“It’s not what you think. I came to guard her while she descended,” Lucas grunted. “You know what? If she won’t wake up, toss her off.”
“Why are you two being so noisy?” Helen mumbled peevishly, finally opening her eyes.
She saw that she was lying facedown on top of Orion, and he, in turn, had Lucas pinned underneath him. All of them were stacked in her tiny bed, tangled in the blankets and dusted with ice, like frosting on the layer cake. After all that had happened in the Underworld, it had slipped Helen’s mind that she had descended while Lucas held her in his arms, and even though a lot had transpired in that other universe, just milliseconds had passed in this one before she reappeared back in her bed with Orion in her arms.
Helen looked down at the Scion sandwich and tried not to blush. There was no reason for her to be embarrassed about any of this, right?
“Why are you so damn heavy?” Lucas asked breathlessly as the air was pressed out of his lungs. “I’ve lifted school buses with less effort.”
“I don’t know,” Helen mumbled, and tried to release gravity. It didn’t entirely work, although she did feel herself lighten a bit. “What the hell is going on?”
“What’s wrong?” Orion asked.
“I can’t float!” She shivered as the ice in her hair melted and turned into cold water that ran down the back of her neck.
“Calm down and try again,” Lucas said gently.
She did, and after a few moments it worked. She hovered over Orion as she unwound the constricting blankets, and then wafted away from him.
“That is so amazing,” Orion said, looking at Helen in awe as he got off Lucas and out of bed.
“You’ve never seen Helen fly?” Lucas said, and then he nodded as the reason why occurred to him. “No powers in the Underworld. Huh,” he mumbled to himself, staring at the fast-melting ice on Helen’s bed, deep in thought.
“Lucas, we did it,” Helen said. He glanced up at her, quickly discarding his absorbing thoughts. “We’re all free—the Scions, the Furies. All of us.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, almost daring to smile.
“Only one way to find out,” Orion said. He took out his phone, dialed, and waited until someone on the other end answered. “Hector. We think it’s over. Get to Helen’s as fast as you can.” He ended the call and looked at Helen and Lucas impassively. Lucas’s eyes widened with worry.
“Are you sure that was a good idea?” Helen asked Orion uncertainly.
“No, he’s right,” Lucas said, and seemed to brace himself for another encounter with his cousin. “It’s better to test this with just the four of us. Safer.”
“Okay. But can we do this outside?” Helen asked sheepishly. “My dad really loves this house.”
As soon as Helen said it, she was overwhelmed with worry for Jerry. She’d put the thought of him on the back burner so she could focus on what she needed to do, but now that she wasn’t running around like a crazy woman for the first time in what had to be the longest day of her life, Helen was desperate to find out what had happened to her father.
She led Lucas and Orion down to her front yard and then pulled out her phone to call Claire.
“How’s my dad?” Helen asked as soon as she answered.
“Ahh. Alive,” Claire said tentatively. “Look, Lennie, I’m not going to lie to you. It’s bad. We’re on our way back to the compound now. Jason and Ari are going to work on him there, but other than that, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m driving, so I’d better go. I’ll call later if something happens, okay?”
“Okay,” Helen tried to say, but it came out a whisper. She hit the end button and wiped her wet cheeks quickly before she looked up. Orion and Lucas were staring at her.
“Is Jerry . . . ?” Orion began.
“He’s not good,” Helen said in a strangely high voice.
Helen began to pace, and she didn’t know what to do with her hands or her feet. She touched her nonexistent pockets, ran her fingers through her snarly hair, and tugged at her clothes. It was as if all of her extremities had just picked up and started flapping on the breeze, like one of those fan men dancing outside a car dealership. Without Jerry, she was just one big loose end.
“Jason and Ariadne are very talented, Helen,” Lucas said in a low voice. “They’ll fight for him. You know that, right?”
“Yeah,” Helen said in a distracted way, still pacing. “And if they can’t save him, I’ll go down there and I’ll . . .”
“Don’t say it Helen,” Orion interrupted urgently. “You may be the Descender, but Hades is still lord of the dead. Remember what happened when you said you’d free Persephone? How easily he dealt with you? Don’t even think about trying to steal from him.”
“He can’t have my father,” she said, suddenly very still. She looked up and stared at Orion, daring him to defy her. “I’ll turn the Underworld upside down and shake it until Jerry drops out if I have to, but he can’t have my father.”