Children of Loss 39

Chapter 39

Being locked in a dark room with a guy that normally wore a scowl on his face, one would think that Nico would have had other things at the front of his mind. But the first thing that came blurting out?

“You're in your underwear.”

Luke shot him an irritated look before tossing Nico onto his bed and pacing the room. Nico blinked, his eyes trailing up and down Luke's long body. Though he was nowhere near as muscular as Butch or Beckendorf, Luke's body was pure muscle. A fact that Nico could attest to from seeing what a simple punch from the blond could do to Cal's face. However, Luke was lean and built like a baseball player or swimmer. The fact that Nico preferred guys with that kind of build was completely irrelevant. It also had nothing to do with the fact that it probably explained why he found some of the others pleasing to look at.

Also, Nico had a hard time getting over how good Luke's ass looked in those tight, dark blue boxer-briefs. So distracted that he almost missed what Luke said. “Because I feel you need some more lessons,” the blond grumbled.

Nico frowned, pulling himself completely from his ongoing fantasy. “But I already have to put up with your brother. Who are you trying to stick me with-”

“You're taking lessons from me.” Nico's eyes widened as Luke hovered over him, leaning down so that his face was in very close proximity to the Nico's own face. Before Nico could register fully what was happening, he heard a faint clicking noise.

Nico quickly looked up to find that his wrists were handcuffed to the bed. “What the hell, Luke?”

The blond pulled back with a wicked grin on his face, resting his knees between Nico's flailing legs. “Now then, if you're a good boy, I won't have to break out the whip.”

This was not what Nico exactly had in mind for what it would be like to be sexually involved with Luke. Nico narrowed his eyes. “Can you let me go now?”

Nico's answer came in the form of his lower half being rolled over and a palm making contact with his ass. “You do not get to make the demands here, I'm afraid. I hold the power. You can be in control if a clients asks that you dominate them. But, for lessons, I find this much more entertaining.” Nico narrowed his eyes further, struggling to slip his wrists out of their cuffs. For this, he received another swat to his ass. “Care to keep going?”

The brown-eyed Lost Boy let out a sigh, shaking his head in defeat. “But is this really necessary?” Nico asked, nodding up the the handcuffs above his head.

Luke wagged his brows, placing his hands on either side of Nico's head. “I think I prefer you this way.” Nico felt his face heat up. Luke smirked and leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Now if only I had a gag to put in your mouth, I wouldn't have to listen to you talk.”

“Fuck you!”

Luke chuckled and pulled back. “All in due time.” He sat back, allowing Nico to have some space. The blond took in a deep breath. Nico gave him an odd look, though Luke seemed to be distracted by his own thoughts to notice. “There's a lot of things down in those rooms that you might find yourself uncomfortable with, but you're going to have to deal with it.”

Nico blinked. This was the softest that Luke had ever spoken to him, and he managed to do it with no trace of annoyance in his pale blue eyes

Finally, Luke let out his breath and looked up from the mattress. “You're just going to have to deal with whatever demands that the clients ask of you down in those rooms.” Nico opened his mouth, but Luke pressed on. “It doesn't matter if you don't like it, you have to comply with whatever it is. And even if your body starts to get uncomfortable with any device found in that room, you keep quiet.”

“Devices?” Nico asked.

Luke crawled on top of the boy. His icy blue gaze slowly trailed down Nico's body, while his hand reached under his shirt. “Collars, whips, racks and leather harnesses, things like that.” Nico hissed when Luke's fingernails dug into the skin of his back. “And the clients can sometimes be rough.”

Nico frowned when Luke pulled back and sat between Nico's legs, one of his knees pulled up to his chest. Nico blew at some of his bangs that were falling into his eyes. “And if they leave a bruise or scratch pretty hard?”

“That's what Will is around for,” Luke whispered. The blond pursed his lips, looking Nico over. “While we can't today, I do want to take you down there tomorrow or the next day. If you're lucky, no one will ask for you to go down there before then.”

Finally, Luke leaned above Nico and unlocked the handcuffs. Nico frowned as he sat up, rubbing gently at his wrists. “Why don't we just tell Percy about this? We could be subtle.”

Luke shook his head. “Don't,” he whispered, his eyes no longer looking up to meet Nico's own. “Kronos always finds a way to make you miserable for doing things like that.” This time, when Luke looked up, Nico noted how tired the blond looked. With all of the chaos going around right now, Nico wondered if Luke, Apollo, Annabeth, and Thalia were running themselves rampant trying to keep the others under control.

Nico's lips tilted down in a frown. “But-”

“Percy cares too much about Kronos, I've never seen them get angry with each other.”

Gripping the sheets, Nico's brow furrowed. “How can Percy consider someone like Kronos to be a friend? How can Percy put up with someone like him?”

Luke let out a grunt. “Perhaps because Kronos was Percy's first real friend.” That made Nico look up in surprise. “Yeah, Percy never had a friend before Kronos. His father abandoned his mother while Percy was still a baby, so Percy never got to experience growing up with kids his own age.” Luke rubbed at his face with a yawn. “And when Gaea took Percy in, Kronos took an immediate interest in Percy. Sure, at the time, it was probably that Kronos saw Percy as another toy; but to Percy, it stuck with him. And in Percy's mind, it sort of always made Kronos a good person, no matter what the other did.”

Nico had a hard time believing that. Sure Percy might, but there was no way Nico could accept that Kronos could have a decent side.

Apparently, Nico's face was easy to read. Luke smirked over at him. “Hard to believe, yeah? Well, believe it or not, even someone as horrible as Kronos can have a...somewhat decent side to him.” The blond shook his head. “But that's about as good as it gets, unless you are Percy or Gaea. At most, he'll just be indifferent towards you.”

Again, Nico had his doubts about this. After seeing what he had of their new manager, Nico did not see how Kronos could be anything other than a despicable human being. “Wasn't really expecting you to say something decent about him.”

Luke's smirk grew as he got off the bed and walked over to grab a pair of cotton shorts from the floor before slipping them on, much to Nico's disappointment. “Don't get me wrong, I still loathe the guy.” He turned around with an eyebrow raised. “But do you think he could be a manager if he didn't have some decent people skills? I could also say that he's very bright, went to one of the best universities on the planet, and that he has great management skills. None of that would change the fact that he can still be sickening to be around.”

“How did he even get to be a manager anyways?”

“Ah,” Luke began, sitting back down on the bed, “he killed his predecessor.” Nico's eyebrows rose at that. “Yep, cut his throat in front of his mother. Not sure how Gaea completely feels about Kronos, I've never asked. Obviously, she loves him, as he will always be her son, but I'm not sure she always approves of his actions. But you have to keep in mind the type of business we're all involved with.” Luke cocked a brow at the other Lost Boy. “If you were Gaea and running a dirty business like she is, would you want someone nice and honest, or someone who is willing to get the job done and has the potential to be ruthless?”

“Fair point,” Nico mumbled.

Luke gave a shrug. “Goes double for South America and the Middle East. Atlas and Kronos have to be extra cold, as they tend to deal with less...civilized customers.” Getting back up, Luke retrieved a shirt from his closet.

“Still, Kronos is a monster.”

“Not arguing with you there,” Luke replied, slipping the shirt over his head. Nico wasn't sure what it was, but Luke seemed a lot more sensitive today. Perhaps the blond really was exhausted, and just didn't have the energy to put forth his usual irritable demeanor. “Just keep in mind that Kronos rarely uses that 'decent' side of his.”

Nico gave a slow nod before climbing to his feet. “Okay,” he whispered. He nodded again before moving towards the door. “Are we done here? At least for now? You look like you could use a nap, or something.”

Luke got up and narrowed his eyes. He opened the door and Nico walked into the hallway. In the living room, Nico leaned down to pick up the bags he had dropped when Luke had yanked him into the suite. But when Nico was about to unlock the door to the suite, Luke placed a hand against the door.

“One more thing.”

Nico looked up and blinked. “What's up?”

“There's a lot of...things down in those room, more than what I mentioned a moment ago.” Luke chewed on his lip. “While Percy doesn't like us to do certain things, he does still offer clients those options.” Nico felt lost. “So, like upstairs, you will find alcohol in the rooms. Which, isn't really a big deal. But cigarettes are kept in stock within each room.”

“Okay,” Nico said slowly, still not really following. He had never felt the desire to take up smoking.

But Luke looked serious still, so Nico decided to be quiet. The blond chewed on his lip for a few more seconds, his eyes scanning over Nico's face. “There are also drugs, most of which are kept in supply by Dionysus.” The blond Lost Boy reached up and ran a hand through his hair. “Sometimes, the clients might try to offer you some, do not accept any of it. Just be careful, is what I'm saying. Right now, we don't need a disaster like your first night stripping to add onto the amount of stress that is filtering around the hotel, so I thought I'd let you know.”

“Thanks.” Nico regarded the blond carefully for a moment. All that he could see was the look of someone that was on the brink of passing out. He frowned. “You should really consider taking a nap.”

Luke rolled his eyes and shoved Nico out of the door. “Wish I could, but got all these sorry asses to check up on.” With a simple nod, the blond shut the door in Nico's face.

Though, as soon as it shut, Apollo's door swung open and out stormed Leo. Apollo leaned against the doorway, a small smirk threatening to show on his lips. Leo spun around and glared up at the blond. “You are insufferable. Do you have any idea what a selfish asshole you are?” The blond in question just shrugged. This only fueled Leo further. “I try to have one civilized conversation, and you just use the time to find ways to get me out of my clothes.”

To Nico, it looked like Leo was on the verge of rearing back and punching the blond in the face. As amusing as that might have been to see, Nico also doubted Leo could take Apollo in a fight. The blond might look like a beautiful model, but Apollo was lean and muscled. Apollo also did not look threatened by the shorter Lost Boy.

In fact, Apollo seemed to ignore Leo, picking at his curls instead. Finally, the blond looked down at Leo. “I'm sorry, were you saying something. I'm sure it has something to do with my body, as I catch you staring at it so much.”

“Ass!” Leo growled. Nico moved forward, but Leo pointed a finger at him. “Stay out of this.”

Nico held up his hands defensively. Apollo smirked. “Temper, temper, Leo.”

Leo shoved his finger in the blond's face. “You... You self-centered, jealous, pretty boy...asshole.” Leo clenched his teeth, his fists shaking at his side. Apollo just smirked at him. Will poked his head over Apollo's shoulder to get a view of what was happening, waving over to Nico when he noticed the boy's presence. Leo just growled up at the curly-haired blond. “Don't just stand there, you fucking ass!”

Apollo shrugged and Leo let out a huff before storming off to his room, the door slamming behind him. Apollo arched a brow in the direction Leo had gone before smirking at Nico. “Well, that was entertaining.”

“What did you do this time?” Will mumbled, rubbing his eyes. It looked like he had been woken up from a nap.

The eldest of the trio simply shrugged. “We were just talking, and then I offered him sex.”

Will shook his head with a sigh. “Yeah, because that has gone over so well in the past. I don't think he's quite let go what happened the last time you two hooked up.”

Apollo's response was in the form of a grunt. Nico blinked up at Apollo. “Why'd you just stand there and let him yell at you? It looked like you were biting your tongue.”

“Oh, I was.” A smirk crept across Apollo's lips as he propped an arm against the frame of the door. “It's just kind of hot to see him get riled up like that.” His attention turned to his roommate, where he gave Will a lopsided smile. “Sorry if we woke you up with the yelling.”

Will waved it off. “S'all good, I needed to wake up anyways.” Though he was addressing Apollo, Will's eyes had wandered over to Nico and was smiling at the pale Lost Boy. “So, what are you going to do until work?”

Nico held up the bags in his hands. “Unload all of this and try to relax.”

Will moved out from behind Apollo with a grin. “I could help with that.”

“I bet you could,” Apollo mumbled. He coughed and looked away innocently when Will and Nico both shot him dirty looks.

Nico regarded Will for a moment. “I-”

Without letting him finish, Will shot forward and grabbed Nico. “Excellent, it's decided then.”

“I don't recall deciding anything,” Nico mumbled as Will fished Nico's wallet out of the raven-haired boy's back pocket, making sure the give Nico's ass a squeeze in doing so.

Before Nico could protest further, Will had the door open and Nico inside. Shooting Apollo a grin, Will shut the door. “It's no problem.” Will smiled and took one of the two bags Nico was carrying before heading to Nico's room.

Something caught Nico's eye on the edge of the couch, though. While Will went on to his room, Nico stopped and walked over to the couch, picking up an empty pack of cigarettes. He let out a sigh. This was not good, Nico thought. From what he had seen last night, Jason's pack had been nearly full last night, and now it was completely gone. But as he headed down the hall, Nico noticed Jason's light was off, which ruled out talking with his roommate at the current time. Pursing his lips, Nico made a mental note to talk to Jason later about it.

When he entered his room, Nico found that Will was already storing his new outfits with the rest of the ones Nico already had. Without even saying anything, Will took the other bag from Nico. “I can do that myself, you know,” Nico mumbled.

Will just smiled. “It's no trouble.” Nico sat down on the edge of the bed, watching the blond move around the room to organize everything. After a few moments, though, Will found him staring. “What?”

Nico quickly shook his head. “Nothing.” Will smiled. Nico frowned and furrowed his brow. “Will?”

“Hmm?”

“How long have you been here?”

Will paused, scrunching his lips. “I don't know, probably around a year and a half now.” He turned back to face Nico. “Why?”

“Just thinking.” Nico pursed his lips and tapped his fingers against the comforter. “Was that girl here while you were? The one that committed suicide, I mean.”

Will slowed down, slowly placing a few outfits in a drawer in the closet. “Why are you wanting to know about her?” His blue eyes looked over to Nico curiously. “You shouldn't ask about her...or any of them.”

“'Them'? There have been more?”

Will cursed under his breath. “Um,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I don't know how many. I did know Akhlys, but not very well. It wasn't long after I arrived that she killed herself.” Will shut the drawer and stepped out of the closet, regarding Nico carefully. “But ever since then, there haven't been any more cases. From what I've heard from Apollo or Luke, there were a few more cases. I think that's why they're on edge right now, because they don't want anyone doing something like that again. But, I mean, that's just our hotel, there are the other hotels that exist out there, and they each have suicides.”

“I just...” Nico tried to choose his words carefully. He fully understood that this was a delicate topic, and didn't want to go further than he needed to. “I'm just concerned, with Kronos currently in charge.”

Will nodded and laid down on Nico's bed, propping himself up on his side. “I understand.” His blue eyes refused to look up, too busy picking at Nico's comforter instead. “Just try not to ask anyone else about it? I think Ganymede and Aphrodite knew her pretty well, from what little I gathered during the time I was here. It, uh, happened maybe a month or two after Hazel and I first arrived here.”

“You arrived together?”

Will smiled sadly and shook his head. “Not far apart, though. Perhaps, at most, a couple of weeks.” He let out a long sigh and reached over to run his fingers along the back of Nico's hand. “Kronos was visiting.” Will chuckled at seeing the pale look Nico gave. “I know, right? A great way to start off our time here at the hotel.” Another sigh escaped the blond's lips. “Surprisingly, though, Kronos didn't bother either of us. Perhaps he acts more decently towards new arrivals? I'll probably never know for sure.”

This was the second time today that someone had said that Kronos was capable of being at least indifferent towards people. If only Kronos could be like that at all times.

“But I could tell that Kronos wasn't liked,” Will continued. “He creeped me out when I first met him.” Will smiled as he ran his fingers across Nico's arm. “Not as an enjoyable place before you came along.”

Nico narrowed his eyes. “Can we get back on subject.”

Will smiled, his eyes flickering down to Nico's lips, but never did anything. Letting out a sigh, Will's smile slowly faded. “I'm not sure what Kronos did exactly, but I never saw him threaten her or anything. Apollo claimed that Kronos didn't have to. I didn't really understand what that meant at the time, but I think I do now.” He shook his head. “I'm pretty sure Kronos brought up a lot of sensitive stuff with Akhlys, things like he used against Luke, Octavian, and Annabeth yesterday.”

That actually brought Nico to another question he had. “Is Annabeth's stepmother in an asylum?”

Will opened and closed his mouth a few times, apparently having a difficult time finding the the right words. “I'm not sure if I should answer that. Annabeth doesn't like talking about it, so don't bring it up.” Will's blue eyes narrowed at Nico. “I mean it. Not to anyone.”

Nico quickly nodded. “I promise.”

“Good.” Will let out a breath. “Anyways, on the morning that Kronos had to leave, they found her body. Or, at least, what was left of it.” Nico gave a curious look. “She sort of...jumped off of the top of the hotel.”

Nico was speechless. “That had to be...oh my god.”

“Yeah,” Will muttered. He licked his lips, his fingers trailing back down to Nico's hand. “It was definitely not the best way to get inducted into the hotel.” Will rubbed his head with the hand that wasn't busy touching Nico. “Kronos didn't seem bothered at all by it. And some of the Lost Kids suspect that Percy knows that Kronos coerced her into doing it, and never did anything about it. It just goes to show how far Percy is willing to overlook the atrocities of his 'brother'.”

“I...” Nico glanced down at his sheets, his eyes hypnotized by the soft movement of Will's hand on his own. “Percy-”

“Is not a knight in shining armor,” Will chuckled. He nudged the boy next to him lightly. “We tried to tell you from the very beginning. It wasn't just about the fact that Percy never took an interest in his employees, but also because Percy is dangerous. Being around Percy is dangerous. One of the reasons I never tried to pursue something like you or Apollo did was because it was too nerve wracking. Think about it, what would happen if Gaea didn't like you? Or just Kronos in general being involved in the situation.”

There was a long silence in the room. Nico refused to look up at the blond. He wasn't angry, not exactly anyways. It was just...hard to swallow.

After several long minutes, Nico looked up. “Did you ever...accept an offer that Percy gave you?”

There was a dull look in Will's eyes. Slowly, the blond sat up. “You mean, did I have him kill my parents? No, they are still alive. I think we've covered this.”

Nico shook his head. Briefly, the boy looked down. “Not them,” he whispered. “Did you ever...have him target the other kids from the orphanage? You said they were bad to you.”

When Nico was met with silence, he looked up. Will's eyes were hidden behind his short bangs, a deep frown marring his face. “They deserved to die,” Will whispered. “Mitchell's adopted parents, too. They deserved to die for abusing him and letting him die.” Nico reached forward and attempted to brush the blond's bangs away, only to have his hand swatted away. “They raped me, the kids in the orphanage. Said I was too pretty for my own good. And, afterward, they beat me. The adults that ran the orphanage didn't do anything.”

“But you had them killed,” Nico whispered. “You can't hold Percy accountable for something, when you asked him to do things like that.”

Will pulled away from Nico, his eyes still completely hidden. “They weren't nice people. I trusted them. The adults, the kids at the orphanage. I trusted them when I arrived, and they all hated me.” Nico swallowed a lump in his throat as he watched Will's fingers tighten as they clung to Nico's comforter. “Most nights, I woke up to a knife or something pressed against my throat, telling me that they'd kill me if I screamed.” Will reached up and touched at his lips. “I can still feel where I had to bite down to keep quiet, can still taste the blood that I drew.”

Will pulled his legs up to his chest and buried his face against them. Nico bit down on his lip before slowly reaching out and running his fingers through Will's hair in a soothing motion. This was so unlike Will, Nico had never seen the blond so...dark.

But that was how the hotel felt now. Dark, void of all light and hope. Perhaps it wasn't just nerves that were dwindling, perhaps the willpower of the Lost Kids were faltering. And with so many of them suffering, Nico had to wonder how Apollo, Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth were going to manage taking care of everyone.

“I'm sorry,” Nico whispered. “I didn't mean anything by it.” He stroked Will's hair again. “I don't think you're a bad person for asking Percy to do that.”

When Will finally looked up, Nico found himself wishing he hadn't. Nico wasn't sure how to describe what he saw in the blond's normally happy eyes. Pain. Suffering. Anger. Heartbreak. Misery. A hopeful look that might come from a small child, and perhaps Will was that small child once upon a time. But seeing Will now was very painful, and Nico found himself swallowing a lump in his throat.

Will ended up leaving not long after that. But fifteen minutes after the blond was gone, Nico still found himself sitting on his bed. He had a bad feeling about everything right now. Sure it was to be expected, what with Kronos being in charge, but he also had the feeling that some very dark days were ahead for everyone at the hotel.

When his phone went off, Nico climbed off his bed and picked up his phone from where it sat on his dresser. He was surprised to find his sister's name on the screen. Running his finger across the screen, Nico inspected her text.

She wanted him to meet her in the lobby. Apparently, she had more stuff for him.

Letting out a sigh, Nico grabbed his wallet and slipped his shoes back on before heading out the door. The elevator ride was quiet and felt longer than usual. Well, longer than normal for the ride down over sixty floors.

Bianca was already in the lobby when he arrived, three boxes sat beside her on the couch she had taken residence on. When she noticed him coming towards her, she got up and motioned excitedly towards the boxes. Ta-da! Look what I managed to confiscate before father could toss it out!”

Nico chuckled as he pulled one of the lids off the box on top, which contained some of his clothes from back home. The one underneath that contained his and Bianca's old Gamecube and the games they had managed to collect for it. And underneath that was a box that contained some old photos and a few things that belonged to their mother.

A small smile appeared on his face as Nico looked through the last box. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Don't mention it.”

Nico's eyes flickered over to Bianca's wrist. He frowned and put down a photo of him and his mother that he had been holding, his hand reaching out to grasp his sister's wrist. “Where did you get this?”

On Bianca's wrist was a diamond charm bracelet with tiny silver figurines attached to it. Bianca blushed and pulled her wrist away, rubbing it gently. “Um, yeah, about that. Dad's new friend got it for me.” She shook her head, a look of annoyance covering her face. “I don't know, I feel like Dad is moving on a little too fast, he's already going out to dinner with this woman and staying out late.” Her eyes inspected the bracelet on her wrist. “But she gave this to me for Christmas, probably as a bribe to like her.”

Nico gave a grunt. His father was earning a whole new low in his books right now. “I take it she's loaded?”

“I guess,” Bianca mumbled. “I'm not really trying to get to know her. I usually just go over to Daedalus's house when she's around.” Something must have caught Bianca's attention, as the girl waved at something behind Nico. “Annabeth!”

Sure enough, the blonde was exiting the hotel's restaurant with a carryout box, probably about to go eat in her room. The Lost Girl stopped and turned in their direction, a small smile crossing her lips as she noticed them. She came over to them and gave Bianca a one-armed hug, making sure to keep her food held away from the two of them.

“Nice to see you again, Bianca.”

Bianca smiled and slipped her hands into her pockets. “I hope you've been doing well.”

Annabeth smiled and nodded. “As well as I suppose I can be right now.”

Bianca gave her a curious look before placing a hand on Nico's shoulder. “I was just checking on Nico and dropping a few things off. He's not being any trouble, is he? Eating okay?”

“Ah.” Annabeth looked between the two siblings. “Well, he's eating just fine, though I've noticed he's eaten less over the past few days.” Nico scowled at her. How could she have possibly taken notice so quickly? “But we have all been under a lot of stress lately.” The blonde shifted her weight, holding her food with both hands. “Right now, the hotel is under temporary new management.”

Bianca quirked a brow before looking around. “Percy's not here?”

“No.” Grey eyes flickered over to where Nico stood, causing the boy to fidget. “Percy was called away due to...personal reasons.”

“Oh,” Bianca replied. “I take it you don't like the current manager?”

“That's one way of putting it,” Nico muttered.

Bianca gave him a curious look before her eyes widened and she reached into one of the boxes behind her. “Oh, I almost forgot.” Digging around, Bianca eventually pulled out a bottle of perfume. “I wanted to give you this,” she said, handing it to Annabeth.

The blonde blinked before she looked up in confusion. “What for?”

“Well, I don't plan on using it, and I still have another bottle for memory purposes, but Nico told me how nice you've been to him, so I just wanted to get you something as a way of saying thanks.” She offered the blonde girl a warm smile before continuing. “It belonged to our mother, something she picked up from one of our trips to Italy a few years ago. I suppose you can count it as a late Christmas present.”

It took Annabeth a moment, but she eventually smiled and placed the bottle in her hand that was underneath the food. “Thank you, I'll try it out and let you know how I like it.”

Bianca gave a chuckle. “I thought it might help you rope in that guy you mentioned back at the water park.

“Yes,” Annabeth said, a stoney quality lacing her words. “That.” The blonde pursed her lips. “Thank you.”

Bianca smiled again before nodding. She patted her pants before letting out a breath. “Well, I suppose I better head home.” Leaning in, she kissed Nico's forehead. “Behave yourself,” she told him before waving and heading towards the door.

After his sister was gone, Nico turned to stare at the blonde next to him. He had almost forgotten that Annabeth liked, or had liked, someone. “Were you serious when you told her you liked someone?”

“Yes,” was the only reply that Nico got.

Nico slowly nodded. “Okay, I guess you don't want to talk about it.” Annabeth didn't say anything. Nico fidgeted. “Um, so, I wanted to thank you as well, for being nice to my sister.”

“She's a nice girl.”

Nico nodded again. “Yeah, she is. But, I mean, everyone has been great to her.” He smiled a little. “And Percy even paid for her tuition, wasn't that amazing of him?”

Annabeth's brow furrowed. “What?”

“Oh.” Nico blinked twice. “Um, yeah, Percy's present to me was to pay for mine and Bianca's tuition.” He smiled with a shrug, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “It was very nice of him.”

There was a blank expression clouding Annabeth's face before she shrugged. “I suppose, but I wouldn't put much thought into it. It was probably just Percy's way of hinting that he still would like you to leave the hotel with as much of yourself still intact as can be managed.” That was a blow to Nico's stomach. The boy rubbed his arm. The blonde shrugged again. “Just giving my opinion. I mean, it's still nice of him, yes, but I wouldn't look at it as a romantic gesture.”

“Oh.” Nico nodded, his head down. “I guess you're probably right.”

Annabeth let out a sigh, reaching out to pat Nico on the shoulder. “Like I said, just giving my opinion.” She let out a breath. “As much as I hate to tell you this, Kronos wants to see you in his office. He was having a word with Jason not long ago, probably wants to have a word with the new additions.”

Nico nodded, letting out a groan. This was not a good day. Annabeth nodded back at him before heading towards one of the elevators. Nico let out a sigh before turning around and staring at the boxes that Bianca had brought him. As eager as he truly was to be alone with Kronos, Nico felt it couldn't hurt to put off that talk a little longer by dropping his boxes in his room first.

When Nico finally arrived in the office, Leo directed him to go ahead in the office that was supposed to belong to Percy. Opening the door, Nico found Kronos sitting behind the computer, rubbing his temple. Without looking up or speaking to Nico, Kronos pointed towards the chair directly across from the desk. Not needing to be told twice, Nico sat down.

Kronos let out a sigh. “As much as I'm sure you'd be shocked to learn, I cannot wait for Percy to get back.” Nico did find that hard to believe. “Because while he's getting to relax and listen to mother, I'm stuck running two hotels.” Another sigh escaped the young man's lips. “Which is why I sent Grover back to the Middle East, though I still get to manage the details from the computer. And this is on top of what I have to deal with here, since I can't very well trust those two out there to finalize documents.”

Nico frowned. “You wanted to see me?”

Kronos typed at the computer, ignoring Nico for a few moments before he pushed the keyboard away and leaned his elbows on the desk. “I did.” His eyes stared coldly over at the boy. “I'm fully aware that you've been doing this job for a few months now, but your recent change in job description could prove concerning.”

It wasn't Nico's call! If Kronos was so concerned about Nico screwing up, why was he throwing Nico into the kink rooms?

“Because it's not about what you want, it's about what you should be expected to do,” Kronos stated, like he could very well read Nico's mind. “I don't like it when clients are disappointed by their time purchases.” Kronos leaned back in his chair, slouching heavily. Closing his eyes, the young man rubbed his face with a yawn. “I expect you to do your job, regardless of how uncomfortable you are. I also expect you to make your clients happy.” Once again, Kronos leaned on the desk, burying his face in his hands.

Was it just Nico, or did Kronos look exhausted? He also had yet to really say anything truly insulting, which Nico found the most concerning. He glanced over his shoulder, unsure if there might have been a laser pointed at the back of his head from some sniper attack, or perhaps a hidden knife under his chair that might trigger and stab him. Kronos just rolled his eyes before resting his head on the desk.

“Um,” Nico shifted in his seat, “is that it?”

Kronos sat up and buried his face in his hands again. “Your voice is beginning to give me a headache.” Nico wanted to point that he had barely said a word since he had entered the office. Kronos let out a sigh and motioned for Nico to leave.

Nico continued to sit there for a moment, unsure if he was truly free to go or not. Slowly, he rose from his chair. “That's it?” Nico asked curiously. Kronos shot him an irritated look. “No hurtful comment to make me cry at work?”

Kronos popped his knuckles with a glare. “I can always change my mind, kid.” Nico swallowed a lump in his throat. “If you don't mind, I have more pressing matters to deal with, rather than concern myself with insufferable people in my office.”

“Sorry,” Nico mumbled, reaching for the door.

But before he could go. “I'm just amazed that you have adapted so quickly.”

Nico found himself smiling, slowly turning around. “Thank-”

“Frankly, I'm surprised you're even still surviving in this hotel, what with how pathetic I truly find you.” There it was. Kronos tapped his fingers on the desk as he gave Nico a look that made the Lost Boy feel like he was lower than scum. “And I still think you're a fool for turning down a free ride through the hotel and disappointing Percy by volunteering to do this job.”

Nico slowly took in a deep breath, nodding his head in silence. Responding that would only put a bigger target on his back, and Nico did not need that. Kronos went back to typing and Nico slipped out the door, releasing the breath he had been holding once the door was securely shut.

Luck was not on Nico's side today it seemed. Halfway through the night, Leo took Nico aside and told the pale Lost Boy that Nico was expected to go to the kink rooms towards the end of his shift. That had not helped Nico's nerves the rest of the night. And unlike his first few times being in the rooms upstairs, Kronos had not allowed any of the other Lost Kids to accompany Nico into these rooms.

They were a lot different than the ones upstairs. There was a bit more lighting, but the room he was currently in used a red bulb. The fact that there was a bondage rack in the corner of the room did not help his nerves either. Luke had been right about what they kept in stock down here. The cabinets and a table in the room were stocked with various alcohols, packs of cigarettes, and various forms of—what Nico could only assume was—drugs. The walls also seemed to be thinner down here, as he could hear a client screaming in one of the other rooms, though considering the nature of these rooms, Nico was uncertain if it was out of pain or pleasure. Perhaps a mixture of both.

But perhaps the most concerning thing was the fact that there was a chain and collar attached to the foot of the bed.

The one thing that did catch Nico's eye, though, was a glass bowl next to the small bed that was kept in the room. From the looks of it, the bowl was stocked with various candy. Most looked a lot like Skittles or M&Ms. Scrunching his lips, Nico picked one up for inspection. Not exactly what he had been expecting to find in a place like this.

The door opened, startling Nico, and Nico found himself staring at a rather young man, probably only a few years older than Percy or Luke. On the bright side, the guy was attractive. Just not Nico's usual type. He was too pretty. Which would sound very odd, since Nico had a crush on Percy. But this boy reminded him of some of the rich kid that walked around the school that he was currently enrolled in. The way the guy dressed made Nico think he went to Yale or Harvard. If Nico had to guess, this guy was not here because of his own money.

And for the first time, Nico didn't really feel as intimidated being in a situation like this. Aside from selling his body, there was one important job that he was here for. Information. If this college kid was allowed up to the top floor or down into these rooms, he had to have some information that Gaea would value.

Perhaps it was just way for Nico to take out all of his bully frustrations from the past, but he wanted to make the guy squirm until he gave Nico all the information that he could.

Smirking, Nico stood up and yanked his shirt over his head. “So, how do you want to do this?”

The fact that the guy seemed rather bored only added to Nico's irritation with the guy. A simple shrug was all he got. “I like it rough, so let's see if I can get my money's worth.”

Nico shoved the guy onto the bed, a dark look inhabiting his dark gaze. “You mean daddy's money?”

The guy fidgeted. “Yeah, I'd prefer he didn't know I was here, especially with a male prostitute.” Nico knew what he technically was, but hearing the words from someone else still stung. “Don't need to get cut off.”

Nico crawled onto the bed, biting down on his lip. With a wag of his brows, he cuffed one of the guy's hands to the railing at the head of the bed. “Your secret's safe with me,” he practically purred against the guy's brown curly locks.

A grin crept across the brunet's lips as he reached over into the bowl and popped a piece of candy into his mouth. Nico's gaze flickered over to the bowl while he slowly worked on getting the young man's pants off. Maybe the rich snob had requested a bowl of candy be put into the room? It would make sense, Nico supposed, since these rooms were more about catering to the desires of clients.

Nico bit down on his lip as he stared at the bowl. “Can...can I have some?”

The brunet's eyebrows rose before he slowly sat up. “Um, yeah, sure. I didn't offer you any, though.”

Nico arched a brow as he reached over and popped two red ones into his mouth and chewed. “Okay,” he mumbled. Rolling his eyes, Nico fastened the guy's other hand into the other cuff. With a huge grin, Nico grabbed a short whip from the side table. “I hope you're ready.”

Nico did not wait for an answer before cracking the leather across the guy's stomach. The young man let out a yelp, but did not ask Nico to stop, so the Lost Boy could only assume that the rich jerk liked it. The only enjoyable part for Nico was getting to inflict pain on someone that could have once bullied a kid like Nico. That was quite satisfying.

“So,” Nico began, deciding to pry a little, “what does daddy dearest do?”

The brunet rolled his blue eyes. Compared to the blue eyes of most of the other Lost Boys, they weren't anything special. In fact, Nico thought they were rather dull compared to the different shades of blue that Connor, Luke, Octavian, Will, Jason, Travis, and Apollo had.

“Not around a whole lot, never was.” Nico wanted to motion for the kid to hurry up, he had no interest in hearing this guy's life story. “Most of the world thinks he's an entrepreneur, but he actually smuggles valuable cargo around the world for the right price.” The brunet smirked up at Nico, raising his knees to bring the Lost Boy closer to him. “In fact, I guess I can thank him for turning me onto this place, as he gets most of his business from the other people here. He let me go up to the bar with him over this past summer, and even up to see a show. But I thought I'd come back and have a little taste of what else you had to offer here.”

Nico smirked and leaned down to nibble on the guy's ear, raking his nails down the young man's chest. This earned him a low moan. Leaning back, Nico had to admire his handiwork on the guy's chest. There was no way this guy was going to be taking his shirt off anytime soon, not with all those red marks on his chest.

Nico had to shake his head, realizing that he was swaying a little. He must have been zoning out.

Clearing his throat, Nico climbed off of the rich asshole. Walking over to where a lit candle was, Nico picked it up. He held it up to the guy. “How about this?” The smirk that Nico got appeared to be his answer. Shrugging, Nico sauntered back over to the bed and bit down on his lip, holding the lit candle over the brunet's chest.

The rich young man hissed and Nico watched as his toned muscles contracted from the sting of the wax. Placing the candle on the bedside table, Nico straddled the brunet's lap, grabbing the back of the guy's hair rather harshly to get the guy to lean up towards Nico. The Lost Boy crashed their lips together, making sure to bite down on the rich snob's lip as he pulled back. The guy moaned and attempted to kiss Nico again, but Nico smirked and leaned back, just out of the guy's reach.

Perhaps it was a little fun to toy with the clients.

As if he was part cat, Nico slid out of his shorts while hovering over his client. The brunet licked his lips at Nico's nude form. This made Nico smirk. Getting information from this one would be too easy.

Nico pressed his nude form against the young man's bare chest. “I'm sure your father must trust you then, since he let you come here to play with the big boys and girls.” Nico grinned at the irritated look he got.

“I'm pretty sure I'm older than you, kid.”

Nico smirked. “Well, I won't call the cops if you won't.”

That shut the guy up. Once again, he raised his knees to situate Nico into his lap before rolling his hips against Nico's ass. While Nico felt no real pleasure from the action, he closed his eyes with a moan. Biting down on his lip, Nico raised a hand to run through his hair.

Feeling something wet, Nico stopped and pulled his hand away. He was sweating. He looked back at the young man tied to the bed and found that his vision was getting a little fuzzy. Shaking his head, Nico went back to work on getting the guy out of his expensive looking boxers.

“And, um-” Nico had to blink to get his vision to focus. He was starting to not feel so great. A bead of sweat rolled down his nose and dripped onto the guy's chest. “So, do you ever, um, get to meet with any of your father's clients? Would be exciting.” Nico worked on looking sexy, biting down on his lip, though his head was spinning.

“A few,” the brunet mumbled, rolling his hardened member against Nico's butt. “We can discuss that all you want, if that's what gets you in the mood, baby.”

“Um, yeah,” Nico muttered. Nico's eyes widened as he nearly fell off of the bed, barely catching hold of the sheets to gain his balance back. What was wrong with him?

But Nico did not have any time to question it as the brunet requested that he be let go. Doing as he was told, Nico found himself with a collar around his neck and the brunet's length inside of him. But the weird thing was that Nico could not feel any of it. It wasn't that the guy was small down there. No, Nico had seen the guy's penis, and it was, unfortunately, not small like he had hoped it would be. There just was no feeling anywhere on Nico's body.

Even the collar, even though Nico could barely feel it digging into his skin, offered no pain. The room began to spin as Nico's hazy gaze stared up at the red lights above the bed. Even his client was a blur, and Nico was no longer to make out anything that the young man was doing.

Nico's head rolled back, his mouth open. Fear started to overtake him, but his body did not want to cooperate. Instead of pain, Nico's body was flooded with a euphoric sensation, every inch of him feeling as if he was on fire.

And it all kept going, the room spinning faster and faster, until Nico's head rolled to the side and he blacked out.

To say that Nico's dream was weird was a bit of an understatement. From what little he could make out, the dream involved a unicorn that was offering to take him on a ride through a forest made out of bacon and hotdogs. And there was something about a pirate guarding a treasure chest full of bananas that really made no sense to Nico, even while he was dreaming. It wasn't until the sun fell from the sky and landed on top of him that Nico woke up.

And he did so with a scream. He nearly ended up smacking Will in the head, but luckily the blond was quick enough to pull away. As it turned out, the sun from Nico's dream had actually been Will shining a flashlight into his eyes.

Nico looked around him in confusion. He was definitely no longer in the kink rooms. It took him a moment, but he soon realized that he was in his own bed. “What—what happened?” Nico asked groggily.

Will smiled and turned off the flashlight, dropping it into a small medical bag that Nico would often see in the blond's room. It was only then that Nico took notice of the fact that Clarisse and Jason were also in the room. Clarisse stood at the foot of the bed, her arms crossed over her chest, while Jason leaned against the frame of Nico's bedroom door.

The blond Lost Boy that currently sat on the edge of Nico's bed smiled and leaned in, tilting Nico's chin up and holding Nico's eyelids open. “You passed out,” finally came his answer.

To put it mildly, Nico felt like shit, like a building had fallen on top of him. Nico let out a groan and rubbed his face while Will took his other wrist and checked his pulse. “Well,” Will began, “we can only assume you consumed some of the drugs that were in the room.” He gave the smaller boy a weak smile. “Lucky for you, Clarisse was keeping an eye on you from the security room.”

“Asshole didn't even say anything before he left,” Clarisse mumbled.

He had just left Nico there? Nico pulled his legs up to his chest, a frown marring his face. What if he had died? Swallowing the lump currently in his throat, Nico gave Clarisse a nod. “Thank you.”

But the Lost Girl smirked a cocky smirk back at him. “Looks like you broke Percy's cardinal rule. No drugs.”

Will let out a sigh before turning his attention back to Nico. “What happened Nico? You were unresponsive and just laying there when I arrived.”

Nico rubbed his head. He felt weak, barely able to move. His throat hurt and felt raw, like he had thrown up. “I don't know. I remember starting to have sex with the client, but then I just passed out.”

Will gave a slow nod. “Yeah, okay. Um, so, I was afraid this would be the case.” He cleared his throat and felt Nico's head before pressing on. “First off, Luke wanted me to apologize if this was the case, which it is. He sort of forgot to mention that some of the drugs we keep in stock look a lot like candy, and the guy from last night had requested a lot of it.” Will pressed against Nico's chest when the other Lost Boy attempted to get up. “It can also taste like candy. You wouldn't know it was actually a drug until it was taking effect in your system.”

Even though he felt weak, a hint of anger flowed through him. Had this just been another stunt against him, this time by Luke? Nico stumbled to his feet, pushing Will's hands away when the blond moved to catch him. “I'm fine,” he mumbled. He stumbled against, but Jason managed to catch him.

“Don't be mad,” his roommate whispered. “Luke feels bad, so don't be upset with him.”

Luke? Feel bad? Nico scoffed. He wasn't sure feeling bad was actually in the blond's vocabulary.

Will got up and closed his bag. “I promise this isn't like what Apollo did, Luke really did forget. We just don't think about it, and I guess he thought you'd realize what it was. We forget sometimes what it can be like for someone new to go down there without experience.”

Nico took in a deep breath. “I need to wash my face,” the boy muttered before moving past Jason and entering the hall, where he stopped.

Sitting against the wall of the hallway was Luke. The blond looked up with a pained look and all of Nico's anger dissipated. Had the blond been concerned about him enough to come wait until Nico woke up?

“Hi,” Nico whispered.

“Hey,” Luke mumbled back. The blond's brow furrowed as he climbed to his feet. “Listen...I just forgot how easy it can be to not know what that stuff is for someone new. I had planned on showing you everything in those rooms when I took you down there myself, but I guess you got a client before I could get the chance.” The taller Lost Boy nodded, looking anywhere but at Nico's face. “Anyways, I just wanted to say that...” Luke muttered the rest under his breath.

Nico tilted his head to the side. “What?”

“I said, I'm sorry,” Luke mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

A small smile touched at Nico's lips as he took a step towards the blond and wrapped his arms around the blond's neck. Luke blinked in surprise, frozen in place. He pushed Nico back with a scowl, but Nico just continued to smile. “Thanks,” Nico finally replied.

Luke scowled at him and crossed his arms. “Yeah, well, don't get used to it, twerp.”