Dreamless (Starcrossed 2)

To Helen, it looked like Cassandra was as unconcerned with the emotional quarrel between Jason and Claire as she would be with a TV show that happened to be on in the background while she was trying to read. In a way, this was more disheartening than anything that had been said during the fight. Jason obviously held some kind of grudge against Helen, but at least they all cared about each other. Helen didn’t know if the same was true of Cassandra anymore.

“Yes I can,” Cassandra said. “But that’s not the right question to ask me.”

“Should Cassandra initiate us, Sibyl?” Matt asked, his eyes narrowed like he was testing a dangerous theory that could blow up in his face.

The room got cold. The eerie, glowing aura of the Oracle overtook Cassandra’s girlish frame, bowing her shoulders until she was stooped over and shadowing her face until she looked like an old woman. When she spoke again her voice was a chorus as the Three Fates spoke through her.

“You all are found worthy and shall suffer no injury from the knowledge you seek. But be warned. For suffering awaits you all.”

The acid-purple glow of the Oracle’s aura snuffed out, and Cassandra fell to the ground in a heap.

Before anyone could recover from the shock of witnessing the paralyzing presence of the Moirai, somehow Lucas appeared at his sister’s side, already gently lifting her up off the floor and into his arms.

“When did you come in?” Ariadne asked him, looking over her shoulder at the door, and then back at Lucas with wide eyes. He didn’t bother to respond. His focus stayed entirely on his little sister.

Cassandra’s eyes fluttered open and her head twitched as she regained consciousness. Lucas steadied her as she flailed slightly with the shock of coming around to find herself being held up in the air. He smiled at her and she smiled back, neither of them needing to talk to be able to communicate. Helen would have given everything she had to see Lucas smile at her like that. His face was so beautiful when he smiled. She wanted to touch it.

Lucas brushed past Matt as he carried Cassandra out of the library, and as he did so, Helen noticed that he made no sound as he walked. Somehow over the past few weeks Lucas had learned how to use his ability to manipulate the air to create a soundless vacuum. It was almost like he wasn’t really there anymore. Helen’s heart squeezed so tightly in her chest that she thought for a minute that she would choke. Lucas was erasing himself, and he was probably doing it so he didn’t have to suffer actually being in the same room as her. He hated her that much.

Claire told everyone that they couldn’t safely read the scrolls without a proper initiation first. They’d have to wait until Cassandra was able to perform the ritual. Everyone else filed out silently, engrossed in thought, but Helen stayed behind in the library for a few seconds in order to collect herself.

Every time she saw Lucas it got worse. He was changing, but not for the better. Something wrong was happening to Lucas.

Blinking her stinging eyes, Helen scolded herself. She didn’t have the right to worry about him anymore. She wasn’t his girlfriend. She wasn’t even supposed to look at him.

Helen defiantly shook off the thought before it could suck her in. She had to keep busy. Motion. Action. That was the key.

As Helen walked out of the library, she came across Claire and Jason sitting on one of the many back staircases in the sprawling Delos house. From what Helen could gather, they had already worked past the angry phase of their argument and were moving steadily to an understanding. They held hands as they talked. Claire sat on a slightly higher step to compensate for her small stature, and both of them were leaning toward each other so close it was like they were trying to climb into each other’s eyes.

Helen ducked out the back door before she had to witness any more of the emotional exchange. There were some clacking and huffing sounds coming from the tennis-courts-turned-arena, and she wandered toward it, wondering who was training. Her first thought was that Castor and Pallas were working out together, but when she went inside she saw Ariadne and Matt going at it like a couple of gladiators with wooden practice swords. Matt fell back on his ass, and Helen cringed for him. She knew exactly what he was going through.

“Good, Matt,” Ariadne said as she bent over to lend him a hand. “But you’re still dropping your guard too much when you . . .” Ariadne trailed off when she saw Helen was watching her.

“I didn’t know you were teaching Matt to fight,” Helen said awkwardly when she realized that the two of them were blushing. They shot each other nervous glances and then looked back at Helen with cornered looks on their faces.

“Guys? What’s going on?” Helen finally asked when she couldn’t figure out why they were acting so guilty.

“My dad doesn’t want mortals involved in any of the fighting,” Ariadne admitted. “He sort of forbade us to teach Matt how to use a sword.”

“Then why are you doing it?” Helen asked, but neither of them answered her. Helen tried to picture Matt fighting someone like Creon, and the image truly frightened her. She had to say something. “Matt, I know you’re a good athlete, but even with training it would be suicide for you to take on a Scion.”

“I know that!” he said in a strangled voice. “But what am I supposed to do if I get caught in the middle of a brawl or hit one of you with my car again? Just stand around and wait for someone to come rescue me? I’d be dead if I did that. At least this gives me something of a shot.”

“Scions don’t usually attack mortals. No offense, but we think it’s dishonorable,” Helen responded sheepishly. She didn’t want to put Matt down, but it was the truth.

“Matt doesn’t have to be attacked to end up getting hurt. Or killed,” Ariadne said in a wavering voice.

“I know he doesn’t, but . . .” Helen began gently and then broke off. She couldn’t help but think that after a few weeks of training Matt might start believing he could handle himself against one of the Hundred, which was madness. “This is a really bad idea, you guys.”

“I can’t just stand around and do nothing! I’m not afraid!” Matt yelled at her. Ariadne stepped forward and touched Matt’s arm to calm him down.

“You’re not helping,” she said gently to him before she turned to Helen with a steely look in her eyes. “I don’t think it’s right for him to be around Scions and not even know how to hold a sword. I honestly don’t care if no one else in this family agrees with me. I’m going to teach him. So now the only question is, are you going to tell my father or not?”

“Of course I won’t!” Helen said in an exasperated voice before she turned to Matt to plead with him. “Just, Matt, please don’t try to fight a Scion unless you absolutely have to do it to defend yourself!”

“Right,” he responded with a bitter tilt to his lips. “You know, I may not be able to lift a car over my head, but that doesn’t mean I’m useless.”

Helen couldn’t remember Matt ever being so bitter about anything. She tried to explain what she meant, but got strangely tongue-tied. Honestly, she wished he were a little more cowardly. He’d probably live longer that way, but she couldn’t very well say that to him.