Starcrossed (55 page)

“You are welcome in this House and you have our hospitality,”

Castor offered formally as he bowed, stepped aside, and let Daphne

over the threshold as his sacred guest.

The official meeting between the Houses took place in the library,

with everyone arranged around Cassandra’s chair. Helen took her

place next to her mother on the couch, and tried not to look at Lucas

even though he was sitting directly opposite her.

“First of all, I would like to make amends for the violation of your

safety while you were a guest in my House,” Castor began humbly,

but Daphne cut him off before he finished his thought.

“Pandora was distraught. She and Ajax had a special bond, and

because of that I could never hold a grudge against her for trying to

avenge him, especially not now that she’s lost to us,” she said, waving

a hand through air as if to banish the thought. “As far as I’m

concerned the laws of hospitality were not violated.”

As she said those last words, Helen noticed Lucas’s eyes snap

over to Daphne, and she knew that he had sensed a lie, but decided

to overlook it for the greater good.

“I called this meeting to address two very important matters that

concern both our Houses,” Daphne continued in a smooth voice.

“The first is Hector and his future, and the second is my daughter

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and her part in the prophecy.” Helen’s head spun around to face

her mother.

“My what?” she asked, completely at a loss.

Helen wasn’t the only one in the room who didn’t understand.

Castor and Pallas looked around, confused, and even Cassandra

shrugged as if to admit she had no idea what Daphne meant.

Jason stood up and took a stiff step forward.

“Helen is the Descender that the Oracle mentioned in their

prophecy—the prophecy that says that the Descender will free the

Houses from the cycle of revenge,” he said from his place behind

his father’s seat. “I only realized it this afternoon, when Helen described

the dry lands so perfectly that I knew she’d seen them. That

puzzled me at first because I know she isn’t a Healer. Then she told

me that she would come down and drag both Claire and me out if I

wasn’t strong enough to make the journey on my own. From her

confidence, I knew she meant what she said, and I also suspected

that she had physically been there more than once.”

“The dust on your feet!” Ariadne exclaimed as she recalled

Helen’s dirty feet and the mystery of the un-rung jingle bells.

“What about it?” Helen asked, looking around at everyone’s immobile

faces.

“The Descender doesn’t just dream about the Underworld, the

Descender literally goes down into it in his or her body,” Ariadne

answered with a shocked face. “You physically went into hell every

night?”

“Your nightmares,” Lucas said, looking at Helen as he began to

understand.

“You were with me in one of them,” Helen said back to him in a

confused voice. “The night we fell, before we woke up on the beach,

I went down to get you, remember? You were lost and blind and I

made you to stand up and walk. I made you follow me out. . . .”

Here, Helen had to stop. Forcing Lucas to walk through the

Underworld had been like doing surgery on an animal without

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painkillers. He didn’t understand that what she was doing was for

his own good, he only knew that she was hurting him.

“That was real?” Lucas whispered.

Helen nodded and reached out to take his hand, needing to touch

him to reassure herself that he wasn’t afraid of her now, but

Daphne stopped her hand in midair and pulled it back, shaking her

head in disapproval.

“You knew,” Lucas said, turning to Daphne.

“Like Jason, I discovered Helen’s talent this afternoon,” Daphne

replied. “That’s one of the reasons I asked for this meeting.”

“And what are the rest of your reasons?” Cassandra asked coldly

as flashes of the Oracle aura began to brighten the outline of her

face. Daphne bowed her head reverently to the multiple presences

that had begun to grace Cassandra.

“Like Aeneas, my daughter will need Sibyl’s help in the Underworld,”

Daphne said in a formal tone. “I ask that the House of

Thebes care for their cousin, Helen, Heir to the House of Atreus,

while she fulfills her destiny in the Underworld. In exchange, I,

Daphne, Head of the House of Atreus, will grant refuge and protection

to Hector Delos, Outcast of the House of Thebes.”

Everyone shot each other looks, stunned by both the request and

the offer that Daphne had made. The room hung in silence as expectations

recalibrated.

“Why would you do this for my son?” Pallas asked as he partially

rose from his seat, torn between thanks and indignation.

“Because he is one of the strongest Scions I’ve ever seen, but he’s

also one of the proudest. The loss of his place in this House is going

to change him, and without guidance he could become a danger to

us all. I’ve seen it before,” Daphne said evenly. Then she turned to

Lucas and looked him in the eye to ensure that what she said was

proved true by him. “We are all family, and it’s time we started acting

like it.”

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“There are no falsehoods in anything she says,” Lucas said, looking

over at Pallas who nodded with relief. Lucas, however, looked

devastated. He had heard the truth from Daphne herself—Helen

was a member of his family.

Castor and Pallas looked at each other, already in agreement,

then glanced over at Cassandra for final approval. She nodded her

head once, and then stood up and left the room without another

word.

“One last thing,” Daphne continued, tactfully ignoring Cassandra’s

rude exit. “Hector wants to know what’s to happen to

Creon’s body.”

“We’ll be contacting Mildred to come and retrieve her son,”

Castor said, looking down at his hands. “She’ll want to bring him

back to his father for the funeral.”

“Of course,” Daphne said sadly. “Will you let me know when

she’ll be here? Hector mentioned something about facing her to

ask for forgiveness . . . ” she trailed off uncertainly, as if she wasn’t

sure Hector should do that.

“I’ll call you,” Pallas promised stiffly, and then hurried out of the

room.

Daphne stayed for a bit longer and reassured the rest of the family

that physically Hector was going to be fine; but she was blunt

about the fact that he wasn’t doing well emotionally. After letting

them all know that she would convey their love to him, she departed

hastily, saying that she had left Hector alone for as long as she

dared. Helen walked her to the door.

“Did Hector see you in Pandora’s shape on the beach tonight?”

she asked her mother quietly when they got to the front door.

“No. And he can never know,” Daphne said, staring at Helen intensely.

“You and I are the only family he has now and he needs to

trust me. You both do.”

Helen knew her mother had risked her life to help Hector, but

the way Helen saw it, trust was something that was earned, not

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something that another person could demand from her. Even if

that person was her own mother.

“I’ll be in touch with you over the next few days to let you know

what the plan is,” Daphne promised as she took her bag down off

the hook and opened the door.

“One last thing?” Helen asked as she held the door open. “I’ll stay

quiet about what I saw on the beach if you agree to release Jerry

from the influence of the cestus. You never loved him, but Kate

does, and I think it’s about time you let someone in your life be

happy, don’t you?”

Daphne stared at Helen, shocked that her obedient daughter had

finally expressed a mind of her own, then looked off to the side distractedly,

like she was listening to a faraway sound.

“It’s done,” she said in a brisk voice, snapping out of her momentary

trance. “I can’t make any promises about his relationship

with Kate working out, but Jerry’s heart is his own to give or to

keep as he sees fit.”

“It’s about time,” Helen said coldly.

“All of this pain I’ve caused, I did it to protect you. And it worked.

So I’m not sorry for any of it,” Daphne said, giving Helen a sad

smile before turning and walking away.

Helen shut the door and wandered back to the rest of the family,

forehead furrowed in thought. As soon as she stepped into the living

room, Lucas’s head snapped around to look at her. He gestured

for her to come to him. Although she knew it was the last thing that

she should do, it was the only thing she wanted to do.

“I have to go home,” she told him as soon as she got to him, trying

not to shake too much. “I left a good-bye note for my father on

my desk when I thought . . .” She broke off and had to take a

breath. “Anyway, I have to get rid of it before he wakes up and

finds it. He’s been through too much already.”

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Lucas balled his right hand into a fist and shoved it into his pocket.

Helen had never seen him make that gesture before, and she

realized he was doing it to stop himself from taking her hand.

“Let’s go, then,” Lucas said, turning his face away from hers.

“But I thought you and I were staying away from each other?”

She broke off awkwardly.

Lucas shook his head decisively. “Creon had Pandora drag

Daphne to that beach because he was going to take her off this island

by boat. Which means he was supposed to rendezvous with

someone out there on the water,” Lucas said, his expression steely.

“When they realize that Creon is missing, they’re going to come

looking for him, and when they don’t find him they’re going to

come looking for Daphne—and then you. You’re in more danger

now than you ever were and I don’t care how hard it is on either of

us. I’m not letting you out of my sight for a second.”

“Well, what are we supposed to do then?” she nearly cried out,

throwing her hands up in surrender. She had reached the end of

her emotional and physical tether.

“Come on,” Lucas said grabbing her hand and pulling her out of

the room. Everyone turned and looked at them, but they were too

overwhelmed by the losses they had suffered to pay much attention

to Helen’s outburst.

“I’m taking her home and staying there to watch over her,” Lucas

barked at Ariadne, who was weeping quietly in a chair. As soon as

they were outside they leapt in unison into the night sky.

The cold air was like a slap in the face. It knocked Helen out of

her confused state and she realized that no matter what she had

been through that day, Lucas had been through far worse. It was

time to stop feeling sorry for herself and pay attention to him.

Moments later, they landed on Helen’s widow’s walk, and Lucas

turned to her with an empty face, letting go of her hand.

“Go in. I’ll be fine up here,” he whispered. Helen took a step

closer to him, but he just shook his head.

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“I can’t come in,” he whispered, his voice breaking hopelessly.

“I’ve lost too much today. I’m not strong enough.”

“I know,” she said. “I’m so sorry, Lucas.”

Helen wrapped her arms around his shoulders, wanting nothing

but to console him. She held on to him, propping him up until Lucas

was strong enough to stand on his own again. He eased himself

away from Helen and gave her a small smile to let her know that he

was better.

“Wait here a sec. I have to let my dad know I’m home.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Lucas promised.

Helen flew down to the front yard and noticed that Kate’s car was

still parked in the driveway. She landed and went in the front door,

not at all sure what she was going to say or do. She found her dad

sleeping on the couch in the living room, sat down next to him, and

shook him gently until he woke. Jerry looked relieved for about

two seconds, then sat up and sighed at Helen in disappointment.

“You know what you put me through, right?” he asked, heartbroken.

Helen felt so guilty she couldn’t meet his eyes, so she just

nodded her head. “You’d better start explaining.”

Helen thought about how so many people in her life already

knew what she was, and for just a moment she considered telling

her father everything. But if she opened that can of worms she’d

also have to tell him Daphne was back, and she couldn’t bring herself

to do that. Not after she had finally released him from his unnatural

attachment to her. For the first time in almost two decades,

Jerry had the chance to have a real life with a woman who actually

loved him in return. Helen wouldn’t allow anything to endanger

that.

“I can’t, Dad. At least I can’t right now. I guess I could make up

an excuse, but it would be a lie,” Helen said hopelessly as she

rubbed her hands over her tired face and aching skull. “And I don’t

ever want to lie to you.”

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“Is this how things are going to be between us now? No trust, no

communication, no respect?”

“No, Dad. Don’t even say that,” Helen said shaking her head