"Why?" he demanded. "What's our father hiding?"

 

Pain, Bianca said. Hatred. A curse that stretches back to the Great Prophecy.

 

"What do you mean?" Nico said. "I have to know!"

 

The knowledge will only hurt you. Remember what I said: holding grudges is a

fatal flaw for children of Hades.

 

"I know that," Nico said. "But I'm not the same as I used to be, Bianca. Stop

trying to protect me!"

 

Brother, you don 't understand —

 

Nico swiped his hand through the mist, and Bianca s image dissipated.

 

"Maria di Angelo," he said again. "Speak to me!"

 

A different image formed. It was a scene rather than a single ghost. In the

mist, I saw Nico and Bianca as little children, playing in the lobby of an

elegant hotel, chasing each other around marble columns.

 

A woman sat on a nearby sofa. She wore a black dress, gloves, and a black veiled

hat like a star from an old 1940s movie. She had Bianca's smile and Nico's eyes.