Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

development. She turned to Lucas and dropped her disguise.

He gasped.

?You are all of the women,? Lucas said, remembering what Cassandra

had seen. ?Helen, this is the woman that?s been attacking

you, this isn?t her real face . . .?

?I know. I even know that she was the one who hurt Kate in the

alley,? Helen said, swallowing painfully. ?I thought it was me?that

I had shocked Kate by accident.?

?Helen, you aren?t to blame,? Daphne said, sounding almost annoyed

at the idea.

?She was trying to kidnap me to get me away from your family

before you found out who I really was,? Helen continued, ignoring

Daphne. ?She knew I wouldn?t trust her, and that she would literally

have to tie me down to get me to listen to her. So that?s what

she did. But this is my true mother, and this is her true face, Lucas.

It?s our face.?

?It?s not possible,? Lucas said, looking from Helen to Daphne and

back again. ?No Scion resembles another this closely.?

?The bearers of the cestus always look like the first Scion to ever

posses it,? Daphne said.

?Helen of Troy,? Lucas said quietly.

Helen nodded, then clarified while looking at her mother. ?Aphrodite

and Helen were half sisters, and they loved each other very

much. When the siege of Troy began, Aphrodite gave Helen the

cestus to protect her. Since then, it?s been passed from mother to

daughter, along with the Face.?

?The Face?? Lucas asked.

338/395

?That Launched a Thousand Ships,? Daphne said, repeating the

title automatically. ?It?s our curse.?