Even through the veil, he knew those eyes.
He had not seen them in …
Years.
Decades.
‘Mamma?’ he uttered, and his voice broke. Hisheartbroke.
Maria di Angelo smiled down at him. ‘Ciao, caro figliuolo,’ she said. ‘It’s been a long time.’
‘This isn’t funny, Nyx,’ he said, his voice trembling. ‘It’s never going to work. If anything, you’re only going to make memorededicated to resisting you.’
Bianca knelt at his side. ‘This isn’t what you think it is.’
