Shelter (Solangelo)

Chapter 33

Asclepius is almost as annoying as Will, Nico decides. He can't even recall what the dude came to say, but having the fact Will plundered his ass pointed out …

Can I just die now?

He's sitting in the bathtub in a few inches of warm water. Will added some herbs to it, and while the experience with Asclepius was mortifying, he has to admit he's feeling less sore and the bath smells nice. He looks at the clock on the wall. It's seven-thirty. He has ten minutes left to soak. He lies back, rests his neck on the edge of the tub, and stares at the door. Will seems different this morning, distant. Nico thinks he should be happy to finally have a bit of privacy and time alone to think, but he's starting to admit to himself that having a clingy, annoying, hot-as-fuck son of Apollo wanting him is not a real hardship.

What's happening to me? Why doesn't this bother me?

It's got to be the 'love' thing. He smiles to himself, studying the brushstrokes in the white paint on the ceiling.

"Um, Nico? Is this a bad time?"

Nico sits up, covering his lap, his heart beating in his ears as he spots the source of this new voice.

Jason Grace stares back at him from the base of the sink, shimmering in a rainbow window. Nico recognizes the wood panels behind him as belonging to one of the new temples Tyson had built back at Camp Jupiter. Thankfully, the Iris message is low enough Nico doesn't think Jason caught sight of his body.

"Dude, what do you want? I'm in the bath."

"Sorry, man. I just made it back to Camp Jupiter last night. I'm dedicating temples to Favonius, Mors and Somnus today.

Nico furrows his brows, translating the Latin names to Greek. Zephyros, Thanatos and Hypnos. The gods of the West Wind, and the twin sons of Nyx, death and sleep. He doesn't ask about them. It doesn't seem important.

Jason clears his throat. "I just wanted to check in on you, and Reyna – she's not doing very well."

"Hey, Nico. How's your – Grace?"

Nico and Jason turn to look as Will shuts the bathroom door behind him.

Jason looks a little flustered at the fact Will interrupted Nico's bath without knocking and Nico didn't tear his head off. "Hey, Solace."

Will kneels beside the tub, his arm resting so it brushes Nico's hand.

"Get back to the point. What's the matter with Reyna?" Nico demands. He can't help it. The idea that Reyna's in trouble freaks him out.

"It's just –" Jason sighs. "I've never seen her lose it like this before. She's barely holding it together, not eating right, forgetting what she's saying mid-sentence. Frank says she lost her focus in the last Senate Meeting and he had to cover for her. You know of course, about Rachel?"

"What about Rachel?" Will interrupts. There's a tremor in his voice. "She's still alive, right?"

Jason nods, though his lips are turned down and his eyes are set as if he's coming to terms with an unpleasant truth. "Yeah, but not for long. It's just, Reyna's the daughter of Bellona. She's a Roman Praetor; she's seen death before and dealt with it … a lot. But, this one … I dunno. It's tearing her up."

"You can tell Reyna we're working on it. We're going to face Python today," Will says, his voice steely.

"What?" Nico asks. "Today? But the eclipse –"