The Battle of the Labyrinth

through the mist. The coin vanished.
    “O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow,” I whispered. “Show me . . . Uh, whatever you need to show me.”
    The mist shimmered. I saw the dark shore of a river. Wisps of fog drifted across black water. The beach was strewn with jagged volcanic rock. A young boy squatted at the riverbank, tending a campfire. The flames burned an unnatural blue color. Then I saw the boy’s face. It was Nico di Angelo. He was throwing pieces of paper into the fire— Mythomagic trading cards, part of the game he’d been obsessed with last winter.
    Nico was only ten, or maybe eleven by now, but he looked older. His hair had grown longer. It was shaggy and almost touched his shoulders. His eyes were dark. His olive skin had turned paler. He wore ripped black jeans and a battered aviator’s jacket that was several sizes too big, unzipped over a black shirt. His face was grimy, his eyes a little wild. He looked like a kid who’d been living on the streets.
    I waited for him to look at me. No doubt he’d get crazy angry, start accusing me of letting his sister die. But he didn’t seem to notice me.
    I stayed quiet, not daring to move. If he hadn’t sent this Iris-message, who had?
    Nico tossed another trading card into the blue flames. “Useless,” he muttered. “I can’t believe I ever liked this stuff.”
    “A childish game, master,” another voice agreed. It seemed to come from near the fire, but I couldn’t see who was talking.
    Nico stared across the river. On the far shore was black beach shrouded in haze. I recognized it: the Underworld. Nico was camping at the edge of the River Styx.
    “I’ve failed,” he muttered. “There’s no way to get her back.”
    The other voice kept silent.
    Nico turned toward it doubtfully. “Is there? Speak.”
    Something shimmered. I thought it was just firelight. Then I realized it was the form of a man—a wisp of blue smoke, a shadow. If you looked at him head-on, he wasn’t there. But if you looked out of the corner of your eye, you could make out his shape. A ghost.
    “It has never been done,” the ghost said. “But there may be a way.”
    “Tell me,” Nico commanded. His eyes shined with a fierce light.
    “An exchange,” the ghost said. “A soul for a soul.”
    “I’ve offered!”
    “Not yours,” the ghost said. “You cannot offer your father a soul he will eventually collect anyway. Nor will he be anxious for the death of his son. I mean a soul that should have died already. Someone who has cheated death.”
    Nico’s face darkened. “Not that again. You’re talking about murder.”
    “I’m talking about justice,” the ghost said. “Vengeance.”
    “Those are not the same thing.”
    The ghost laughed dryly. “You will learn differently as you get older.”
    Nico stared at the flames. “Why can’t I at least summon her? I want to talk to her. She would . . . she would help me.”
    “ I will help you,” the ghost promised. “Have I not saved you many times? Did I not lead you through the maze and teach you to use your powers? Do you want revenge for your sister or not?”
    I didn’t like the ghost’s tone of voice. He reminded me of a kid at my old school, a bully who used to convince other kids to do stupid things like steal lab equipment and vandalize the teachers’ cars. The bully never got in trouble himself, but he got tons of other kids suspended.
    Nico turned from the fire so the ghost couldn’t see him, but I could. A tear traced its way down his face. “Very well. You have a plan?”
    “Oh, yes,” the ghost said, sounding quite pleased. “We have many dark roads to travel. We must start—”
    The image shimmered. Nico vanished. The woman’s voice from the mist said, Please deposit one drachma for another five minutes.
    There were no other coins in the fountain. I grabbed for my pockets, but I was wearing pajamas. I lunged for the nightstand to check for spare change, but the Iris-message had already blinked out, and the room went dark again. The connection was broken.
    I stood in the middle of the cabin, listening to the gurgle of the saltwater fountain and the ocean waves outside.
    Nico was alive. He was trying to bring his sister back from the dead. And I had a feeling I knew what soul he wanted to exchange—someone who had cheated death. Vengeance.
    Nico di Angelo would come looking for me.

THREE

WE PLAY TAG WITH SCORPIONS
    The next morning there was a lot of excitement at