“Should we go back to your house? Try and find a trail?” Orion suggested.
“There won’t be one,” Lucas said quietly, wishing Orion would just shut up.
“Then what do you suggest?” Orion continued as he scrutinized Lucas carefully. When Lucas didn’t respond he raised his eyebrows and repeated himself. “Lucas. I can read your feelings, you know. Tell me what you’re thinking so we can work it out together.”
“I’m trying to figure out how the hell anyone would be able to capture Helen! Have you ever tried to fight her? Even when she holds back she’s a beast!” Lucas was teetering right on the edge of violence. He wanted to hit Orion, but he settled for yelling. “I can barely handle her and I don’t think she’s shown me even a fraction of what she’s capable of. Can you imagine what she’d do to someone if they tried to kidnap her and keep her against her will? Half of Massachusetts would be on fire!”
Orion looked at Lucas’s chest with concern.
“You’re freaking out. I need you to calm down right now. For Helen.” Orion grabbed Lucas by the shoulder, and Lucas felt flooded with warmth. His heart slowed down, and a wave of soothing feelings overtook him.
He knew Orion was a Son of Aphrodite and could manipulate emotions, but Lucas had never actually experienced anything like it before. It was a physical change, like an instant drug working on his body and mind, and for a moment Lucas wondered just how much Orion could affect him, and in what ways. If Orion could make him feel this good, it was reasonable to assume he could make him feel just as bad as well. The implications were astounding.
“I’m sorry,” Orion said, releasing Lucas. “I don’t like to do that without asking first.”
“No, it’s okay. I needed it,” Lucas said gently, knowing that Orion disliked using his talent to control hearts under any circumstance, even when it could benefit him greatly. He continued in a much calmer voice. “Did you notice the ice on Helen’s bed when she brought you back from the Underworld tonight? How she couldn’t float right away, and how I couldn’t lift the two of you off of me? Is that loss of Scion powers normal when Helen descends?”
“It’s normal around all portals into the Underworld. They’re dead zones. No heat, no living organisms growing on the walls, and no Scion talents. I think Helen creates a temporary portal when she descends, and it must take a few seconds to dissipate after she dismantles it,” Orion said with a thoughtful frown.
“Do you think Automedon would know all this about portals?”
“I wouldn’t doubt it. There have been other Descenders, and he’s three days older than dirt. That monster’s probably seen everything,” Orion said. “He wouldn’t have much time, though. Remember, after a few seconds, she could fly again.”
“Not a lot of time, sure. But if he were expecting it, it’d be enough. He was watching her for a few weeks. He’d know she would definitely follow her father down into the Underworld,” Lucas said, sensing that he was on the right track. This had to have been planned. “Automedon just had to make sure Jerry got terribly injured—easy enough to do in a riot—and then when every Scion on the island was out chasing Eris and Terror . . .”
“There’d be no Scions around to protect her while she went after her dad,” Orion finished. Then he shook his head as he noticed a flaw in their logic. “But Automedon could have done this any time over the past few months. She descended every night, and no one’s been guarding her. Why wait?”
“Well,” Lucas said, looking away embarrassed. “I’ve almost always been with her at night, usually on her roof. But no one, not even Automedon would have been able to see me.”
“How can you know that?”
“I’m a Shadowmaster. And I can also make myself invisible.” Orion’s eyes widened. Lucas plowed on impatiently before they could get off topic. “But that’s not the point. Automedon had to wait for Helen to complete her task in the Underworld before taking her. Tantalus wouldn’t dare make a move against Helen before that.”
“But why take her now? Tantalus knows about me and probably the dozens of other Rogues, too. He can’t hope to achieve Atlantis unless he kills us all. Do you think he intends to start with Helen?”
The world tilted on its axis for a moment as Lucas considered that. What if Helen were already dead? Was it possible that half of his heart could die without him feeling it? Lucas shoved a hand in his pocket and felt the last poppy obol left in the world, rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger. He already knew what he would do if Helen died.
“I don’t know,” he whispered, banishing that thought for now. He looked up at Orion intently. “You’re right. It doesn’t make sense for Tantalus to have her kidnapped now, but remember, he’s probably not the one calling the shots anymore. Automedon’s new master must have wanted the Furies out of the way as well before he gave the order to take Helen. Regardless of why Automedon waited, there’s only one place I can imagine where anyone would be physically capable of holding Helen prisoner.”
“A permanent portal. My portal is the closest one and I got followed there earlier tonight,” Orion said ruefully, like he wanted to kick himself. He started moving toward the west. “Do you want to wait here for your family while I go after her?”
Lucas smirked at Orion, not bothering to answer the question.
He knew that the smart thing would be to contact Hector and make it a three-to-one fight against the much stronger Myrmidon, but there was no way he could make himself hold still long enough to do that. He charged after Orion, and half a moment later they were at the edge of the island.
“Oh, God, Matt! You have to get here,” Zach rasped into the phone. His breathing was uneven and the receiver kept brushing against his chin, like he was running or walking fast. “He’s got Helen and he’s going to hurt her!”
“Wait. Where’s here?” Matt interrupted. He waved an arm frantically at Hector, Pallas, Castor—everyone who happened to be standing around the Delos kitchen, trying to figure out where Automedon could have taken Helen. Zach kept talking, the words spilling out of his mouth in a gob, like yolk dribbling from a cracked egg.
“I was supposed to call Lucas and that Orion guy,” Zach stammered. “That’s what I’m supposed to be doing right now, what I was always supposed to do, and I will because he’ll kill me if I don’t, but I know that’s his plan, so I can’t follow it entirely, right? I figured if I tell you, then we can figure something out.”
“Slow down! What do you mean ‘plan’?”
“The plan to start the war! He needs all three of them to do it!”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Helen’s cheek was hot—burning hot.