Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

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?No, but come on in,? Helen replied. Maybe she would get a

chance to ask if Lucas still had a girlfriend somewhere. ?How?s

Cassandra??

?Overly sensitive, but she?ll be okay. You?re the one that got a

Hector beat-down, and since I know what that feels like I?m going

to ask you honestly?is anything still broken?? Ariadne glided into

the locker room.

?Nothing broken. Well, not anymore,? Helen replied. Everything

about Ariadne was so feminine and round and lovely that Helen

simply couldn?t imagine anyone hitting her. ?Do you guys do this to

each other often? The fighting, I mean.? Ariadne was shaking her

head before Helen had even finished talking.

?No. We spar together to stay in shape, but only the boys really

fight, and only when they need to get something off their chests.

Lucas and Hector do most of the fighting, obviously.?

?They don?t get along, do they??

?Yes and no,? Ariadne began carefully. ?Hector is really proud in

general, but he?s especially proud of our ancestry and our family.

He doesn?t like that we?ve fractured the House of Thebes. Don?t get

me wrong?he doesn?t believe all that crap that the Hundred Cousins

do, but he hates to see our House divided. And Lucas feels like

it?s his responsibility to keep Hector in line because, well, he?s the

only one that can.?

?It must be really difficult being separated from the rest of your

family,? Helen sympathized.

?We don?t have a choice,? Ariadne said with a tight smile.

?Is it because of the cult?? Helen asked delicately. ?Lucas never

got a chance to explain . . .?

?Tantalus and the Hundred Cousins believe that if only one