Death's Son (Even After Death)

Chapter 10

The bastard's laugh echoed through the building. Will kept himself in front of Lillian, kept himself ready to defend her if needed. He knew a mere mortal wouldn't be able to get passed Nico, but he still had that fear that this mortal wasn't normal. There was something going on here that neither of them had been prepared for.

"Lillian, it's going to be okay." Will's voice was soft and melodious. "We're here to protect you... Have you ever heard of gods, Lillian?"

"Yeah...I think so..." she spoke as if she had no other choice. "Why?"

"I'm going to tell you why Nico and I are here to help you." Will smiled. "You'll feel super safe with us, I promise. So, my dad is..."

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Nico watched the man's finger on that trigger, reminded himself that Anubis wasn't there and no god could help him in Alaska. That bullet could do some serious damage if shot in the right spot. As he kept his sword up and his eyes open, Nico watched this man as if he was one of the fiercest monsters. "Why did you take Lillian? What have you done to her?"

The bastard laughed and the air rippled around him. For a split second Nico could see his form change, but a moment later and he was still the same human bastard. "You're messing with the wrong one, little demigod."

Nico's eyes widened and his senses kicked on full alert. He kept his sword up, took a step forward, looked this man over. "Who are you?"

"Gods giving blessings to those who are least unworthy..." he brought the gun up, leveled it with Nico's head. "Even if I'm a mortal, I've been blessed by a god that told me to keep that girl until he said otherwise. I'm not risking my power getting taken away. Leave or I'll kill you."

"What god?" Nico questioned. "What god was it?"

"I'll give you three seconds to leave. Three, two..."

"Tell me what god, you asshole!"

The bullet broke free from the gun and shot through Nico's arm, taking blood and insides with it before embedding itself into the pillar behind him. With a hiss of pain and the sound of Lillian's yelp of terror, Nico brought his sword up and knew exactly what he had to do.

One more death to labor his soul down.

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The gunshot made Will jump. He hated to admit it, but he wasn't expecting it in the least. Nico never carried a gun, so that gunshot meant one thing. The fight had started.

"Lillian," Will turned to the girl and brought her in his arms, picking her up off of the floor. "Stay with me. Stay close to me."

More bullets went off, the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. Will closed his eyes at thought of what could have happened. As footsteps came closer to their door, Will stepped back against the wall. He wouldn't die here, he couldn't die here. He wouldn't die here.

"Will." Nico's voice broke him out of his inner terror. Opening his eyes, he saw Nico standing in the doorway with a gun in one hand and his sword in the other. "Come on, get a move on."

"Nico!" Will rushed to meet him. "What happened? Are you hurt? Where did-"

"He's dead." Nico wiped a splatter of blood off of his face. "The idiot thought he was amazing because he had a god's blessing. Tripped over his own feet. I got the gun, shot him good. He's dead."

"Oh..." Will kept Lillian close, felt the girl start to cry into him. "He was a mortal, though?"

Nico shrugged. "Seems so. But he knew I was a demigod. That was strange. We can talk more about it when we get this little girl back to her mother."

"Wait." Will frowned. "What about her father? Remember, he was taken, too?"

Nico looked to Lillian and gently touched the girl's back. "Lily? Do you know where your dad is?"

She looked up at him with tears staining her dirty face. "The bad man killed him."

"Okay, okay." Nico grabbed Will's arm. "Let's get back to the Underworld, Will. This girl needs some emotional recovery. Her mom can help her."

Will nodded his approval, refusing to let the girl go as he watched Nico shadow travel them away. Nico... Something had happened that Nico wasn't telling him.