Goddess (Starcrossed 3)

The brightness of Hector’s light faltered. Helen looked up at Hector’s face.

The Hector Helen knew—and usually wanted to punch in the kidney—would have said something hilarious as he left the room, grinning at Andy in a way that would make her unsure if she wanted to kick him or kiss him. But this new, glowing Hector only nodded at Andy’s demand. He took one more moment to stare at the cuts and dark bruises on her battered face, his forehead pinching with sadness. He turned to leave the kitchen without another word.

As Hector got to the door, Orion and Lucas were just coming through it. Helen saw Orion’s gaze immediately dart down to Hector’s chest, then back up to Hector’s face, his eyes wide with shock.

“We heard yelling,” Orion said, confused.

Hector pushed past Orion and Lucas. Searching the kitchen, Orion quickly found Andy, who was still glaring daggers at Hector’s back. Andy’s chest was a glowering nest of fear and anger. Helen saw Orion’s expression fall, and she knew he understood the situation as clearly as she did.

“Hey, sunshine! What’s the matter with you?” Lucas yelled at Hector’s retreating figure. The only answer from his cousin was the slam of the front door. Lucas looked around at everyone else for an answer.

“I’ll tell you later,” Orion said quietly to Lucas, his voice strained with worry. Helen knew Lucas was just about to say something impatient like, “No, tell me now,” so she jumped in.

“Guys. This is Andy,” Helen said.

Lucas and Orion smiled at Andy and introduced themselves. Andy subtly looked back and forth between the two breathtaking young men—uncertain as to whom she wanted to stare at more. Helen laughed, sympathizing completely with Andy’s predicament—Lucas’s eyes or Orion’s lips? She had trouble deciding that one herself. Helen clapped a hand over her mouth but not before she actually snorted. The odd outburst earned her a couple of wary looks.

It occurred to Helen that all of the emotions she was so tuned in to were not apparent to anyone else—except Orion. Glancing over, she saw him studying her carefully, and her fear returned. She mouthed the words, “We need to talk.” Orion nodded once in response.

“Breakfast is getting cold,” Noel said firmly.

“Maybe this is a bad idea,” Andy said, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t be here.”

“Can your family protect you?” Lucas asked directly.

Andy looked down at her feet. “No,” she replied. “I don’t have family like you do. I’ve got a lawyer and a bank account. Sirens aren’t exactly the nurturing type.”

“Then you’re staying here with us. Now sit down and eat,” Noel said in the kind of tone that ends discussions.

Everyone scooted onto the bench or pulled up chairs and started passing around plates. Helen found herself between Orion and Lucas, but it wasn’t awkward or embarrassing. It felt right, like they all belonged here at this table together.

Helen realized that the three of them were tied to each other by more than just mutual respect and attraction. She, Lucas, and Orion were blood brothers now, and each of them felt the bond to the other as deeply as if it had been there from the day they were born.

Helen felt Lucas press his leg against hers under the table. She didn’t dare look at him as she felt the heat of his thigh seep through her jeans and into her skin. She pressed back against his thigh and felt him inch a tiny bit closer to her as he ate.

Right or wrong, Helen knew she would always look for a way to touch Lucas under the table, or brush up against him as she passed him in the hall. She wasn’t getting over him. In fact, she wanted Lucas even more now than she did weeks ago when she almost kissed him in his bed that first night after they fell.

Her brain filled with some other Helen’s memories of suffering because of their union. They were awful, but not even those borrowed memories of destruction and fire could bring Helen to break the contact between her leg and his.

More memories flashed inside her head, like a movie reel played on fast-forward. Helen and Lucas had been married for decades. They had only met two months ago. They were sharing their first kiss. He made her laugh. He made her cry. They talked tenderly. They argued bitterly. Over and over the images rolled behind Helen’s eyes like giant waves. When they stopped, Helen could see everything clearly—like a beach wiped clean after a storm.

She and Lucas were woven from the same cloth, cut apart, and then stitched back together from one cycle to another. The circumstances changed, but they were always intertwined, no matter what.

The difference now was that in this life they were cousins. That had never been part of the deal before, and it didn’t feel right to Helen. Lucas, or Paris, or Lancelot, or any one of the hundreds of names she’d called him over the centuries had never been her cousin before. They’d always shared a doomed, starcrossed love, but they had never been related. What had happened this time to throw everything so far out of whack?

I really don’t care if he’s my cousin anymore.

As soon as Helen thought this, she remembered Aphrodite’s curse. If Helen didn’t have a daughter, love itself would be taken from the world. And Ariadne had once told Helen that close relatives like cousins almost always had insane children. Since Helen was quite sure that Aphrodite wouldn’t forget her 3,300-year-old curse, and since Helen could never bear the thought of damning an innocent child to insanity, there were no options for her and Lucas. She jerked her leg away and tilted her knees to her other side, toward Orion. Sensing her uneasiness, Orion looked over at Helen with concerned eyes.

Setting aside her bias for Lucas, Helen had to admit that Orion was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. She smiled at him, and he nudged her elbow playfully with his before they both returned to devouring their food.

Sometime later, Helen took her attention off her plate long enough to notice that Jason and Claire had joined them at the table. Claire had a newspaper with her.

“She found something,” Jason said seriously.

“It’s not good,” Claire warned. She opened up the paper and showed them an article. “Three volcanoes erupted last night in Europe.”

“That doesn’t sound normal,” Kate said.