river.
I know, Jason said, smiling back at Helen before he looked
back down at Claire. She really is strong.
What river? What rubble? Daphne interjected, glancing from
Jason to Helen, but she was overruled by Claires urgency.
That was real? she blurted out, her eyes dark and wide with
fear.
Yes and no, Jason said softy, briefly brushing his lips against
Claires forehead as he sat up painfully and gently pulled her up
with him. Its a real place, but we only went there in spirit.
But I was so hungry. So thirsty, Claire whispered, suddenly
terrified.
She trustingly turned her face into Jasons neck and he held her
close to him. The bond they had forged in the dry lands still tied
them to each other, and Helen had a feeling that Jason was reluctant
to let it dissolve.
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Dont be afraid, we only walked along the edge of it, we never
crossed the river and went in. Not even the best Healers can go all
the way in and make it out alive, Jason said reassuringly. He met
Helens eyes as if to ask her to help him explain.
The place you went is just beyond the place you go when youre
sleeping. Its not something you should be afraid of, Helen said,
putting her hand on Claires back and trying to comfort her. Just
think of it as an intense dream if that makes it easier, because
thats what it feels like.
Nightmare is more like it, Claire said as she pulled her face
away from Jason and got a hold of herself.
Well, you almost died, Helen said with a shrug. That shouldnt
be fun.
Helen? Daphne asked, comprehension dawning on her face.
How many times have you been to this place youre talking
about?
Ive lost count, Helen said softly, shaking her head.
Daphne stared at her daughter with a hard look on her face.
There was a knock on the door. Matt poked his head in sheepishly.
Sorry to interrupt, Matt said with a slight grimace. Hey, Claire.
You okay?
Come in, Claire responded as she tried to sit up a little straighter.
She reached out to Helen, who helped brace her. Im glad
youre in one piece, she said gratefully.
Yeah, so am I, Matt said with relief. But theres still a big problem
that we need to fix. I noticed some people staring at us when
we . . . uh . . .
Hit Luke with your car? Jason finished for him with a humorous
glint in his eye.
Right. So I need to go take care of that. Before it gets out of control,
Matt said uncomfortably. The longer I stay here, the more
everyone will talk. If I start denying it, showing everyone that I
couldnt have been in an accident because Im not injured . . .
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Then the whole thing goes away before it gets started, Daphne
finished for him. Are you really willing to lie to your own kind for
us? she asked coldly.
I dont see it as your kind or my kind. All I see are my friends
and they need my help, Matt said with narrowed eyes. He glanced
over at Helen uncertainly, as if to ask if she was sure about this
new mother she had acquired.
Ill take you wherever you need to go, Helen said as she stood.
Ive got to go talk to my dad, anyway. Ill drop you off on the way.
Youre not going anywhere, Daphne said, surprised that Helen
would even suggest it. Its far too dangerous.
I cant just leave him, Helen said. Thats what you did, and Ive
spent my whole life cleaning up the mess you left behind. If Ive
learned one thing, its that I dont want to repeat your mistakes.
Not now, not ever.
Well, I cant tie you down every time we disagree, but I can tell
you to be careful, Helen, especially when you use words like
never, Daphne replied, her eyes soft with understanding. The
gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals
who use absolutes.
Helen turned and half stumbled for the door, so shaken to hear
an echo of Lucas in her mother that she lost all sensation for a
moment.
I got you, Matt whispered into her ear as he took Helens elbow
and steered her through the door so she didnt clip her shoulder on
the frame.
Your moms a real trip, he said with a touch of fear when they
were outside and the door was shut safely behind them.
I havent decided if shes right about everything that ever
mattered to me, or if shes just evil, Helen said honestly.
Thats what everyone wonders about their mother, Matt said
with a smile as he rolled his eyes. The thing is, nobodys mom is
entirely one or the other.
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Helen smiled at Matt, hoping he was right, and led him downstairs.
They went into the kitchen, looking for someone to lend
them a car, but the only person they saw was Pandora, who was
just coming back into the house from the garage.
Helen, Pandora said, surprised. Youre not leaving, are you?
Matt needs to go home and I need to . . . Helen started to say,
but Pandora shook her head.
I cant let you leave this house. You know that, she said
forcefully.
Then maybe you can take him? Helen asked.
Im sorry, I cant right now, Pandora said, looking down at her
unadorned hands. Why dont you ask Ariadne? Shes in the library.
She smiled briefly at Helen and Matt, and silently hurried off
toward the fight cage. It took Helen a moment to realize what was
missing. For the first time Helen could remember, Pandora wasnt
wearing any jewelry.
Helen led Matt to the library, where Castor, Pallas, Hector, Ariadne,
Cassandra, and Lucas were all talking in a tight circle around
Cassandras chair. The conversation ended as soon as they saw
Helen.
Matt needs a ride home, Helen announced nervously. She tried
to keep her gaze away from Lucas, but her eyes kept jumping back
to him.
Ill take him, Ariadne offered, immediately coming forward and
motioning for Helen and Matt to leave the room.
Whats going on? Helen mouthed to Ariadne, who took her
hand and led her away. When they were a few paces from the library,
Ariadne answered.
Were trying to figure out what Creons up to, she said.
Why was I excluded? Helen asked, offended.
Come on, Helen, Ariadne replied with a chiding look on her
face. Lucas cant bear to be in the same room with you right now,
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and no offense, but hes a much better soldier than you are. We
need him at the table and we need him focused.
Matt shot her a confused look, but thankfully, he didnt ask any
questions. It wouldnt matter in a few hours, anyway. Helen would
be gone and she would never see him or any of them again. Later,
shed crawl into some strange bed in some strange sta
te and then
she didnt care if she ever got out of it or not. But she couldnt let
herself think about that yet. First, she needed to make sure that the
people she loved were taken care of.
When they reached the kitchen, Ariadne grabbed her bag off the
back of one of the chairs and fished her keys out, looking around
like she had misplaced something. She looked out in the garage,
counted the cars, and then glanced back into the house, whispering,
Shes back? to herself. Before Helen could ask what was
wrong, Ariadne said good-bye and hurried Matt out to her car.
Helen waited a few moments for Ariadnes little car to disappear
down the drive before she crept out onto the lawn. It wasnt dark
out yet, but Helen still felt like even the shadows under the bushes
were reaching out to grab at her. As soon as she was clear of the
house she jumped up into the air, frantic to get into the sky, the
one place she knew Creon couldnt catch her. Calmer once she was
safely airborne, Helen flew home, circling high for a few moments
to watch for random neighbors before coming in steep and fast to
avoid being seen. Touching down in her backyard, Helen listened
for the usual sounds of her father and heard that he wasnt alone.
Kate was with him.
They were talking softly, and here and there they would laugh or
lapse into silence as one or the other gathered their thoughts to
make sure the words came out right. Helen looked in the window
and saw them sitting on the couch together, TV off, having what
looked like an important conversation. If she concentrated she
could probably make out what they were saying, but Helen didnt
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want to intrude on such a private moment between two people who
were obviously falling in love.
She touched her heart-shaped necklace and wished them perfect
happiness together. She wasnt sure if the cestus worked like that,
but all that mattered was that Jerry would have someone to care
for him when she was gone. Helen realized that if she left now,
without confronting him, he would never have to know about
Daphne returning to the island, and if that wound was left unopened,
then this fragile understanding between him and Kate
might stand a chance.
She stood in the window for a moment, deciding which course to
take, until finally the sharp drop in temperature and the tangerine
color staining the clouds told her she had run out of time. She flew
up to her window, sat down at her desk, and wrote a note to her
father. She told him that she loved him, that she was safe, and that
she was never coming back, making the note brief so she wouldnt
have to fill it up with lies. He had been a good father, and if she
couldnt be completely honest with him, the least she could do was
lie as little as possible.
She flew out of her window and back to the Delos compound as
soon as she was done writing. It was a comfort to Helen to know
that while she was sneaking away later that night her father would
still be oblivious. Hopefully, for all of their sakes, Kate would be
there for Jerry in the morning when he found the note. Thinking of
that, she flew east across the darkening island with a feeling that
approached peace.
Before she even touched down, Castor was running out of the
house to meet her on the lawn, waving his arms over his head as if
to signal her to hurry. He was shouting something about her
mother.
Daphne had to wait until the little strategy session broke up before
she could sneak into the library and look around. All she needed
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was the return address on the last few bits of mail from Tantalus to
the Nantucket faction of the House of Thebes. Then, after so many
years, she might finally be able to figure out Tantaluss pattern of
motion.
She was only missing a few bits of informationa city name and
she would know where to go from there. Then she would find Tantalus
and kill him exactly the same way he had killed her sweet
Ajax. Daphne had imagined it a million times. As soon as he came
to the door she was going to chop off his head off while his wife
watched. If she avenged him, then maybe when Atropos cut her
string, Ajax would be waiting for her on the other side of the river.
She still had a ways to go and a lot of work to do before she could
allow that to happen. First, she needed a city.
Daphne started reading the postmarks on the topmost letters on
Castors desk, but a quick glance told her that what she was looking
for wasnt there. She knew Tantaluss handwriting like she knew
her own, and she didnt see it anywhere. Then she realized that although
Castor was the smartest and the bravest of the Delos clan,
he would be the last person Tantalus would contact. She went over
to the other side of the library and began another search in another
desk.
She saw a safe under the other desk, put her hand on the spin
dial and hoped that it wasnt designed by a Scion. After a few moments
on her knees listening for the click inside the tumbler, her
search was abruptly ended. She felt the hot, thick jab of a needle
invading the vein in her neck. She gasped, recognizing the drug
cocktail she used on other Scions. She dimly remembered that
bag, loaded and ready, just in case. In seconds, her field of vision
shrank to nothing.
When she woke, Daphne could feel that her hands had been
shackled with something metallic. As she blearily tried to focus her
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eyes she saw that she was on a dark beach. She heard the jingling
of chains as she moved her hands closer to her face, and saw that
her wrists had been cuffed. There were deep vertical slashes on
both her forearms that were still leaking fast-pumping blood even
as they healed. She was thirsty from the blood loss, but she ignored
that and summoned a bolt.
The cuffs heated up until they glowed so bright Daphne had to
turn her closed eyes away or be blinded by the light. The brightness
was nearly unendurable, but the cuffs didnt melt, not even as she
drained the last of her volts. There were few substances that could
withstand so much heat at normal atmospheric pressure without
turning into a liquid or a gas.
Tungsten, she whispered through her dry, cracked lips, angry
with herself for acting without thinking first.
The white-hot links of nearly un-meltable metal led to a lightning
rod that was jammed into the ground like a stake. Not only was she
immobile, but any attempt she made to throw a bolt at an enemy
would only end up dissipating in the sand.
I wouldnt have thought you had any bolts left, a womans voice
called from down by the waterline. The crouching shape rose and
walked over to Daphne. I took a lot of your blood to dehydrate
you, or at least I thought I did.
Why are you doing this? Daphne aske
d softly. Youre not a
killer, Pandora.
I know Im not, Pandora admitted with a humiliated nod. I
tried to kill you while you were unconscious, but I couldnt do it.
Then let me go, Daphne said with a sad smile. I know why
youre doing this. Denial is a powerful thing, and grief can make a
good person evil. Daphne hauled herself up onto her knees. But
why dont you believe me? Or if not me, why not Lucas, your own
nephew? Hes a Falsefinder.
Lucas has every reason in the world to want your version of the
story to be true, Pandora hissed, kicking at the sand as she began
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to pace. He is blinded by his love for Helen, and he would do anything
to keep her. Maybe even lie to his own family.
First of all, Lucas can never have Helen, Daphne said darkly.
And second, you know there are easier ways to see if Im telling
the truth about who killed Ajax than kidnapping me. Have you ever
asked Tantalus why hes still in hiding?
Probably because he knows you can look or sound like anyone!
Pandora shouted back, furious. The only thing you cant do is fake
someones handwriting. Thats why hes only communicated
through lettersto protect himself because he knows you want him
dead!
And why would I want him dead? Daphnes own temper rose.
If its a Triumph I wanted, why wouldnt I have killed any one of
you Theban rats as soon as I saw you? Why would I want Tantalus,
and Tantalus alone, unless he stole something precious from me?
she asked, her voice breaking at last.
Pandora watched Daphne as she settled back into the sand, turning
her back on the ocean she dreaded, to stare slack-jawed at her
own feet. Pandora moved away from her and crossed her arms, tilting
her face into the wind. She was breathing hard and her eyes
darted from left to right as if she was reading the dark horizon.
Suddenly, she snapped back to attention.
You snake, she said, turning to stare at Daphne with awed rage.
Creon said you were cunning, but this is something else entirely.
You actually believe what youre saying! Thats why Lucas couldnt
find anything false in what you said. All those years of hiding behind
other peoples faces and now all you are is one big lie. This is
why I have to keep you away from Castor and Pallasfrom everyone
I love. I know in my heart that you used the cestus to trick my