The Tower of Nero

I wanted to ask how she could possibly know this. Then I remembered Meg had spent a great deal of her childhood roaming dark alleys, derelict buildings, and other strange and unusual places in Manhattan with Nero’s blessing—the evil imperial version of free-range parenting.

I could imagine a younger Meg exploring these tunnels, doing cartwheels in the muck, and growing mushrooms in forgotten locations.

We followed her for…I don’t know, six or seven miles? That’s what it felt like, at least. Once, we stopped abruptly when a deep and distant BOOM echoed through the corridor.

“Train?” I asked nervously, though we’d left the tracks behind long ago.

Lu tilted her head. “No. That was thunder.”

I didn’t see how that could be. When we’d entered the tunnel in New Jersey, there’d been no sign of rain. I didn’t like the idea of sudden thunderstorms so close to the Empire State Building—entrance to Mount Olympus, home of Zeus, aka Big Daddy Lightning Bolt.

Undeterred, Meg forged ahead.

Finally, our tunnel dead-ended at a metal ladder. Overhead was a loose manhole cover, light and water spilling from one edge like a weeping crescent moon.

“I remember this opens to an alleyway,” Meg announced. “No cameras—at least there weren’t any last time I was here.”

Lu grunted as if to say, Good work, or maybe just, This is going to suck.

The Gaul ascended first. Moments later, the three of us stood in a storm-lashed alley between two apartment buildings. Lightning forked overhead, lacing the dark clouds with gold. Rain needled my face and poked me in the eyes.

Where had this tempest come from? Was it a welcome-home present from my father, or a warning? Or maybe it was just a regular summer storm. Sadly, my time as Lester had taught me that not every meteorological event was about me.

Thunder rattled the windows on either side of us. Judging from the yellow-brick facades of the buildings, I guessed we were on the Upper East Side somewhere, though that seemed an impossibly long underground walk from Penn Station. At the end of the alley, taxis zipped down a busy street: Park Avenue? Lexington?

I hugged my arms. My teeth chattered. My quiver was starting to fill with water, the strap getting heavier across my shoulder. I turned to Lu and Meg. “I don’t suppose either of you has a magic item that stops rain?”

From her belt of infinite weapons, Lu pulled something that I’d assumed was a police baton. She clicked a button on the side and it blossomed into an umbrella. Naturally, it was just big enough for Lu and Meg.

I sighed. “I walked right into that, didn’t I?”

“Yep,” Meg agreed.

I pulled my backpack over my head, which effectively stopped 0.003 percent of the rain from hitting my face. My clothes were plastered to my skin. My heart slowed and sped up at random, as if it couldn’t decide whether to be exhausted or terrified.

“What now?” I asked.

“We find someplace to regroup,” said Lu.

I eyed the nearest dumpster. “With all the real estate Nero controls in Manhattan, you don’t have one secret base we could use?”

Lu’s laugh was the only dry thing in that alley. “I told you, Nero monitors all public security cameras in New York. How closely do you think he monitors his own properties? You want to risk it?”

I hated that she had a point.

I wanted to trust Luguselwa, because Meg trusted her. I recognized that Lu had saved us on the train. Also, the amphisbaena’s last line of prophecy tumbled around in my head: On Nero’s own your lives do now depend.

That could refer to Lu, which meant she might be trustworthy.

On the other hand, Lu had killed the amphisbaena. For all I knew, if he had lived a few more minutes, he might have spouted another bit of iambic pentameter: Not Lu. Not Lu. Don’t ever trust the Gaul.

“So if you’re on our side,” I said, “why all the pretending on the train? Why kill that amphisbaena? Why the charade about escorting us to the bathroom?”

Lu grunted. “First of all, I’m on Meg’s side. Don’t much care about you.”

Meg smirked. “That’s a good point.”

“As for the monster…” Lu shrugged. “It was a monster. It’ll regenerate in Tartarus eventually. No great loss.”

I suspected Mr. Snake’s wife might disagree with that. Then again, not too long ago, I had regarded demigods in much the same way that Lu regarded the amphisbaena.

“As for the playacting,” she said, “if I’d turned on my comrades, I ran the risk of you two getting killed, me getting killed, or one of my men escaping and reporting back to Nero. I would have been outed as a traitor.”

“But they all got away,” I protested. “They’ll all report back to Nero and…Oh. They’ll tell Nero—”

“That the last time they saw me,” Lu said, “I was fighting like crazy, trying to stop you from escaping.”

Meg detached herself from Lu’s side, her eyes widening. “But Nero will think you’re dead! You can stay with us!”

Lu gave her a rueful smile. “No, Sapling. I’ll have to go back soon. If we’re lucky, Nero will believe I’m still on his side.”

“But why?” Meg demanded. “You can’t go back!”

“It’s the only way,” Lu said. “I had to make sure you didn’t get caught coming into the city. Now…I need time to explain to you what’s going on…what Nero is planning.”

I didn’t like the hesitation in her voice. Whatever Nero was planning, it had shaken Lu badly.

“Besides,” she continued, “if you’re going to stand any chance of beating him, you’ll need someone on the inside. It’s important that Nero think I tried to stop you, failed, then returned to him with my tail between my legs.”

“But…” My brain was too waterlogged to form any more questions. “Never mind. You can explain when we get somewhere dry. Speaking of which—”

“I’ve got an idea,” Meg said.

She jogged to the corner of the alley. Lu and I sloshed along behind her. The signs on the nearest corner informed us that we were at Lexington and Seventy-Fifth.

Meg grinned. “See?”

“See what?” I said. “What are you…?”

Her meaning hit me like an Amtrak quiet car. “Oh, no,” I said. “No, they’ve done enough for us. I won’t put them in any more danger, especially if Nero is after us.”

“But last time you were totally fine with—”

“Meg, no!”

Lu looked back and forth between us. “What are you talking about?”

I wanted to stick my head in my backpack and scream. Six months ago, I’d had no qualms about hitting up an old friend who lived a few blocks from here. But now…after all the trouble and heartbreak I’d brought to every place that had harbored me…No. I could not do that again.

“How about this?” I drew the Arrow of Dodona from my quiver. “We’ll ask my prophetic friend. Surely it has a better idea—perhaps access to last-minute hotel deals!”

I lifted the projectile in my trembling fingers. “O great Arrow of Dodona—”

“Is he talking to that arrow?” Lu asked Meg.