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With a little help from Nico, Will climbed onto the back of a donkey, and then Nico leaped up onto his.
‘I’m still not sure about this,’ he said. ‘My father is … well, he’s very perceptive. I don’t know how we’re going to avoid his notice.’
‘You’re creative,’ said Menoetes. ‘You know your father and the palace grounds.’
‘If anyone can do this, it’s you,’ said Will. His eyes sparkled with that very Will-like sincerity that Nico loved. He was constantlyamazed how powerful it felt to have someone by his side who believed in him.
Nico thought for a moment. ‘We’ll have to approach from the north. There’s hardly ever any activity on that side of Erebos, so the walls aren’t well maintained. If we can find a break in the defences, we could ride right up to my father’s palace.’
Menoetes nodded. ‘An excellent idea.’
‘Then if we can sneak into the garden … Hmmm. I have an idea for the perfect fruit.’
‘Don’t tell me!’ Menoetes cupped his hands over his ears. ‘It must be a surprise!’
Nico put up his palms. ‘Okay, okay!’
‘We’re just happy to help you,’ said Will.
Nico still wasn’t sure about that, but theyhadto do it if they were going to reach Tartarus before it was too late – for Bob, but also for Will.
Menoetes laid his hands on the heads of the respective donkeys, then murmured something to them in ancient Greek. When he was done, he stepped aside.
‘They’ll bring you right back when you’re done.’ The bull-man turned and regarded the troglodytes. ‘As for you, my small friends, you are welcome to stay with me while you wait.’
Screech-Bling’s eyes gleamed. ‘We shall do so. We have much to learn from one another.’
‘Perhaps a trade could be arranged,’ Hiss-Majesty added. ‘The lizards and grubs in your farmlands, in exchange for –’ they touched their cheese-wedge hat – ‘fashionable haberdashery?’
Menoetes fluttered his long bull eyelashes. ‘Oh, that would be amazing!’
Before Nico could even process the idea of Menoetes wearing a stack of trog hats, their donkeys rocketed forward. Will let loosea scream of both terror and joy. As he clung to his donkey’s neck, he repeated the same phrase over and over: ‘OHMYGODSOHMYGODSOHMYGODS.’
And the two of them zipped over the land of the dead on the backs of demonic donkeys.
When they dismounted near the gates of Hades’s palace, Will was certain he would never experience anything so thrilling ever again.
Sure, his muscles were sore, his breath was shallower than usual, and his mind felt like it was being mixed in a blender …
But if he had to conserve his energy, there were worse ways than riding a demonic donkey. Their steeds had zipped across the Underworld without a single incident, easily evading packs of hellhounds, skirting the sentried towers of Erebos at just the right moments to avoid detection, and finally bringing them through a break in the walls, straight up to the palace perimeter. If they hadn’t been trying to sneak in, Will would have let loose a joyful whoop and asked the donkeys to do it all over again!
However, as they crept closer to the palace gates, a chill passed through him. It wasn’t just the imposing obsidian doors that disturbed him. It was what was carvedintothem.
The intricate engravings were all death tableaux: planes dropping bombs on crowds of people, enormous mushroom clouds etched in a distant horizon, lines of officers in riot gear, their batons raisedagainst panicking masses. Will wondered if these depicted historical events, or if they were prophecies of the future. Were they meant to be a commentary on the circular nature of death?
Will didn’t really want to know the answer.
Fortunately, Nico didn’t lead him through the gates. That would have been unwise, given the half dozen zombie guards in ancient Greek armour. Instead, Will followed him along the northern wall, through a gap in a thicket of briars, to a small hidden gate of Stygian iron.
Nico rummaged through his coat until he found a finger bone. (Will still wasn’t used to the fact that his boyfriend kept random bits of human bone in his pockets for emergencies, but he guessed everyone needed a hobby.) Nico shaped the bone into a key – a literal skeleton key – and quietly unlocked the gate.
Will was about to peek through when Nico held out a hand to stop him.
Wait,he mouthed.
Nico twisted his body, stole a quick glance inside, then pressed his back to the wall. ‘We have a problem,’ he whispered. ‘She’s here.’
Will’s pulse quickened. He’d been hoping they’d finally have some luck. Maybe Persephone would be traipsing around the upper world painting daisies or something. But if she washere, how were they supposed to get Menoetes any fruit?
