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Nico’s theory from before resurfaced, but he didn’t want it to be true.
It couldn’t be.
‘Nico?’ Will nudged him. ‘You okay?’
‘Yeah … just thinking.’
Nico must have been sending out strongI don’t want to talk about itvibes, because Will didn’t ask for details.
‘At least the troglodytes seem happy down here,’ he offered. ‘I didn’t expect that.’
Nico raised an eyebrow. ‘Why not?’
Will shrugged. ‘You know, just … the Underworld, land of the dead. I thought they might find living here … depressing?’
‘Death is a part of life,’ said Nico. ‘Wealwayslive next door to it. I don’t think that fact should be called depressing.’
‘Okay, sure, but living inthisplace …’ Will scanned the cavern, like he was looking for something that just wasn’t there.
Nico took a deep breath. He reminded himself that Will had been through a lot today … They both had.
‘Not everything here is the worst in the universe,’ he said. ‘My father lives in the Underworld. And lots of living people keep his palace running. Bob was a janitor there, remember?’
‘Yeah, I remember,’ said Will. ‘I’m just saying … living people, like Bob or the troglodytes, they’re the exception to the rule, right?’
Nico scowled. He wished Will could be a little more open-minded about the Underworld. The troglodytes may not have been born here, but they fitted right in. Couldn’t Will see that?
But Nico didn’t want to fight any more. He also supposed their encounter with Epiales hadn’t made for the best first impression of his father’s realm.
He was trying to figure out how to say that, how to spin his irritation into something more positive, when Screech-Bling reappeared, having successfully mediated the wizard-hat dilemma.
‘Now, Nico di Angelo,’ said the CEO, ‘where were we?’
Unfortunately, Nico remembered: the smell of change, of something stirring. Mother … Epiales had warned they would meet her soon enough.
‘I know what is stirring,’ Nico said. ‘Or at least IthinkI know.’
Screech-Bling examined him, his eyes moving quickly back and forth. Then his pinkish tongue flicked in and out of his mouth. ‘How would you know this, Nico di Angelo?’
Nico hesitated to say. He didn’t even want to speak her name. But if the troglodytes could sense her –smellher presence even at this great distance – then they deserved to know. They all might be in danger.
‘You should summon your council,’ Nico told the trog leader. ‘We need to talk.’ Then he faced Will. ‘I think I know who sent me those terrible dreams. And why Bob’s in trouble.’
Screech-Bling summoned one of the younger trogs, hissed and clicked some instructions to them and sent them off on an errand. Then he looked up at Nico.
‘Follow me,’ he said.
He led the way – very badly, Nico thought, since he didn’t seem to care if Nico and Will kept pace with him – back into the main cavern, then through a series of side tunnels. They passed a row of sleeping quarters where younger trogs were napping on beds of woven bioluminescent moss.
‘You know, before this trip,’ said Will, struggling to keep up, ‘I didn’t know if the troglodytes slept at all, since there’s no day or night underground.’
‘We all must eventually!’ Screech-Bling called out. ‘We are not so different from you, son of Apollo.’
Nico caught a glimpse of Will’s face as they scurried along, and he was sure it was a little redder.
Screech-Bling cut a sharp right into a small circular room dominated by a round conference table. Three other troglodytes werealready there, milling about anxiously. As soon as Will and Nico passed through the entrance, a fourth trog – wearing a thick parka and at least three separate beanies stacked atop one another – pushed a large boulder across the doorway with her shoulder, sealing them all in.
Will raised an eyebrow. ‘Screech-Bling, what is this?’
