Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

down the drive before she crept out onto the lawn. It wasn?t dark

out yet, but Helen still felt like even the shadows under the bushes

were reaching out to grab at her. As soon as she was clear of the

house she jumped up into the air, frantic to get into the sky, the

one place she knew Creon couldn?t catch her. Calmer once she was

safely airborne, Helen flew home, circling high for a few moments

to watch for random neighbors before coming in steep and fast to

avoid being seen. Touching down in her backyard, Helen listened

for the usual sounds of her father and heard that he wasn?t alone.

Kate was with him.

They were talking softly, and here and there they would laugh or

lapse into silence as one or the other gathered their thoughts to

make sure the words came out right. Helen looked in the window

and saw them sitting on the couch together, TV off, having what

looked like an important conversation. If she concentrated she

could probably make out what they were saying, but Helen didn?t

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want to intrude on such a private moment between two people who

were obviously falling in love.

She touched her heart-shaped necklace and wished them perfect

happiness together. She wasn?t sure if the cestus worked like that,

but all that mattered was that Jerry would have someone to care

for him when she was gone. Helen realized that if she left now,

without confronting him, he would never have to know about

Daphne returning to the island, and if that wound was left unopened,

then this fragile understanding between him and Kate

might stand a chance.

She stood in the window for a moment, deciding which course to

take, until finally the sharp drop in temperature and the tangerine

color staining the clouds told her she had run out of time. She flew