felt in the grocery store, I?m thinking it?s big.?
?Lightning?? Helen said with disbelief.
She remembered Hector convulsing when he first touched her in
the grocery store, and then she remembered Lucas letting go of her
so abruptly in the hallway the very first time she had seen him. She
had been so afraid of them both, so desperate to defend herself
. . . . Was it possible she had summoned a power she had never
been aware of? Had she created lightning?
Somewhere in the back of her mind she saw a blue flash, and
Kate crumple to the ground. A terrible thought occurred to her.
She tried to banish it as she had done since childhood, but this
time the thought wouldn?t go away.
?We think that means you are descended from Zeus,? Cassandra
said. ?But from which House is still uncertain. Three of the Four
Houses were founded by either Zeus or his god-children,
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Aphrodite and Apollo. Only the fourth House, the House of Athens,
was founded by Poseidon, so it can be ruled out. Well, maybe.?
?My House?? Helen said, still so wrapped up in her own head
that she was having a hard time understanding English. She was
remembering a blue flash from her past, and a scary man that kept
trying to touch her hair, flying away from her off the back of the
Nantucket ferry. The smell of burning filled her throat. Helen
rubbed her hand over her face and tried to rebury that memory.
She had always believed that she couldn?t have been the cause of
that. And worse?had she hurt Kate, too?
?When we say your House, we mean your heritage, Helen,?
Castor said gently, noticing Helen?s disquiet. ?Zeus had a lot of
children?including our father, Apollo?so your House can?t be
pinpointed with any certainty yet. But don?t worry, we?re still trying