"Nine major casualties." Thalia's voice was hard as iron. "Severed leg muscles, broken bones. Nico, what were you thinking?"

All eyes were on the son of Hades. Chiron looked troubled, Jason and Piper shocked. Lanesra, the Second Lieutenant, glared at Nico with barely suppressed fury. Only Percy seemed to understand what was really going on.

The silence seemed to hang in the air. Finally Nico spoke. "Seems to me that you're just sore losers."

"Nico!" Chiron barked.

"Bastard!" The table tipped over with a crash. Lanesra shot out of her seat, crimson with rage.

Nico simply scooted his wheeled chair backwards to avoid the table. He seemed to be taunting Lanesra with his bored look.

"Lanesra, sit down." Thalia said firmly, trying to ignore the throbbing in her head. "We're not going to take things into our own hands."

Lanesra sat down hard, hands shaking with anger.

Percy cleared his throat. "Last time you were here I remember a lot of broken bones."

"That's different." Thalia shook her head. "Broken bones happen all the time. Sword wounds, however—"

"So it's okay when you crack our heads, but we can't crack yours?" Nico leaned forward, resting his elbows on the edge of the fallen table. "No wonder you always win."

Lanesra jumped out of her seat with a howl. Everyone apart from Nico rose as her arm came up with a blade.

"Lanesra, stop!" Thalia grabbed the Second Lieutenant around the waist as she tried to vault the table. Percy, Piper and Jason all rushed forward, grabbing her arms and pulling the knife out of her grasp. Thalia wrestled her to the floor in a tangle of limbs. Lanesra screamed oaths at Nico.

"Get out!" Thalia yelled into her face. "Go!"

Lanesra got to her feet, trembling from head to toe. Percy, Jason and Piper formed a wall between her and Nico, shepherding her towards the doorway. Percy pulled his pen from his pocket. "Don't even think about it." he warned.

Lanesra pointed a finger at Nico. "You're dead, little boy. Dead!"

Nico laughed out loud. "Most of your group is incapacitated. I took down four of you at once. Who's gonna kill me? You?"

"Enough!" Chiron snapped.

Lanesra lunged at him and it took all three of Percy, Jason and Piper to wrestle her out of the room. Thalia remained standing until Jason and Percy came back in. Piper had left to escort Lanesra to Cabin 8.

"Are you trying get yourself killed?" Thalia screamed at Nico. "Look at what you did. The whole hunt's going to be out for your blood. Do you have any idea how hard it will be to rein them in?"

"Let them come," Nico spread his hands, smiling. "You all know where to find me."

"Nico, that is enough." Chiron's voice was steely calm, the way he got when he was really angry. "You will stop this behaviour at once. You will apologise to the hunters for going overboard."

"Or what?" Nico countered. "We both know I'm not going to do it. We won the game, fair and square. It's not my fault if I'm too good for them."

Jason shook his head. "You're easily skilled enough to avoid unintentional maiming. Percy and I took them down without seriously injuring them."

"What are you saying?" Nico folded his arms.

Jason found himself unable to continue. If Nico was angry Jason could face him down, even if the mere thought of it made his stomach churn. But Nico was nonchalent, as if he didn't care about their accusation. He had been intentional, Jason realised. He'd gone into the game looking for blood.

"What is this about?" Percy asked.

Nico turned to him. "Beg your pardon?"

"So you didn't hold back. So you did it on purpose. Why?"

"Is it because of Bianca?" Thalia asked quietly.

"Partly," Nico shrugged. "If Bianca hadn't joined your hunt she'd still be alive. Partly also because I want to win. But mostly because I want to put a dent in that stupid ego of yours."

"My ego?" Thalia was astonished.

"I meant the hunters in general." Nico waved his hand dismissively. "You all think you're so high and mighty. You consider yourselves superior to men just because you swear off love." Nico shook his head in disgust. "The hunt is just a facade. It doesn't make you any better. It doesn't solve anything. Deep down you're all still the same little girls you started as."

Thalia took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions. "You will not insult the hunt in front of my face."

Jason and Percy came between them.

"Don't," Jason shook his head slowly.

Footsteps sounded down the hall. Lanesra burst into the room, gasping for air like she'd just run a hundred-metre sprint.

Percy's eyes widened as she caught sight of her. Lanesra was deathly pale, tears running down her eyes. She let out a sob.

"Lanesra!" Thalia grabbed her around the shoulders. "What's happened?"

Piper slowly entered the room behind Lanesra, her face ashen. "There's something you have to see."