Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

not do anything else, but it also inspired her. Why should she

slouch and feel bashful for taking up more space than most people?

She stood up a little straighter while she stared at him.

?Had enough?? he asked, smiling at Helen?s brazen admiration of

his looks.

?Not yet,? she said, a matching smile breaking across her face.

?Good.?

As soon as they were seated, Lucas asked her what she wanted to

know, and Helen had to think for a moment. She wasn?t entirely

sure.

?I guess the first thing I need to know is who hurt Kate,? she said,

dreading the answer.

?We have no idea,? he answered, sounding earnest. Helen?s heart

sank. She knew from the night before that although Lucas couldn?t

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bear to be lied to, it didn?t stop him from telling a few whoppers of

his own.

?That doesn?t make sense, Lucas,? she said carefully. ?Your father

told me that I was the only one of . . . our kind . . . who was not a

member of your House. How can you not know two women who,

by that logic, are related to you??

Lucas nodded, like he understood why Helen doubted him. ?The

House of Thebes is very large. Our immediate family?those of us

who moved back here to the States?are a just a tiny splinter group,

but the main part of the House of Thebes is much, much larger.

They?re known as the Hundred Cousins, although there are a lot

more of them than that now, and they?re loosely led by my uncle

Tantalus,? he said, looking down at his coffee, his eyes far away. ?I

have a lot of distant relatives that I?ve never heard of, let alone

seen.?