Escape from camp half blood

Chapter9

"Good point."

"I'll take them somewhere that they can't be tracked," said Nico. "Australia maybe. That's far enough away."

"You'll be going with them?" asked Percy.

Nico shrugged. "I think I should. If any Greeks come after them before the killer's caught, I can protect them. I know what to expect from other demigods."

"And what do you want me to tell Chiron and everyone else?"

"That Sadie and Carter thought it was more dangerous here than out in the world, and decided to take their chances as loners again. And I went with them because . . . because I like them better than anyone else here at camp, except you. Just do your best to make sure they don't send anyone after us."

Percy nodded. "You do your best not to have anymore emergencies. I don't want to leave camp until they've caught the killer. If something happened to Annabeth -"

"It won't," said Nico. "You won't let it."

They'd reached the weapons practice court and Nico realized with wry amusement that both he and Percy had headed there without even seeming to realize where they were going or having to discuss it.

"I guess we can get a few practice bouts in before anyone else comes and starts gawking at us," said Percy.

Nico nodded and chose a practice sword since the Stygian iron blade he used was too dangerous for sparring. He didn't want to end up accidentally draining anyone's soul. Even if Percy was almost invincible, there was still one spot that if he was hit there, he would die and Nico didn't want to risk hitting it. Even though he had a pretty good idea where it was, because Percy was predictable like that. He tried not to think about it, because he knew that Anubis had access to all of his thoughts, but it was like trying not to think about elephants. But he didn't know for certain and preferred to keep it that way. He didn't want to betray his cousin again, even indeliberately.

"Hey Nico," said Percy as they squared off.

"Yeah?"

"When this mess with the murders is over . . . maybe you should consider telling Annabeth and Thalia the truth."

Nico glared at him. "Why in Dad's name would I do that?"

"Because it's a lot easier having those girls as allies than enemies," said Percy practically.

"And the more people who know about me, the more likely it is someone's going to try to kill me."

"They wouldn't -"

"Thalia answers to Artemis. She's a Hunter. Her loyalty is to them and she'd report what she knew about me in a heartbeat."

Percy paused, considering this. "Well Annabeth -"

"Maybe."

"What?" Percy looked taken aback. He'd obviously expected a bigger fight about this.

"I said maybe," Nico said grudgingly. He really didn't want to tell Annabeth, but if he did it would probably make things easier for Percy. He didn't want to be the cause of problems between Percy and his girlfriend. He owed his cousin that much at least.

"Oh. Well. Maybe is good," said Percy.

Nico gave him a nod and raised his sword into a ready position. Percy raised his own blade but before either boy could move the sound of shouting reached their ears right before a loud explosion made everything else sound muted in comparison.

"What the crap?" asked Nico.

Nico and Percy both turned toward the magic practice grounds and saw that a large group of campers were huddled together, all speaking and shouting in excitement.