Mark Oshiro

But studying Will’s face, Nico saw only anticipation. The good
kind. Will was ready for whatever Nico would say, and no matter how this ended, Will would still think just as highly of him.

What did I ever do to deserve him? Nico wondered. He asked himself that question a lot.

Why, oh why, did it feel like such a victory to make Will laugh? For a long time, Nico had assumed he himself did not have a heart. He was the son of Hades, after all. Love didn’t find people like him. But then came … Will. Will, who could melt Nico’s iciness with a smile. Anyone could have guessed which god was Will’s father – he radiated energy and light. Sometimes literally, as they had learned in the troglodytes’ caverns earlier that year. Will was Apollo’s son, through and through.

Either way, it made Nico a little annoyed. Why did Will have to be so beautiful all the time?

Sometimes Nico’s brain thought of a joke and it came out of his mouth a second later without any sort of filter at all. That’s exactly what happened when he blurted out, ‘My whole life is a disorder!’

It had to be Bob the Titan.

What was one straight boy when you spent your whole life longing for the impossible?

‘My grumpy little ball of darkness,’

To all the Nicos, Wills, Pipers, and everyone in between: this is for you.

May you shine as bright as the sun and the stars.

Nico felt something brush his knuckles. He glanced down and saw that Will was trying to hold his hand. He opened his fingers and let Will slip his in between.

Nico’s heart sank. Will’s grip was very weak.

Nico had to do this. He had to finish what they had started.

The whispers called out to him.

And then Gorgyra did, too.

“Tell me about the two of you,” she said.

“I can’t do this,” he said to Will Solace, the stunningly beautiful son of Apollo, who stood across from him. But it was Austin Lake—one of Will’s half-siblings—Nico chose to focus on. He was pacing behind Will, which only made Nico more nervous.