Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

smile. Helen thought Ariadne looked drained, as if what she had

done for Helen had cost her. Her bow-shaped lips were ashy instead

of their usual cherry red and her long, chestnut hair stuck to

her perspiring cheeks.

?Don?t worry. Your face is already going back to its right shape.

You?ll be your usual, exquisite self by nightfall,? she said, smoothing

Helen?s hair comfortingly. ?Keep still. I?ll be right back.?

Helen glanced around. For the first time she could see w

here she

and Lucas had spent the night. It took a moment to register that

they were in a hole in the ground that was at least five feet deep

and three times that wide, and it took even longer to register that

the hole had been made by their bodies when they fell. She felt

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water seep into her clothes as it leached up from the damp sand,

and realized that Lucas must have been lying in a cold puddle all

night. She rolled her head to the side so she could look at him.

There was a faint Helen-shaped dent running down the length of

his body, and his chest was nearly caved in from the weight of her

head and shoulders. His face was pinched up in a grimace. He

hummed to himself a little as if to try to give his vocal cords

something to do other than howl. His father hovered over him,

looking Lucas directly in the eye and talking softly. She saw Lucas

give a tiny nod, bite his lower lip, then take a deep breath and

strain. His chest expanded into a more normal shape, and then Lucas

suddenly let his breath out and panted as if he had just lifted a

great weight. A tear trickled out of the corner of his eye and ran into

his hair.

His father said something reassuring and then pulled himself

smoothly out of the hole and started talking strategy with Hector.