Chapter 12:
Half-Brother Mine
Augur bucked against The Apollo, sending both ships knocking against either other and sudden waves lapping up the sides. Will lurched forward, his sword aimed at Octavian's front, and prayed to all the gods that the point would find its mark and finish this problem before it became unmanageable.
Will, surprise surprise, wasn't in much favour with the gods at the moment. So, with a lecherous grin that attracted rodents and not much else, Octavian slipped along the railings out of reach of Will's revenge. Gritting his teeth, biting down on a snarl, Will sprang after him, loathing and fear brewing some toxic concoction in his stomach because Octavian was looking like he'd already won.
"You had one, didn't you?" Octavian said, plaguing Will with snide and gleeful grins as he lunged and missed, lunged again and missed. "A mermaid?"
"I wanted one," Will snapped, sword whistling as it tried again to make a new sheath out of Octavian's ribcage. "I didn't get one! If you could be so kind as to-"
Octavian's sword made an unholy scraping sound as the clashed with Will's, the noise reverberating in his chest and making his eyes shake. It was accompanied by a deafening splash from behind him, but when Will turned to check it out Octavian's blade whipped across his face. Pain blossomed like a sick flower somewhere on his cheek. Black spots flitted in and out of his sight, and sheer panic at what Octavian might do to him was all that saved his life.
Will fell back into the deck, dropping gracelessly to the wood and rolling away, earrings knocking against his neck. He blinked sweat from his lashes and growled low and loud, so angry at how Octavian made him feel, at how he knew this would end up, at how he'd already lost something precious and now was going to pay for it with his life.
Scrambling to his feet, Will wiped his nose and got into a defensive pose, lip ticked up hatefully.
"Why don't you sail off," he said, "and show everyone back home who the real family disappointment is."
"Why?" a voice that definitely didn't belong to Octavian said from behind him. "When he can take you instead."
Will reacted quickly, but since the gods still hated him, it wasn't quickly enough. Something hard and merciless smashed into his shoulder, catapulting him to his knees. They smacked the wood so hard bruises began flourishing immediately, as if Will had nothing else to worry about. Another kick struck his wrist, sending his sword spinning and hand throbbing. Golden flecks sprinkled the edge of Will's vision but he flailed anyway, writhing to get away from his assailant and his own thoughts.
Octavian had tricked him.
Nope nope nope, Will's brain said as he fell onto his side.
But he did.
Blasphemy, Will's brain refuted.
Whether you like it or not, he did.
Do you wanna go?
Will refused to resort to crawling away from whatever trap his half-brother had set up for him, and refused to bend any lower than his knees when a crooked forearm put him in a headlock. Will, as a pirate who wasn't above much, sank his teeth into the brown thumb that had been foolish enough to wander near his mouth. There was a curse from above him before Will was jerked backwards.
For good measure, the owner of the brown thumb punched him in the face. Warm blood dripped from Will's lip, and he half expected it to start sizzling. Metaphorically, because he was furious enough for it to, and literally, because his father was the god of the sun, where heat was his speciality.
Obnoxiously spitting saliva onto the deck, Will said, "He can take me. But if he needs help taking me down, then he should seriously consider whether or not I'm the disappointment here."
The forearm tightened until there was barely enough room for Will to breathe.
"Don't talk to Octavian like that-"
"Don't talk to me like that, brother mine," Octavian interrupted, waltzing the few metres between him, Will and the stranger. He was acting as if he'd defeated the captain of The Apollo singlehandedly, which he most definitely had not.
"How else am I meant to talk to you, then?" Will asked sarcastically. "Your face puts a lot of people off of talking to you any other way."
Octavian slapped him, and Will's split lip and cheek stung brilliantly. He spat again, this time carefully taking aim. A globule of saliva and blood landed on Octavian's shoe, and Will giggled.
"Ugh."
Snatching a handful of Will's hair, Octavian yanked Will's head back and swooped down until they were nose-to-nose, scowling into each other's faces. Tension crackled between them until a slow, disgusting smile slimed its way onto Octavian's mouth. Sunlight bounced off his sword as he dragged it around, the tip red, and Will felt something small, sharp and cold touch his abdomen through the tear in his shirt. A trickle of his own blood rolled onto his skin.
"I could split you up the middle," Octavian murmured. "Like a sacrifice. Have you ever heard of being hung, drawn and quartered, Will? Doesn't it sound fun?"
Will swallowed. "Sounds like a blast," he said.
"It does, doesn't it?"
"Hey!"
Will's blood, both inside and out, froze. What little air he could get was sucked out of his lungs as though Octavian had punched him and his muscles seized.
He'd been waiting for someone of his crew to notice him and maybe come to his aid, but there was a frightening lack of people he recognised inhabiting his ship at the moment. Jason, who could plunge in with his sword and cut Octavian in half, had disappeared, along with his opponents. Lou, who could blast whoever was holding Will down to Hades, was as silent as her inactive weapon. Now he was relying on a miracle mutiny from Octavian's ship. Any form of help, Will thought, would be beyond welcome.
Except this kind.
Eerie, diluted blue eyes flickered away from Will's face towards the opposite railing, where traitorous midday sun was illuminating dark scales, pale skin, and a diadem made of Stygian metal and black pearls. Unlike Will, Octavian didn't need to look closer at the crown to know what it meant.
"Nico di Angelo," he breathed. Thank the gods for small mercies – at least he wasn't breathing in Will's face. "The Prince of Hades. What is he…"
A shallow cut slashed Will's front the second his violent squirming started. Octavian barely dodged having his nose crushed to bits by Will's forehead as Will snapped his body upwards, vainly trying to wrest himself out of the strong grip that was holding him down. The memory of his empty ship was thrown out of his head.
"By all the gods!" he yelled, chest heaving with the effort of keeping enough air in his lungs. "Nico, get out of here!"
Nico's blazing stare moved from Octavian to Will, who would have quailed if he hadn't been so sure the anger in those black iris' wasn't directed at him.
"I can't," Nico snapped. Dripping water all over the deck, Nico swung his tail around until he was seated on the railing. Shadows roamed across his arms, materialising into a long sword before slinking away to hide around his fins.
"As a warrior of the merpeople," Nico began, "and a protector of the city, I'm sworn to sink any pirate seeking to hurt my family." His sword point levelled at Octavian, his eyes still on Will. "And I vowed on the Styx not to leave this ship." The temperature dropped at least two degrees. "Also, Octavian…"
There was a collective, terrified silence.
"…you're an asshole."
Nico launched himself across the ship without warning, the shadows acting like a spring and propelling him straight at the unfortunate pirate.
