I (Percy) set Nico on guard duty with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers, figuring he’d be safely out of the way….”What’s happening?” Nico demanded, trying to climb up next to me.

Then she laughed for real, and put her hands around my neck. ‘I am never, ever going to make things easy for you Seaweed Brain. Get used to it.’ When she kissed me, I had...