The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus Book 4)

mean you’re –’
    ‘ Favonius ,’ Jason realized. ‘God of the West Wind.’
    Favonius smiled and bowed, obviously pleased to be recognized. ‘You can call me by my Roman name, certainly, or Zephyros , if you’re Greek. I’m not hung up about it.’
    Nico looked pretty hung up about it. ‘Why aren’t your Greek and Roman sides in conflict, like the other gods?’
    ‘Oh, I have the occasional headache.’ Favonius shrugged. ‘Some mornings I’ll wake up in a Greek
chiton
when I’m sure I went to sleep in my SPQR pyjamas. But mostly the war doesn’t bother me. I’m a minor god, you know – never really been much in the limelight. The to-and-fro battles among you demigods don’t affect me as greatly.’
    ‘So …’ Jason wasn’t quite sure whether to sheathe his sword. ‘What are you doing here?’
    ‘Several things!’ Favonius said. ‘Hanging out with my basket of fruit. I always carry a basket of fruit. Would you like a pear?’
    ‘I’m good. Thanks.’
    ‘Let’s see … earlier I was eating ice cream. Right now I’m tossing this quoit ring.’ Favonius spun the bronze hoop on his index finger.
    Jason had no idea what a
quoit
was, but he tried to stay focused. ‘I mean why did you appear to us? Why did you lead us to this cellar?’
    ‘Oh!’ Favonius nodded. ‘The sarcophagus of Diocletian. Yes. This was its final resting place. The Christians movedit out of the mausoleum. Then some barbarians destroyed the coffin. I just wanted to show you –’ he spread his hands sadly – ‘that what you’re looking for isn’t here. My master has taken it.’
    ‘Your master?’ Jason had a flashback to a floating palace above Pike’s Peak in Colorado, where he’d visited (and barely survived) the studio of a crazy weatherman who claimed he was the god of all the winds. ‘Please tell me your master isn’t Aeolus .’
    ‘
That
airhead?’ Favonius snorted. ‘No, of course not.’
    ‘He means Eros .’ Nico’s voice turned edgy. ‘Cupid, in Latin.’
    Favonius smiled. ‘Very good, Nico di Angelo. I’m glad to see you again, by the way. It’s been a long time.’
    Nico knitted his eyebrows. ‘I’ve never met you.’
    ‘You’ve never
seen
me,’ the god corrected. ‘But I’ve been watching you. When you came here as a small boy, and several times since. I knew eventually you would return to look upon my master’s face.’
    Nico turned even paler than usual. His eyes darted around the cavernous room as if he was starting to feel trapped.
    ‘Nico?’ Jason said. ‘What’s he talking about?’
    ‘I don’t know. Nothing.’
    ‘Nothing?’ Favonius cried. ‘The one you care for most … plunged into Tartarus, and still you will not allow the truth?’
    Suddenly Jason felt like he was eavesdropping.
    The one you care for most.
    He remembered what Piper had told him about Nico’scrush on Annabeth. Apparently Nico’s feelings went
way
deeper than a simple crush.
    ‘We’ve only come for Diocletian’s sceptre,’ Nico said, clearly anxious to change the subject. ‘Where is it?’
    ‘Ah …’ Favonius nodded sadly. ‘You thought it would be as easy as facing Diocletian’s ghost? I’m afraid not, Nico. Your trials will be
much
more difficult. You know, long before this was Diocletian’s Palace, it was the gateway to my master’s court. I’ve dwelt here for aeons, bringing those who sought love into the presence of Cupid.’
    Jason didn’t like the mention of difficult trials. He didn’t trust this weird god with the hoop and the wings and the basket of fruit. But an old story surfaced in his mind – something he’d heard at Camp Jupiter. ‘Like Psyche , Cupid’s wife. You carried her to his palace.’
    Favonius’s eyes twinkled. ‘Very good, Jason Grace. From this exact spot, I carried Psyche on the winds and brought her to the chambers of my master. In fact, that is why Diocletian built
his
palace here. This place has always been graced by the gentle West Wind.’ He spread his arms. ‘It is a spot of tranquillity and love in a turbulent world. When Diocletian’s Palace was ransacked –’
    ‘You took the sceptre,’ Jason guessed.
    ‘For safekeeping,’ Favonius agreed. ‘It is one of Cupid’s many treasures, a reminder of better times. If you want it …’ Favonius turned to Nico. ‘You must face the god of love.’
    Nico stared at the sunlight coming through the windows, as if wishing he could escape through those narrow openings.
    Jason