Dreamless (Starcrossed 2)

Zach felt a burning sensation across the palm of his hand, like a needle of fire had just been shot through it. He looked down and saw that he was bleeding freely, but that it was only a flesh wound and it wouldn’t cause him any permanent harm. Automedon grabbed his wrist and directed the blood to flow across the blade of the dagger, until both sides and all the edges were bathed in Zach’s blood.

“Swear on your blood, spilled over this blade, that you will serve or die.”

What choice did he have?

“I swear it.”

The next morning, Helen sat with Cassandra in the Delos library for another session of what she secretly thought of as “Sundays with Sibyl.” She still hadn’t decided whether to tell the Delos family about Orion or not. Twice she’d opened her mouth to ask if Cassandra could “see” whether or not Orion was still alive, and both times she’d closed it again. The third time she was spared, because Claire came barging into the library, closely followed by Matt, Jason, and Ariadne. All four were demanding that they be allowed to join in on the research.

“We’ve been through this before,” Cassandra said firmly. “We can’t risk it. Some of these scrolls have curses imbedded in them that could harm the uninitiated.”

The other three turned to Claire expectantly.

“So initiate us,” Claire said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes in challenge. “Make us priests and priestesses of Apollo.”

“Say that again,” Jason said, turning to Claire. He was so stunned there was almost no expression on his face.

“That’s the plan you’ve been working on for the past two days? The one you told us not to worry about?” Matt asked in an increasingly high-pitched voice.

“Yup,” Claire responded, completely unfazed.

“Oh, honey. There is no way I’m becoming a priestess,” Ariadne said. She shook her head definitely. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d risk my life to help Helen, but join the clergy? Uh-uh. Sorry.”

“Why not? Do you even know what it means to become a priestess?” Claire asked. “Well, I’ve done some reading and I can tell you, it’s not what you’re all thinking.”

Claire explained that the ancient Greeks were much more relaxed about the whole priest thing than any modern-day religion. They had to remain childless while they served the god Apollo, but no one was expected to be a priest or a priestess forever. You could leave whenever you wanted. Then there were a few little rules about keeping various parts of your body clean, making regular burnt offerings accompanied by some basic chanting, and observing a day of fasting once every new moon to honor Apollo’s twin sister, Artemis. That was about it.

“Oh. Well, sign me up then,” Ariadne with a grin and a shrug. “I can totally handle making sure that the creases between my toes are cleansed before joining others at table, just don’t ask me to give up—”

“We get it, Ari,” Jason interrupted, not wanting to hear what his sister was about to say. “So, how would we go about this?”

“There’s bound to be some kind of test we have to pass,” Matt added, intrigued. He seemed to be warming up to the idea of becoming a priest of Apollo.

“The Fates decide who gets to join. Then the Oracle performs the ritual of initiation,” Claire replied, looking pointedly at Cassandra.

“Me?” Cassandra said, taken aback. “I don’t know how to . . .”

Cassandra broke off when Claire sheepishly handed her an old parchment. It had obviously been stolen out of the Delos library, which meant that for days now, Claire had been breaking into the library and searching through potentially cursed scrolls before she had found it. There was a moment of silence as it sunk in for everyone just how dangerous Claire’s actions had been.

“I had to do something!” Claire protested to no one in particular. “Helen’s been putting herself through hell, literally through hell, every night. . . .”

“And what makes you think Helen is more important than you are?” Jason asked, his face turning bright red with anger. “You could have been killed by some of the stuff written in those scrolls!”

“I can’t just sit back and watch my best friend suffer! I won’t do it, even if I am only mortal,” Claire shouted back at him, like she was quoting something he had said to her.

“That wasn’t what I meant, and you know it,” he said as he threw up his hands and made a frustrated noise.

“Guys,” Helen said as she tried to step between them, tapping her hands together in the universal sign for “time out.”

“Just stay out of this!” Jason yelled. He brushed past Helen on his way to the door. “You’re not

the center of everyone’s universe, you know.”

The door slammed behind him, and an uncomfortable pause followed. After a moment, Claire whirled around to face Cassandra.

“Can you do it?” Claire demanded. Helen was surprised to see tears sparkling in her eyes. “Can you initiate us, or not?”

Cassandra looked up from the scrolls she had been studying since Claire had handed them to her, and paused to gather her thoughts.