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“What’s the point? Claire is ten times the researcher I am. I’d just get in her way, taking books out of the library that I don’t understand half as well as she could.” Helen made an expressive gesture toward Claire, who somehow managed to bow magnanimously while she was still sitting down. “Right now, studying isn’t what I need. I need Ariadne to train me.”
Ariadne looked at Helen doubtfully. “Helen? You know I adore you and all, but I’m so not about to get electrocuted. Why don’t you fly to the mainland and find a nice, big tree to set on fire and we’ll call it even?”
“You’re not understanding me,” Helen said forcefully.
All eyes turned to her and she froze. Helen fleetingly realized that she could sound too strong, maybe even a bit scary when she lost her temper. She looked down and saw her hands were blue with static and extinguished the growing bolt immediately. Shaking her head to clear it, Helen redirected her wandering attention and calmed herself. She knew her mind was not entirely grounded anymore and that she needed to be careful.
“Then explain it to me. What don’t we understand?” Ariadne said reasonably.
“I need to learn how to fight hand to hand without my powers. I need to be able to beat someone at least as big and as strong as Matt without using an ounce of my Scion strength or any of my other talents.”
“Is there a reason why?” Claire asked bluntly.
“Last night in the Underworld, Orion and I ran into Ares.”
Dumbstruck looks bounced around the arena. Helen’s fuzzy brain registered a few hours too late that she probably should have called someone or given someone a heads-up about the whole Ares thing. Meeting a god was a really big deal. She had been so preoccupied with what had happened between her and Orion in the cave that she hadn’t even considered the ramifications of what had happened before that, when the two of them were still in the Underworld.
What had happened between them was more important to Helen than a god, especially now that she was beginning to suspect Orion was purposely avoiding her. Still, she should have remembered to tell someone about Ares. Why can’t I control my thoughts anymore? Helen wondered blearily.
Because you need me. Come. I can give you the sweetest of dreams.
Helen spun around in a circle and looked for the source of the voice. After one rotation, it became clear that the voice was in her mind again. She took a few breaths and shook her head to clear it of all the skittering cobwebs that were tracing bright, ghostly paths across her eyes.
“Helen? Are you okay?” Ariadne asked, touching Helen’s elbow gently with her Healer hands. Helen smiled at Ariadne’s kindness but pulled her arm away.
“Ares ran from Orion because it’s obvious that with or without his powers, Orion knows how to fight. But I don’t,” Helen said, reining in her focus by sheer force of will. “I need to learn how to stand up to Ares on my own.”
Especially if Orion hated her now and never wanted to see her again. When she considered returning to the Underworld without Orion, she had to stop herself from tearing up.
“Ares. As in Ares, the God of War?” Claire sounded like she wanted to make absolutely certain that everyone was on the same page.
“Yes,” Helen said, nodding regretfully.
“Well, what happened?” Matt yelled in frustration. “Did you speak to him?”
“It wasn’t like a normal conversation or anything. He’s crazy, Matt—and I mean really crazy. He talked like he was reciting poetry or something and he leaked blood from the strangest places. Even his hair bled, if you can imagine it, and I don’t think any of that blood was his.” Helen looked down and saw her fingers vibrate. She was shaking all over.
In the harsh light of day, Helen suddenly wondered if she had imagined the entire encounter with Ares. Everything around her looked so real, but it seemed fake. Colors were oversaturated, and voices raked at Helen’s ears like they were all too loud and jarring. It was as if her surroundings had suddenly turned into the set of a Broadway musical, and Helen was the only one standing far enough upstage to see that the world was entirely made out of paint and plywood.
“As near as we can figure, Ares is as mortal in the Underworld as we are.” She was trying to outshout all the thoughts in her head. “But he’s still a big man and he knows how to fight. I ca
n’t defend myself against him without more training. I need you to teach me, Ari. Will you do it?”
“You’ll have to be the one to spar with her so I can teach,” Ariadne said to Matt quietly. “Are you up to this?”
“Probably not. But let’s do it, anyway,” he replied.
“Down to the cage,” Ariadne said solemnly. “Matt. You’ll have to change into a gi. I don’t want you to get blood all over your street clothes.”
While Helen and Matt trained, Claire went inside to tell the rest of the Delos family about Helen’s encounter with Ares and maybe try to come up with some kind of plan. Matt and Helen worked for hours, and Ariadne was not kind. More than once, Helen felt as if her sweet, delicate friend was actually channeling Hector in all his drill-sergeant glory.
Hitting Matt was not easy. He was wearing protective gear so he didn’t get injured, but even so, Helen balked more often than she should have. Each time she worried about hurting Matt. That thought would lead her back to how she had hurt Orion, and guilt would overwhelm her.
The Furies had made her do it. She hadn’t really meant it when she’d stabbed Orion, she reminded herself repeatedly. Even though at that moment when she knelt in front of him, she had wanted to kill him. In fact, there was only one other person toward whom she had ever felt such an overpowering emotion.
It’s the Furies, Helen thought firmly. It’s instinct, not real emotion.
But if her instinct was so terrible, how could she trust herself? It seemed like everything she instinctively wanted was immoral, hurtful, or just dead wrong. She had no idea what to do next.
