Page 92 of The Sun and the Star

He gazed into Persephone’s eyes, then looked back to Nico, who was still frozen.

‘Not completely,’ said Will, turning back to Persephone. ‘I’ve never met anyone like him. But … Iwantto understand him.’

The goddess of springtime smiled, and Will felt like the sun was beaming down on him.

‘You and Nico will make a fine couple,’ she said. ‘As long as you keep trying to understand.’

Will dug his hand into his cargo shorts pocket and presented one of the pomegranates. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry we took this.’

‘Keep them. A gift from me for the two of you.’ She winked. ‘But don’t tell Nico I said that. Let’s just keep this little interaction between us.’

Persephone stepped behind the oleander and was gone in an instant. Will heard a rustling to his left, turned and saw Nico waving at him.

‘Psst!’ Nico hissed. ‘What is it? What are you looking at?’

He shook his head. ‘Nothing. Thought I saw something.’

‘Then come on!’

Will hurried to Nico, his mind still reeling from what he’d experienced.

Offer him your darkness.The words unfolded inside him like cereus petals.

‘You sure you’re okay?’ Nico asked. ‘You look like you just saw adaimon.’

‘I’m fine,’ Will said, and he was surprised to find that he meant it. He kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. ‘Let’s get back to Menoetes before someone catches us.’

They climbed on their donkeys and burst into a gallop, leaving Persephone’s garden and Hades’s palace behind.

Nico was staring at a very odd scene.

Menoetes leaned against one of his nectar trees, laughing so hard tears streamed down his face. Screech-Bling stood next to him, staring into the distance like a nervous mom waiting for the school bus. Down in the pastures, a herd of black cattle seemed to be doing marching-band manoeuvres – pinwheeling, prance-stepping, and re-forming columns in perfect synchronization. In front of the bovine troops stood a tiny figure in a foam cheese-wedge hat – Hiss-Majesty, waving a tree branch like a baton.

When Nico’s and Will’s donkeys came to a stop, Menoetes didn’t even acknowledge them. Instead, he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled to Hiss-Majesty, ‘Amazing! Now bring them back!’

Hiss-Majesty clicked a series of commands in Troglodytish, and the entire herd marched double-time towards the orchard.

Nico hopped off his donkey. ‘Um … what’s going on?’

Menoetes wiped the tears from his eyes. ‘Turns out that little troglodyte has a knack for herding cattle!’

‘They have many talents,’ Screech-Bling agreed, his face alightwith joy. ‘And the cattle churn up many tasty grubs and worms from the soil as they march. It is a win-win!’

Menoetes and the trog CEO gave each other a complicated fist-bump/secret handshake like they’d been friends for years.

‘Wewere productive while you were gone,’ Menoetes told Nico. ‘Did you get what I asked for?’

Nico slowly reached into his pocket. He worried his hand would drift right through the pomegranate, as it had in his stepmother’s garden, but his fingers touched a very solid fruit.

What was that about? he wondered. Why couldn’t he touch the fruit in the garden but Will could?

When Nico brought out the pomegranate, Menoetes’s eyes gleamed with hunger. His jet-black tongue flicked across his lips.

‘Just one?’ he asked wistfully.

Will produced the other two.

‘Three?!’ Menoetes sounded like he was about to burst into tears. ‘That is more than I expected!’

---