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chapter sixty-eight. ☄︎. *. ⋆
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PERCY AND I kept our distance the following morning. I found myself gazing at him from afar every once in a while, but I would have to look away when his eyes landed on me. It was a fun game we were playing; a game of chicken, almost.
Grover and Tyson joined us as we said our goodbyes and thank yous to Eurytion on the deck. Nico followed, too, but he still seemed angry. It took me a second to remember why; I'd almost forgotten the night before's happening. A lot had happened since then.
"Nico, you could come with us," Percy blurted.
He shook his head. I don't think any of us had slept well in the demon ranch house, but Nico looked worse than anybody else. His eyes were red and his face chalky. He was wrapped in a black robe that must've belonged to Geryon, because it was three sizes too big even for a grown man.
"I need time to think." His eyes wouldn't meet mine, but I could tell from his tone he was still angry. The fact that his sister had come out of the Underworld for me and Percy and not for him didn't seem to sit well with him.
"Nico," I said. "Bianca just wants you to be okay."
I put my hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away and trudged up the road toward the ranch house. And it could have been my imagination, but I was pretty sure the morning mist seemed to cling to him as he walked.
"I'm worried about him," I told Percy. "If he starts talking to Minos's ghost again—"
"He'll be all right," Eurytion promised. The cowherd had cleaned up nicely. He was wearing new jeans and a clean Western shirt and he'd even trimmed his beard. He'd put on Geryon's boots. "The boy can stay here and gather his thoughts as long as he wants. He'll be safe, I promise."
"What about you?" I asked.
Eurytion scratched Orthus behind one chin, then the other. "Things are going to be run a little different on this ranch from now on. No more sacred cattle meat. I'm thinking about soybean patties. And I'm going to befriend those flesh-eating horses. Might just sign up for the next rodeo."
The idea made me shudder. "Well, good luck."
"Yep." Eurytion spit into the grass. "I reckon you'll be looking for Daedalus's workshop now?"
I lit up—literally. A spark popped off me. "Can you help us?"
Eurytion studied the cattle guard, and I got the feeling the subject of Daedalus's workshop made him uncomfortable. "Don't know where it is. But Hephaestus probably would."
