Dreamless (Starcrossed Book 2)
Dreamless: Chapter 14

Helen’s eyes opened and she saw the icy pillow next to her, so she knew she had to be back in her room. It was dark, but it was the navy-blue dark of evening, not the pitch black of late night. She was lying facedown on top of something uneven and warm—something that definitely wasn’t her mattress.

Propping herself up on her elbows, Helen looked down on Orion’s sleeping face. She told herself to get off him, but hesitated. He was frowning slightly in his sleep and for some reason Helen found that adorable.

In the Underworld, his face had been merely gorgeous, but back in the real world, it was downright hypnotic. Everything about the way he looked worked together in harmonious balance, like a visual symphony. The curve of his cheek played off the length of his neck, which led to the sweeping swell of his chest. He was a son of Aphrodite, and as much as Helen knew that irresistible attraction was one of his Scion gifts, knowing that fact didn’t make him any less magnetic. He still needed a haircut, but even so, he was truly an Adonis, the pinnacle of male beauty. He always had been, she realized, and the longer she looked at him, the harder it was for her to even think about looking away.

Unable to stop herself, Helen ran a curious finger across his lower lip. She only wanted to see if it was as soft as she remembered it, as soft as Morpheus had played it.

Orion’s body spasmed underneath her, and his eyes flew open in reaction to her touch. Before he was fully aware of his surroundings, he grabbed Helen and nearly chucked her off him.

“It’s me!” Helen squeaked, clinging to his shoulders so he didn’t send her sailing through the nearest wall.

Scrambling up onto his knees, Orion glanced around for a moment with a shocked and slightly bewildered look on his face. He released his tight grip on her and reached out with his fingertips to touch the melting ice that lay on top of the bed. An amused smile tugged at his lips as he rubbed the last of the dissolving crystals between his fingers.

Helen could tell just by looking at him that he was making the connection in his mind between the rapidly diminishing cold in her room and the constant, unearthly cold of the portal cave. She was amazed that she was so familiar with Orion’s expressions that she could practically read his thoughts. It was like she’d known him her whole life. Or longer, she thought with a little shiver.

“This is your bedroom?” he asked. Helen smiled and nodded. He gave her a dubious look. “So . . . what’s with the bed-wetter sheets?”

They both burst out laughing.

“I had to get them! I was trashing my regular sheets with mud from the Underworld!” she said, smacking Orion on the leg. He captured her hand and kept it there against his thigh.

“Helen, be honest,” he teased. “You still pee the bed, don’t you?”

She smiled and shook her head, giving him a look that warned him not to push it. The playful laughter died down quickly, and the fun was replaced by a delicate tension. For some inexplicable reason Helen was still touching Orion’s thigh. She snatched her hand away but found that she ended up immediately replacing that same hand on his calf.

Orion leaned back against the pillows and reached out to touch her upper arm at the same time, as if he needed to reassure himself that Helen was really there.

“I’m not attacking you,” he whispered with a faraway look in his eyes. He ran his fingers down her arm and cupped her elbow in his palm. “The Furies really released us.”

“They did,” she whispered back. “Now you can go home.”

The awed look on his face crumbled. “You and I might be out, but it’s not over, you know,” he said.

“Not yet,” she agreed, her voice breaking just above a whisper. “But I understand if you have more important things you want to do now.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked with a curious look on his face.

“You’re free. You can be with your dad.” Helen couldn’t look at him. Glancing around for something to do with her hands, she realized she was still wearing the fairy wings. She shrugged out of them and spoke in as calm a voice as she could muster. “I understand if you don’t want to go down to the Underworld with me anymore.”

Orion’s lips parted in surprise and he narrowed his eyes at Helen. “Unbelievable,” he said under his breath. “After everything I’ve told you about myself.”

Orion flung the bunched-up covers out of his way with an angry snap and tried to stand, but Helen grabbed his arms and stopped him.

“Hey. You haven’t been able to see your father since you were ten, and this isn’t really your burden to begin with. It’s mine. I had to at least bring it up,” she said seriously.

“I already told you. I’m in this with you to the end, no matter what.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” she whispered, smiling up at him gratefully. His stern look softened into a smile, and he allowed Helen to gently nudge him back into her bed.

She couldn’t seem to stop touching him. Orion had probably spent his whole life beating girls off with a stick, and it was embarrassing to know that she was no different from any them.

“So don’t put this away just yet, okay?” she said, lowering her hand to touch the Bough of Aeneas, still in the guise of a gold cuff around his wrist. She allowed herself one tiny, trailing caress across the backs of his fingers and then forced herself to remove her hands from his body altogether.

“I don’t think it comes off, anyway,” he said softly.

His breathing sped up as they stared at each other. He seemed to relax into her bed and get more alert at the same time, and she wondered if he could see her heart beating in her chest. For just a moment, Helen was certain he was going to lean forward and kiss her.

She panicked, wondering what she would do if he did. This was no dream, and Helen wasn’t sure if she was really ready for anything physical, no matter how much she wanted him right then. Orion’s eyes flicked down to her chest, and his expectant expression fell away.

“It’s okay. I’m not in a hurry, Helen,” he told her in a thick voice. “In fact, I’d rather we take our time.”

At the mention of time, a wave of panic tightened every muscle in Helen’s body. She leapt out of bed, ran to her window, and lifted the blue tarp. She could hear unusually loud noises on the street coming from the center of town.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I forgot!” she yammered hysterically, doubling back to grab Orion’s arm and pull him with her as she jumped out of her broken window. “I left my family in the middle of a riot!”

They landed together and took off running with Helen leading the way. A moment later they arrived in the town center and stopped. Helen could barely believe her eyes. People she saw every day, people she chatted with as she served them muffins and lattes, were trying to tear each other to shreds. Even uniformed police officers and firefighters were running around, smashing car windows and brawling in the street.

“What do you want to do?” Orion asked, ready for a fight. “I don’t know this place or these people. Who’s the bad guy?”

Helen shrugged helplessly as she watched the free-for-all. Pivoting around in a circle, she tried to decide who to protect and who to fight against. But they were all her neighbors, and from what she could see, the vast majority of them were hurting each other out of sheer panic. She noticed a path being cleared through the random swarm and headed for it.

Automedon, closely followed by her old pal Zach, was carelessly flicking helpless people out of his way. With his inhuman strength, he sent anyone who stepped in his path soaring through the air like kites that had been snipped from their strings. The Myrmidon wasn’t intentionally seeking to hurt people—he just didn’t care if anyone around him lived or died.

A man was lying on the ground, directly in Automedon’s path. A little girl in a princess costume and a boy dressed as a bear were beside him, standing in a pile of spilled Halloween candy. The little girl was bawling inconsolably and pushing on the man’s back, trying uselessly to wake him. The brave little boy turned to face Automedon, his fists clenched inside the furry bear paws, ready to defend the fallen man and the defenseless baby girl. The man was Luis, Helen realized as she drew closer, and the children were Marivi and Juan.

Automedon hardly even glanced down. He batted Juan out of the way as an afterthought, and sent his tiny body soaring limply over the crowd. Orion turned into a blur at her side, but Helen stayed rooted to the ground in shock. Zach’s face froze into a mask of fear, and he dove for cover as a bolt of ice-white lighting arced out of Helen’s chest and connected with Automedon.

She didn’t think. She didn’t consider whether or not people were watching, or if she wanted to spare the insect for strategic purposes. In her mind’s eye, Helen could see nothing but the image of Juan in his darling little bear costume, floating limply through air. She raised her left hand, focused the stream of pure energy, and turned Automedon into a flaming, vaguely man-shaped torch as she strode toward him.

Automedon writhed in agony like a half-crushed bug. As his skin went from fiery orange to dull red, he fell to his knees, and then onto his side, and then—charred to black—he finally went still.

“Helen, stop!” Orion yelled at her. “He’s dead!”

Cutting off the stream with a crisp, snapping sound, Helen retracted her left hand and looked down on the charcoal husk that used to be Automedon. Zach scrambled to his feet and took off. Helen let him go, turning instead to face Orion.

He was holding Juan. In such large arms the little boy looked like a toy teddy bear. Helen covered her mouth with a hand, unwilling to ask out loud how bad it was.

“It’s okay, I caught him before he hit the ground,” Orion said comfortingly as he strode toward her. “But we should get these kids out of the street.”

They looked down at Marivi. She was staring up at Helen, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open in awe.

“Do you remember me?” Helen asked. Marivi nodded, her expression frozen in shock. “Will you come with us?” Marivi nodded again, her eyes still wide.

Helen held out an arm to the little girl and she jumped up, clinging to Helen’s neck and wrapping her legs around Helen’s waist as tight as a barnacle. Orion balanced Juan carefully on Helen’s other hip and then he bent down to study Luis, who still seemed to be breathing.

“He’s out, but he’ll be all right,” Orion said, picking him up without delay. “Is there a safe place near here? The hospitals will be overflowing tonight.”

“Ah . . . the News Store?” Helen said, at a loss. “There’s a first aid kit, and maybe my family will be there.”

“Perfect,” Orion replied, motioning for Helen to lead on.

As they headed off, Automedon’s blackened body moved. They heard a brittle, cracking noise, and a large rent opened up down his back, exposing damp pink skin underneath. It breathed. Marivi buried her face in Helen’s neck, hiding her eyes.

Orion and Helen exchanged shocked looks. Suddenly, the shell around Automedon split in half, and he climbed out of his own burnt skin like a crab shedding its outer casing. Covered in mucus, and crouching next to his castoff remains, Automedon looked up at Helen with milky, film-covered eyes and smiled.

“That hurt,” he told her in a detached, nearly robotic way as he drooled stringy spit. He looked at Orion and then down at the gold cuff on Orion’s wrist, narrowing his oozing eyes. “The Third Heir. Nice to see you again, General Aeneas.”

A long, sticky tube uncurled from underneath Automedon’s human tongue and seemed to throb in Orion’s direction. Then it rolled back up and retracted in a swallowing motion into Automedon’s mouth. For a moment, Helen thought she was going to be sick.

“Come on! Before it’s strong enough to stand,” Orion growled in her ear, and the two of them ran away as fast as they dared while carrying injured passengers.

Before the News Store even came into view, Helen knew something was terribly wrong. She could feel the ground trembling, and glanced over at Orion.

“It’s not me!” he said. “Those are impact tremors.”

Turning the final corner, they were enclosed in a dark pall.

“Shadowmaster!” Helen yelled at Orion. “The Hundred must be here somewhere. They have a new one. I saw it at my track meet. . . .”

Helen’s feet slowed as the darkness began to dissipate ever so slightly. She knew this darkness; she had seen it more than once. Through the clinging shadows that reached like smoky hands, she saw Hector slamming someone—the source of the darkness, Helen realized—against the sidewalk repeatedly. It was Lucas. In a flash, Lucas changed positions, got the upper hand, and tackled Hector, punching him savagely. Snapping herself out of her stunned daze, Helen screamed something unintelligible, and ran the rest of the way with Orion close behind.

“Helen!” Kate yelled, and Helen pulled up short.

Following the sound of Kate’s voice, Helen looked and saw her crouched down over Jerry, who was unconscious and bleeding badly. Next to them, Claire and Matt had Jason and Ariadne wrapped up so they couldn’t see or hear. Helen gave the kids to Kate while Orion put Luis down next to Jerry. Helen spared her father one worried look, and then threw herself at Lucas.

As she knocked Lucas off Hector, she saw Orion dart in behind them to wrap an arm around Hector’s throat in a chokehold. Helen used her superior strength to shove Lucas to the ground. She tried to pin him under her, but he had always been better at grappling and easily slipped out from under her, reversing their positions. He secured her hands over her head, and even though she was stronger, she knew she was trapped. Helen considered shocking him, but she was dehydrated from frying Automedon and knew she couldn’t fully control her bolts.

“Please, Lucas, don’t do this!” Helen pleaded as a last resort. At the sound of her voice, he paused and seemed to wake from his trance. A confused look flashed across his face and he jumped off her.

“I’ll get Hector out of here,” Orion shouted as he struggled to keep Hector from pulling free. “Come on, big guy. Time for a swim!”

In a blur of speed, Orion managed to break Hector’s stance and carry him off toward the ocean. As soon as the Outcast was too far away to affect the Delos family, their demeanors changed from anger to painful regret. Claire and Matt released Jason and Ariadne, and Lucas dropped his head into his bloody hands, covering his eyes. Helen wanted to reach out and comfort him, but she knew she shouldn’t touch him. Instead, she just stared at Lucas with her heart in her throat.

“I always knew there was more in you. Something hidden, but I never . . . What is going on?” Kate asked, her voice a hoarse whisper. Helen turned to look at her, and saw that she was barely keeping it together. “Does your father know?”

“No. Kate. Please,” Helen stammered. Looking down at Jerry’s bleeding head, she was overcome with worry. She had no idea what she needed, or wanted, to say.

“Let’s get everyone inside,” Matt said calmly, looking over the shell-shocked faces around him to the riot that was still consuming the town. “First things first. We need to get indoors.”

They carried the wounded to the couches in the café area at the back of the News Store, and the twins immediately went to work assessing the severity of everyone’s injuries. Luis only had a concussion, but little Juan had four broken ribs, a broken arm, and a cracked skull. The twins looked at each other solemnly and prepared themselves for their work.

“Just stand back,” Claire warned Kate and Marivi when they gasped at the twins’ glowing hands. “It’s okay, really. Healing is one of their talents.”

“What do you mean, talents?” Kate pleaded. “Helen, you have to tell me what’s going on!”

Helen didn’t know what to say. She looked down at her father and then back up at Kate, overwhelmed. “I’m a demigod,” she finally spat out. “I’m so sorry, but I don’t have time to explain this to you just now.”

“Alrighty then!” Claire said loudly when she saw Kate’s petrified reaction. “I got this one, Helen. You are so not good at breaking the news gently, by the way. Kate, brace yourself. This is going to get messy.”

Claire started to give poor Kate a crash course in ancient mythology while Helen mouthed the words “thank you” and gestured for Matt and Lucas to join her. She told them about her encounter with Automedon, describing how she had fried him and how he’d shaken it off, molting his burnt skin right in front of her in the process.

“Is Zach okay?” Matt asked Helen.

“Last I saw he was headed down Surfside,” Helen answered, not really caring. “He was with Automedon, Matt, not getting mowed down by him like Luis and his kids, so I think he’ll be fine.”

Matt turned to Lucas. “Can Myrmidons usually withstand lightning, or throw bolts?”

“No,” Lucas said. “They don’t have talents like Scions do, but they are strong. Stronger than most Scions.”

“Even if he was ten times stronger than you, he couldn’t have survived that,” Helen said darkly. “Automedon must have become immortal somehow. Maybe he became blood brothers with a god, like Cassandra said. Lucas, I hit him with a bolt that could melt lead.”

Lucas frowned in thought. There were a million things she wanted to ask him, most of which centered on his being a Shadowmaster, but a bright flash caught her attention and she decided it would have to wait. She, Matt, and Lucas went over to check on the injured. The twins had decided to heal the little boy first so Juan could wake up without then being frightened. Ariadne and Jason spent a few moments monitoring Luis, and decided he was okay.

Wobbly, but not permanently damaged, Luis grabbed his kids and rushed out of the News Store, desperate to see if his wife was still at home. Before her father carried her out the back door, Marivi held her pointer finger to her lips as if to say “shhh,” promising never to tell.

Already exhausted and turning gray from doing so much work on Juan, the twins turned their attention to Jerry. After a quick assessment, they shared one of those looks that Helen was convinced meant that they were reading each other’s minds. But before Helen could begin to ask them how bad the damage was, Orion returned from the sea. Obviously troubled, he thudded as he walked toward them, shaking droplets of water from his hair. He went from being soaking wet to completely dry in a few seconds.

“How’s Hector?” Lucas asked, his voice shaky.

“He’s upset, but safe,” Orion answered.

Lucas dropped his head and nodded.

“How can you be here?” Jason asked him incredulously. “Why aren’t we attacking you?”

“Well, the short version is that Helen and I guessed wrong—but in the best possible way. We ended up getting—I guess you could call it a pardon from the Furies. Right, Helen?”

“But we didn’t solve the bigger problem. Yet,” Helen said, unable to meet anyone’s gaze. She felt guilty that she and Orion were free of the Furies, but the rest of her family still had to suffer.

“You’re Hector’s little sister?” Orion asked, smiling at Ariadne warmly. “He told me to tell you in particular not to worry. He said you worry about other people too much.”

Ariadne tried to smile at Orion, but instead began to choke up. She turned back toward Jerry, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. Helen looked over at Lucas’s devastated expression.

He was the only one who had attacked Hector. The others had resisted when he couldn’t. The burden would always be heaviest on him. Lucas was this generation’s Paris, and he was destined to be the scapegoat in this epic. The deck had always been stacked against him, and now that he also had to bear the stigma of being a Shadowmaster, it would only get worse.

There was a darkness growing in him. Helen wondered if it had always been there—waiting to come out—or if what had happened between them had planted it. She could see he was barely holding on. He used to be so confident, so alive. He used to shine, and now he was in shadow.

Something snapped in Helen. She was sick of watching the people she loved suffer for things that were out of their control. There was nothing she could do to help her father, but there was something she could do to help the rest of her family.

“I’m done with this. Are you?” she asked Orion.

“Oh, yeah. So done,” he answered, understanding Helen’s meaning right away. Her eyes drilled into his, simultaneously swearing an oath and demanding one from him.

“We go down. We stay down until we replace the right river,” Helen said with absolute certainly. “No matter how long you and I have to spend in the Underworld, this ends for the rest of our kind tonight.”

The corners of Orion’s lips tilted up in the faintest of smiles and his tight jaw relaxed.

“I can’t run at Scion speed through the caves, or I risk collapsing them. It’ll take me a few minutes to get to the caves on the mainland, but then it takes half an hour for me to get down to the portal,” he said, lowering his chin like he was getting ready to storm a citadel. “I’ll meet you then.” Orion turned and sped off.

“Take care of my dad,” Helen said to the twins and Kate, and then she headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Lucas asked, grabbing her arm as she walked past him.

“Home. To bed. To the Underworld,” Helen ticked off in order, like she was giving him a list of deadly weapons.

“You’re just going to go lie prone in a bed, in a bedroom that has a broken window, after pissing off a Myrmidon?” His eyes flared with frustration. “That sounds perfectly safe to you?”

“Well, I . . .” Helen stammered, wondering how she’d overlooked those major details.

Lucas cut her off, muttering to himself about how she was going to give him a nervous disorder. Still firmly gripping her upper arm, he turned her around and led her to the door.

“I’ll guard Helen while she descends,” he called back to Jason. “If anything happens, reach me on my cell.”

“Right.” Jason was clearly trying his best to rally. “We’re moving everyone to our house. We can care for Jerry better there while we protect the rest.”

“Good idea,” Lucas responded.

“Keep us posted, brother,” Jason added, purposely using the word brother. Lucas averted his eyes but smiled gratefully before turning back to the door.

Helen and Lucas plunged onto the chaotic streets and took to the air, looking down on the swarms of people. She felt Lucas pull up short, and directed her eyes to what had caught his attention. Eris was running down a deserted backstreet, chased by two big men with swords.

“My father and uncle,” Lucas shouted above the cold wind.

“Should we help them?” Helen asked through chattering teeth. Lucas wrapped an arm around her and began rubbing her bare shoulders with his warm hands. Not for the first time, Helen wondered how he always seemed to radiate heat.

“They can handle it,” he said, pulling her against him to keep her warm and leading them onward toward her house. “Stay focused on your task, not on theirs.”

Helen had no idea how he could compartmentalize his emotions like that. His father was down there fighting a goddess, but still he stuck to his job. Like a soldier, Helen thought. It struck her just how much self-discipline Lucas had, and she tried to follow his example, but she couldn’t. Her mind kept straying to Jerry, to the twins, to Hector, but most of all to the fact that Lucas had his arm around her.

Helen followed Lucas under the blue tarp and landed in her bedroom. He led her straight to her messy bed and tried to get her to lie down.

“I don’t know what to do,” Helen said, unwilling to get in bed.

“Why don’t you start by sitting?” he suggested quietly.

“All that brave talk about finishing this tonight, and I’m completely clueless. I have no idea how to end this.” She was trying not to burst into tears.

“Come here,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her down next to him.

“You know what the worst part is?”

“What’s that?”

“I kind of don’t care about any of it at the moment,” she said, tears trickling out the sides of her eyes. “I don’t care that you’re a Shadowmaster, and that you’ve been keeping secrets again.”

“I tried to tell you in the hallway today, I really did. I just couldn’t. I guess I couldn’t face it myself, and telling you would make it real.”

“But I don’t care what you are!” she said, barely able to keep her voice down. “I don’t care that you’re a Shadowmaster, or that you’re my cousin. I don’t even care that I’m supposed to descend and save the Scions in about ten minutes. Lucas, the whole world could be on fire right now, but the only thing that I’m thinking about is how happy I am to be alone with you. How sick is that?”

Lucas pinched his eyes shut and sighed heavily. “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” she mumbled in a lost way as they reached out and wrapped their arms around each other. “Nothing helps.”

“You have to move on, Helen,” he said desperately.

“I know that!” she cried, resting her chin on his shoulder. The more she thought about letting him go, the tighter she squeezed him. “But I can’t.”

“Forget about me,” he insisted. “That’s the only way either of us is going to survive this.”

“How am I supposed to forget you?” Helen asked, laughing weakly at such a silly suggestion. “You’re too big a part of me. I’d have to forget who I am to forget you.”

Holding Lucas the way she was, she caught a glimpse of their reflection in the vanity mirror opposite her bed. It startled her. Just as she was saying the word forget, she was staring at the word REMEMBER.

She’d totally forgotten she even had a vanity.

She hadn’t looked at it or even acknowledged that it was in her room for over a month now. Written on the mirror in viper-green eyeliner were the words THE RIVER I CAN’T REMEMBER and I SAW IT AGAIN. That’s funny. She and Orion were looking for a river, right?

“Wait,” Helen said, pulling back and looking at Lucas. “Is there a river in the Underworld that makes you forget everything?”

“Lethe,” Lucas answered immediately. “The souls of dead Scions drink from the River Lethe to forget their former lives before they are reborn.”

“The Furies define themselves as ‘the ones who can never forgive and never forget,’ right? But what if they were forced to forget everything, even who they are?”

“They would forget all the blood debts. The Scions would be free,” Lucas said, so softly it was like a sigh.

A moment later they were both looking around the room, confused. Helen’s entire train of thought had derailed and went skidding off the tracks.

“What river was that again?” she asked through an embarrassed grin. “It’s this thing with how I navigate down there. I have to be really specific, or I’ll never get there.”

“Ah . . . I know it. . . .” Lucas wavered for a moment, laughing at himself for being so absentminded. “Lethe! You want to get to the River Lethe!”

“Lethe. Right! Okay . . . so. What do I do once I get there?”

“I don’t know,” he said, a hint of fear creeping into his voice. “Do you see what’s happening?”

“Yeah,” Helen said, balling her fists and trying to stay on point. “This river won’t let me remember anything once I start thinking about it. That means I shouldn’t try to think about it, right?”

“That’s right. Don’t think about it, just do what you need to do.” Lucas turned and fished through Helen’s nightstand, taking out an old pen. He scribbled the words Lethe and Furies on her forearm and then he sat and stared at her in confusion. “I have no idea why I just did that.”

“Okay. Great. I’m going to descend now,” Helen announced tersely, already getting confused and deciding that she should act before she had a chance to think about it too much. “And in case I forget everything, including to come back, I want you to know that I still love you.”

“I still love you, too.” A smiled tugged at his lips. “Are you late for something?”

“I think so. I’d better go.”

Helen lay back, looking up at Lucas, who was smiling peacefully down on her. There was nothing here to fear, but Helen had a sneaking suspicion she should be afraid.

“Don’t tell Orion!” Lucas said urgently, like it had just occurred to him. “It’ll make him forget. You just remember where to go and then let him remember what you need to do once you get there.”

“Okay,” Helen sighed as she snuggled down into the covers. She was so cold. “Compartmentalize. That’s the key to winning the battle.”

“It is,” he said in a distant voice. He stared at her face, smiling softly.

“Why are we even trying to stay away from each other?” Helen wondered aloud, trying to keep her heavy eyes open. “We’re perfect together.”

“We are,” he mused. Lucas shivered suddenly. “It’s getting colder, like the temperature just dropped suddenly.”

“It’s always so cold in here.” She pouted, brushing at the ice crystals forming on her blanket. “Why don’t you get under the covers and keep me warm?”

“Okay,” he said, and although he frowned like something about getting into bed with Helen bothered him, he did it, anyway. He spooned against her back, and Helen sighed as he pulled her tightly against his chest. She tried to turn around and kiss him, but he stopped her, his teeth chattering as he spoke. “You’re tired. Go to sleep, Helen.”

She was tired—really tired. She was already half asleep. As much as she wanted to stay with Lucas while he held her, Helen’s eyes began to droop under the soothing pressure of his arms. The world melted away, and she stumbled headfirst into the Underworld.

Wasn’t I supposed to meet someone? she thought. Oh, yeah! Orion . . .