Page 8 of The Sun and the Star

Vita mia, she repeated.Devi ascoltarmi.

Nico struggled to understand what she was saying. He wasItalian, yes. This was his native language. But his mind moved sluggishly, as if the darkness had seeped into his skull.

Finally, the meaning came to him.

‘Iamlistening, Mamma!’ he answered.

He thrashed, trying to free himself from the thick cocoon of shadows.

ASCOLTA!the voice cried.

LISTEN!

Nico fell.

He plummeted into a soft, warm nest of blankets. Was he back in his bunk at camp? He sat up and –

Light. On a lacquered brown nightstand, an ugly steel desk lampcast a yellow glow over an oddly familiar room. Thick blackout curtains. A flatscreen TV. Striped gold-and-cream wallpaper like gilded prison bars.

Wait. No. Was this –?

He grabbed a laminated card from the nightstand.

LOTUS HOTEL AND CASINO: IN-ROOM BREAKFAST OPTIONS

No. No, no, no!

He turned slowly in the gigantic king-size bed, remembering how the mattress made hollow, tinny creaks whenever he moved.

He sensed her before he saw her, asleep in the bed next to him.

His sister Bianca. She looked so peaceful there, her chest rising slowly with her breath, her dark hair fanned across her pillow. Nico tried to open his mouth, tried to call to her, but his voice didn’t work. There was something poking out from the edge of the duvet at Bianca’s shoulder. Was that … herquiver? Nico ripped back the covers and saw that his sister was dressed as if ready for battle, complete with boots, jacket and arrows.

This was all wrong. Bianca hadn’t become a Hunter of Artemis untilaftertheir time in the Lotus Casino. Then she’d taken the pledge … and left Nico for the last time. If he could just warn her, keep her from making those choices –

Wake up!he tried to yell, but his lips wouldn’t open. His right hand flew up to his mouth. Fear curdled in his stomach.

He bolted out of bed, tripping as his legs tangled in the duvet, and then staggered into the harsh fluorescent light of the bathroom. He braced his hands on the make-up mirror. Once his eyes adjusted –

Nico wanted to scream, but he couldn’t. Heliterallyhad no mouth. Beneath his nose, where his lips had been, was a pale line of scar tissue.

This is a dream, he told himself.A dream. Wake up, wake up, wake up!

His terrified, marred reflection continued to stare back at him. For the thousandth time, Nico wished he had inherited Hades’s dream magic. Then he could control what he saw. He would already be awake. He could tell Will or Mr D about his nightmares, downplay their importance and revert to being in denial about the voice from Tartarus. That would besomuch easier.

Instead, he stumbled back into the room. The bed was now empty.

Bianca? Where did you go?

But he couldn’t yell it. He couldn’t say anything.

Nico took another step towards the bed and plunged through the floor.

Again he fell.

This time when he landed, he smacked against somethingverysolid. The air rushed out of his lungs, and he opened his eyes to find himself looking at –

Sky.

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