Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

?Okay,? Helen said mostly to herself. ?I knew I had to be

something not entirely human, but can I ask another question?

What are the Furies? And why aren?t they bothering us anymore??

This question earned a long pause. Cassandra and Castor made

eye contact as if they were trying to read each other?s minds before

Cassandra began to speak.

?We aren?t completely sure why they went away. In the past,

there have been rumors about pairs of Scions, usually a man and a

woman, who have found a way to be together and not see the Furies,

but it?s never been proven. As far as we know for sure, you and

Lucas are the first to manage it. I think it might have something to

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do with saving a life. I think somehow you managed to save each

other, and this freed you from the cycle of vengeance, but I can?t be

certain about that,? she said.

Helen had a fleeting thought about Lucas in the dry lands?blind

and lost and unable to get off his knees. She pushed the horrible

image aside.

?Vengeance?? Helen questioned. Castor saw her confusion.

?The Trojan War was very long with many casualties. It was the

worst the world had ever seen at that point. A blood feud started. It

began as a punishment for one single family who returned from

the war, but as the years passed it spread to all of the Four Great

Houses and set them against one another.?

??Houses? are what we call the four different bloodlines of

Scions,? Cassandra interjected when she saw Helen frown at the

term. ?They were royalty in ancient Greece.?

?The Furies are our curse, our punishment,? Castor said quietly.

?They compel members of opposing Houses to kill each other to

pay a blood debt we owe our ancestors. It?s a vicious cycle. Blood