Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

surf fizzing in the sand.

As the agony began to lessen into something semi-endurable,

Helen was able to notice more things about her body. From what

she could see, her outward shape seemed mostly normal, but her

insides felt gooey and soft, as if she were a freshly microwaved

chocolate chip cookie. Her bones were barely supporting the

muscles and tissue they were supposed to, and there was an itchy

heat in her marrow. She recognized that sensation as being similar

to the one she?d experienced once when she was learning to ride a

scooter and accidentally flipped the thing. Some part of her knew

at the time that she had broken her arm, but by the time she got it

X-rayed it was as good as new. The itch meant she was healing.

Somehow, she had fallen out of the sky and survived. She really

was a monster. A freak. Maybe even a witch. She started to cry.

?Don?t be scared,? Lucas managed to say in one try. ?Pain will

pass.?

?Should be dead,? she whined quietly through her liquefied jaw.

?What?s wrong with me??

?No. Not wrong. You?re one of us,? he said with a slightly

stronger voice. He was healing just as fast as Helen was.

?And what?s that??

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?We call ourselves Scions,? he said.

?Offspring?? Helen mumbled, remembering the definition from

one of Hergie?s despised Word of the Day assignments. ?Offspring

of wh

at??

Lucas answered her. Helen heard him, but she didn?t. The word

demigod was so far from what she was expecting to hear she had to

think about it for a second. She had prepared herself for it to be