“Damn it!” Helen yelled.
“Was something supposed to happen?” Orion asked expectantly.
She had just tried to picture Persephone’s face and t
eleport herself and Orion into the queen’s presence. They hadn’t moved a millimeter. Helen paced around in a circle, kicking at little twigs until she realized they were actually tiny, yellowed bones.
“Why can’t it just work?” she moaned. “Just once I want to come up with a plan and have it work. Is that too much to ask?”
Orion opened his mouth, about to say something to calm Helen down.
“Of course it isn’t!” Helen interrupted, her rant picking up steam. “But nothing works down here! Not our talents, not even the geography works. That lake over there is tilted on a slope! It should become a river, but oh, no, not down here! That would make too much sense!”
“Okay, okay! You win! It’s ridiculous,” Orion said, chuckling. He put his hands on her upper arms, making her hold still and face him. “Don’t worry. We’ll think of something else.”
“It’s just that everyone’s counting on me. And I really thought we had a plan, you know?” Helen sighed, her anger spent. She let her head fall forward and thud against Orion’s chest. She was so tired. Orion let her lean against him while he stroked her back comfortingly.
“Tell you the truth? I never thought it was going to work,” Orion said cautiously.
“Really?” Helen looked at him, deflated. “Why not?”
“Well, you haven’t seen Persephone’s face, just a picture of it.”
“But that first time I appeared near you I never saw your whole face, either. All I pictured was your voice and your hands and your . . . mouth.” Helen stumbled over that last bit, her eyes dropping down to admire his lips involuntarily.
“Well, those are still real pieces of me—not just pictures,” Orion said quietly, looking away. “Anyway, you don’t even know for sure if that picture you saw of Persephone is accurate.”
“And you were going to mention this . . . when?” Helen said, punching his shoulder to dispel the tension with some humor. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because what the hell do I know?” he said, like it was obvious. “Look, until we find what works, I say no ideas should be taken off the table. We’ll figure this out, but only if we don’t get narrow-minded.”
Helen felt her heart grow a little lighter. Orion knew exactly how to handle her sleep-deprived mood swings. Somehow, it was okay for her to be herself with him no matter how cranky she felt.
“Thanks.” She smiled up at him gratefully.
Helen could feel his heart under her hand, beating hard. His breathing sped up, each breath staying high and tight in his lungs. Helen was suddenly very conscious of the fact that he was holding her, and the small of her back tightened with sensitivity under the weight of his hands. An intense moment passed. Helen had the feeling that Orion was waiting for her in some way. She laughed nervously to cover the fact that she was breathing just as fast as he was and eased out of his arms.
“You’re right. We should stay open to all ideas,” she said as she moved a step away.
What the hell am I doing? she thought, clenching her fists until her nails dug into the palms of her hand.
What she was doing was trying not to think too much about what Hector had said about how she could have “a lot of fun” with a Scion from the House of Rome. What did that mean, exactly? It was the House of Aphrodite, after all. . . .
“You wouldn’t happen to have any, would you? Ideas, I mean,” she continued, pushing aside her thoughts about just how much fun she was allowed to have with Orion.
“Actually, I think I might,” he said, switching gears so fast Helen wondered if she had interpreted the situation correctly. Orion was staring intently at the slanted lake, biting his lower lip.
“I’m listening,” she said, just to remind him that she was still there.
Had he been thinking about kissing her, or was she just flattering herself? Helen watched him gently tug his lower lip through his teeth and didn’t know which of those two options she hoped was true.
Why did Orion have to be an Heir? Why couldn’t he be some amazing guy she’d just met, preferably a full mortal so he was completely removed from this Truce nonsense? It would be so much easier if Orion were just a normal guy.
“You know, in all my reading about the Underworld there have only been a few things that get mentioned over and over,” he continued, oblivious to Helen’s swirling thoughts. “It’s like they’re the only things that the historians agree are really down here one hundred percent of the time.”
Helen stated to tick off the list on her fingers, taking an inventory of all the different things that could fit Orion’s description.
“Well, we’re in Erebus right now—this bland nowheres-ville. Then there are the Fields of Asphodel: creepy. And Tartarus: yuck.”