Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

enough to get him to pick up Creon and follow Castor out of the

town center and out into the moors.

380/395

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF?NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

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Chapter Nineteen

Helen stared at the glass of water in front of her as it

sweated condensed moisture onto the kitchen table.

She?d already drunk what seemed like a bathtub full of

water and she wasn?t thirsty anymore, but she held on

to this last glass to give herself something else to look

at besides the bereft faces around her.

?His whole life is this family. This House,? Ariadne said. Her eyes

were wide, red, and staring, like someone who had been stuck in

too many different airports in too many different time zones for

too long. They all looked like that?like they?d woken up to find

themselves on the wrong side of the planet. ?How can Hector be

Outcast from the House of Thebes??

?I could have stopped him,? Jason said with grim certainty.

?You can barely sit up straight in your chair right now, Jase,? Ariadne

said, shaking her head. Jason had yet to recover from healing

Claire, and his twin wouldn?t let him take responsibility for

something that he hadn?t even seen. ?I was there. I should have

stopped it.?

?You weren?t on India Street when Hector killed Creon, Ari,?

Helen said, still staring at her water glass. ?I was.?

?Stop it, Helen,? Lucas said. ?You and your mother saved this

family, or at least, you saved what?s left of it.?

Lucas?s words brought fresh tears for Pandora. After several