Goddess (Starcrossed 3)

“Apollo never let a girl get away,” Lucas said, like he hated admitting that he was the descendant of someone so loathsome. “When he wanted a mortal he chased her, even if she didn’t want him back. Anywhere she ran, he followed. He wouldn’t give up.”

“Unless she begged a goddess to turn her into a tree or a body of water or something that he couldn’t violate,” Matt said testily. “Haven’t you ever wondered why the House of Thebes, the descendants of Apollo, have so many members?”

“All the gods were miserable, raping, warmongering bastards. Not just Apollo,” Hector said with a grimace. “That’s why we have to find a way to get rid of them. Again.”

Orion, Lucas, and Helen shared a pained look, each of them keenly aware that this was their fault. The three of them had accidentally become blood brothers when they fought Ares, and that had joined the four Houses and unleashed the gods on the world again.

“Hang on. I wasn’t blaming you three,” Hector began apologetically, but Orion smiled and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“We know you didn’t mean it like that,” Orion said.

“But it was still our fault,” Helen reminded them all. “The gods have always backed Scions into a corner and forced us to make a choice between bad and worse, but we’re the ones who have always fallen for their traps. I won’t let it happen again.”

Lucas gave Helen a worried look, but before he could lecture her on the dangers of hubris for the tenth time, she changed the subject. “So who wants to come with me to get this girl?”

“You’re not going,” Lucas and Orion said in unison.

“Yes I am,” Helen replied to both of them. “You two are a mess, and Hector can’t show his face in public. Who else is going to go?”

“I’ll come with you, Len,” Claire said, cutting off Lucas and Orion before they could argue any further. “Don’t worry guys, I’ll watch her. If she keels over, she can land on me, okay?”

“And me,” Ariadne said.

“You’re still way too drained,” Jason said, shaking his head at his twin.

“And that poor girl just got attacked by a god last night. She’s probably too injured to be moved without a Healer. I’m also guessing that right now the last thing she wants is for a man to put his hands on her, so that counts you out,” Ariadne replied firmly to Jason.

“So, it’s Larry, Moe, and Curly to the rescue?” Hector said, rubbing his forehead like his brain hurt.

“Very funny,” Helen said, insulted.

He looked up at Helen, his eyes serious. “How are your bolts?”

She held up a humming globe of power, cupped in the palm of her hand. It sizzled with compressed energy and threw heat out into the room in waves. “Better than ever,” she replied with a cocked eyebrow. “It feels almost effortless now. Like it isn’t draining me at all.”

“Good,” Hector said, visibly relaxing now that he knew Helen could defend the three of them. “Apollo is probably lurking around somewhere near the hospital, so keep your eyes open.”

“I will. But he’s not likely to get too close to me after what I did to his half brother,” she said darkly.

Helen looked down at the ball of energy in her hand, remembering how she’d electrocuted Ares and imprisoned him in Tartarus after he’d tortured her. It felt good to know she’d defeated a god. When she looked up, everyone was staring at her.

She closed her hand and extinguished the bolt.

THREE

The streets didn’t get bad until they got to the center of town. Helen gazed out the window of Ariadne’s Mini with a lump in her throat as they drove past the vandalized storefronts. The damage done during the Halloween riots was localized around the high school and the News Store, but that included a large area of downtown.

Shop windows were broken, demolished cars were still sitting on the side of the road, and some places were even showing the signs of fire damage. Houses that belonged to Helen’s schoolmates and her neighbors—houses that were older than the country itself—had been torn up, covered with graffiti, and scorched. She wondered how many people she cared about had been hurt or even killed. How many of her friends were still dreadfully injured like her dad?

“Claire? Did anyone we know . . . besides Zach?” Helen began, unsure of how to put it. She didn’t have to spell it out. Claire knew what she meant and nodded.

“Hergie,” Claire said, her voice catching. “Smoke inhalation. He was trying to save books from the library fire at school.”

There was nothing to say. Mr. Hergesheimer wasn’t a relative or even a friend, but still Helen had loved that grouchy old man. Now that he was gone, it was like a door closing. Nantucket would never be the same again.

She swallowed and refocused on what they needed to do. Right now she knew she needed to get angry, not hysterical. Eris and Terror, the small gods who had created the riots, were still out there somewhere. Helen clenched her fists and reminded herself to be patient. She’d get her chance at them soon enough.

During the long ride on the ferry from Nantucket to the mainland port at Hyannis the three girls took the opportunity to plan which hospitals they should try. Taking up a table by the concession stand at the center of the ferry, they scrolled through Matt’s iPad, checking out maps on the internet. By the time the ferry docked, Helen felt like they had a pretty solid list of possibilities.