𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐄

𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐗

Grover glanced at him. "Excuse me?"

Nico was strangely quiet. Not that he'd ever been anything but quiet those last few days, but it still was different. His XL jacket was exposing a small part of right arm, and Selene noticed there was something there. Like a tattoo. A black glyph like a cross with curved arms and a "head".

"Don't tell me you got tatts," she muttered under her breath.

Nico followed her gaze and quickly pulled his sleeve down.

"You recognize it?"

Selene scratched her chin, furrowing her brows as she wracked her brain trying to place where she'd seen it before.

"Should I?"

"Yes."

"Oh, shoot." Her eyes widened. "It's from Shadowhunters, right? I knew it."

"From what?"

"That Netflix show, Shadowhunters," she said as if she'd just cracked the most difficult puzzle ever. Then, she leaned even closer, "I hope it's temporary. How will I explain this to Chiron?"

"You're not telling anyone about this. You can't."

She looked at him. Selene tried her best to keep everyone chill, even though Grover was languishing at the sight of the cows hamburger, and Tyson was too focused on trying to pet the two-headed dog. But when she looked at Nico, she realized how sad his eyes were. He looked like he hadn't rested in so long. Or eaten. Or talked to anyone but ghosts.

He was actively trying to sound intimidating. It may have gotten on Percy and the others, yet it didn't affect her. Maybe it was the fact she was his patron—Selene could only see him as a scared eleven-year-old boy, lost and alone in a world far too big and unforgiving.

He scrunched up his face. "Stop glaring me."

"I am not!" He raised an eyebrow. "Just a little."

Nico crossed his arms tightly across his chest, his posture rigid. "What's on your mind?"

"Don't blame Percy," she said. "Blame me."

"Ok. I'll blame you two."

"That's not what I meant!" She exclaimed, then sighed. "I should've done something, not Percy, not any of them. If you want to curse someone, curse me. If you want to take your rage on someone, do it on me. He doesn't deserve, but I do, Nico."

Nico remained silent, his gaze fixed on the sky as though he were lost in his own thoughts, oblivious to her words.

After a tense pause, he finally turned to look at her. "I feel death around you."

Selene's breath caught in her throat, her body tensing involuntarily. The mark behind her ear seemed to throb intensely. "What do you mean? Am I dying?"

"I said around you, not in you."

"Thanks, now I'm relieved."

"You're not supposed to be here," he muttered bluntly. "There's a reason why gods and half-bloods don't linger—it disrupts the balance of the world. I can sense the chaos swirling around and within you."

She nodded. "Well, you've certainly picked up a lot during those months."

Nico's lips curved into a faint, almost imperceptible smile. "I've had a good teacher."

She didn't even have the chance to ask him what he meant, as in the same moment she opened her mouth, Percy stormed on the deck.