Shelter (Solangelo)

Chapter 21

The bedrolls have been cleared away and Nico and Will sit across from Reyna and Rachel on the ornamental rug, a plate of sandwiches and several bottles of water at the center. He munches on half of a pb&j, attempting to ignore the tension in the air thick enough to cut with a sword.

Reyna sits cross-legged with Rachel in front of her, Rachel's head resting on Reyna's shoulder, her legs extended. Nico senses Rachel’s discomfort at not being able to talk to Reyna about what they'd overheard, but doesn't bring it up; it's not his place. Will passes them a couple of water bottles and pushes the plate closer so Reyna can reach. His left forearm is wrapped in gauze, and though he's mostly using his right arm, Nico catches the bloody patch Will seems to be trying to hide.

Finally, Nico can't take it. He's got to break the silence before his head explodes. "What did you do to your arm?"

Will had just taken a bite of sandwich and seems to chew longer than necessary before he swallows to answer. "I'll tell you about it in private."

The way his eyes plead reminds Nico of Apollo, and of all the things he'd like to discuss in private himself. He nods. It still doesn't help dispel the awkward atmosphere.

"Rachel," Reyna says. "Is it alright if I show them the scrolls?"

"Yeah!" Rachel says, a little overenthusiastic. She blushes. Nico can't say he blames her for wanting to latch onto a safe topic of conversation. "That's a great idea."

"What's this about scrolls?" Will asks. He stands up. "Want me to get them?"

Reyna smiles. She points at the table behind them. "They're just on the end. Before she fell ill, Rachel and Ella were recompiling the Sybilline books. They had started by copying the remaining verses from Jupiter's temple floor when..."

"When Reyna came in to check on our progress and I'd apparently made some doodles in the borders without noticing," Rachel finishes for her.

Will returns with several scrolls and dumps them in front of Reyna.

"Knock knock." Lou Ellen's voice comes from the doorway.

"Can we come in?" Hazel adds.

"Sure," Reyna says, and they shift over to make room. "We have sandwiches; help yourselves."

Frank lumbers in behind the girls, but doesn't sit. He leans against the table behind Hazel and Lou Ellen, as if standing guard, and accepts a sandwich when Hazel passes it to him. Reyna holds out a scroll to Hazel and she unrolls it.

"What are we looking at?" Lou Ellen asks.

Reyna points at the picture drawn in the lower right corner of the paper. "The picture there. What does it look like?"

"Looks like caves," Hazel says, passing the scroll to Will. He brings it closer so Nico can get a better look.

Nico starts. He's just seen those caves in his dream. The muscles in Will's forearm tense as he holds the scroll, and Nico can tell he recognizes them too. But before he can say anything …

"This one is a tree and its roots," Hazel says. Will sets down the first scroll and they wait for the girls to hand it over.

"It's upside down," Lou Ellen observes, then cocks her head. "Or sideways. It's a laurel."

"Apollo's sacred tree," Will murmurs, loud enough they all catch it. He accepts the next scroll from Lou Ellen, and Nico leans over to look at the drawing. It's a very simple illustration drawn with a ballpoint pen, but the shape of the leaves and trunk are recognizable as a laurel tree.