Page 138 of The Court of the Dead

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“I will help,” she said through him. “Dolus, Apate—I am Semele Thyone. Do you know that name?”

The twin gods looked at her—looked atNico—with total shock. He didn’t know what Semele was talking about. The details of her life were all jumbled together in his brain. But clearly, the titleThyonemeant something to the gods.

“You…how?” Dolus said.

“A story for another time,” said the eidolon through Nico. “If I free you and you betray us…you will regret it. I take it you are familiar with my son?”

Apate started to shiver, and Nico didn’t think it was from the agony of the chains this time. “We would never betray you. Him. Any of you! Just please, free us!”

Nico had questions now, but he put them aside. He felt energy course through him. He placed the tip of his blade against one link of the chain, right next to the spot where Defiance was chewing.

“Cocoa Puffs,” said Semele, “I summon you to a council of judgment. Shall we break these chains and free our fellow gods?”

The Puffs yipped and howled, hopping over to join Defiance in gnawing at the chain. Nico pushed his blade downward against the Stygian iron link. It cut like butter.

Pirithous couldn’t possibly have seen this from so far away, but he must have felt it somehow. He screamed, “NO!” and fell to his knees.

The Cyclopes and skeletal guards charged Frank, only steps away.

The chains of Prometheus burst, one link after another, like a string of firecrackers, until the shackles fell away smoking from Dolus’s and Apate’s necks.

The gods stood shakily, gasping for air.

“You—actually did it,” Dolus said.

“You saved us!” Apate said.

“Now helpus!” yelled Nico/Semele.

Nico was hoping for some vaporizing and extra-crispy exploding. Instead, the twin gods locked their eyes on a news helicopter that was now circling the park. This would all be on the evening news, Nico imagined, and soon racking up millions of views on every social media platform.

“First,” Apate said, “we must heal the Mist.”

“It’s time for some deception,” Dolus agreed. “I do love deception.”

The two gods faced each other and locked hands, moving closer until their foreheads touched.

“You are my counterpart,” said Dolus.

“You are my other half,” said Apate.

Smiles spread across their faces. The air pressure dropped. A mightyBOOM!knocked Nico off his feet.

Suddenly, the park was strangely quiet. Nico sat up, his head swimming, his vision blurry.

The Cyclopes who’d been about to attack Frank were gone. So was Frank. And Hazel. And Will. Nico struggled to his feet. Panic rose in his chest.

“What did you do?” he demanded of the gods.

But Apate and Dolus were also missing.

“Meow?”said a tiny voice from the spot where Hazel had been. Nico blinked. He looked down. Rubbed his eyes. Then he scanned the entire plaza.

Where there had once been a raging battle of gods and mythics, there were now hundreds and hundreds of small, furry, cute animals. The entire park was full ofhouse cats.

“Will?” Nico called out.

An orange tabby meowed and pawed at his boot.