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ed nervously with her fingers, rolling them between his own, as if the pressure soothed him. The gesture reminded her of another time when Lucas had taken her hand. She almost pulled away, but she didn’t. Orion needed her, and she realized that she wanted to be there for him. Always. Truce or no Truce, Helen couldn’t convince herself that caring for Orion was wrong.
“You know that my father’s side, the House of Athens, is descended from Theseus, a Scion of Poseidon,” he began carefully. “Well, it’s very rare, but I was born with all of Poseidon’s talents, including the ability to cause earthquakes. When a Scion is born with this particular talent, the law of our House is that the baby is to be exposed. But my father wouldn’t do it.”
“What do you mean by ‘exposed’?” Something about the dark way he said the word gave her goose bumps.
“Left on a mountainside to die of exposure to the elements.” Orion raised his eyes to meet her gaze. “It was considered a parent’s sacred duty to do this to babies born with the power to cause earthquakes in order to protect the community as a whole.”
“Sacred duty? It’s barbaric! Your House actually expected your father to leave you to die on a mountainside?”
“My House takes this law very seriously, Helen, and my father broke it. When I was ten and they found out I was still alive, they came after us. Three of my cousins are dead because of the choice my father made. What about them? They all had fathers who loved them, some of them had wives and sons who loved them, and they’re dead now—because of me.”
He had a point. His father had killed to protect him, but those men that came after them—they lost exactly what Daedalus had killed to protect. And another cycle of killing and revenge had started anew.
“Is that how your dad—Daedalus, right?—became an Outcast?” She asked the question quietly, careful not to push him too hard. When Orion nodded but wouldn’t look up from the ground, a shocking thought occurred to her. “You agree with them! You think your father should have left you to die.”
“I don’t know what he should have done, I only know what he actually did. And I know how it turned out,” Orion said darkly. “Before you judge the laws of my father’s House, just think about how many mortals—not just Scions but innocent, normal people like your father, Jerry—could be killed by me. Did you feel the tremors in the cave? Do you know how many people felt that quake I made the other night, or if anyone got hurt? Because I don’t.”
Helen recalled their struggle in the cave, how the earth had rolled under her. She started to get an inkling of how powerful he really was, and it was scary. But it was also exciting. Orion was dangerous, but not in the way he thought.
“And I could have done much worse than that.” His voice was low and shaky. “Helen, I can bring down whole cities, drop entire islands into the ocean, or even knock the edge of this continent if I really put my mind to it.”
Helen saw a desperate light spark in his eye, and she put a hand on his arm to stop him. His whole body was trembling. She could see that he was completely terrified of what he could do, and that he found even the thought of causing so much pain abhorrent. That told her everything she needed to know about him.
“You’re capable of monstrous things, so you must be a monster. I don’t even know why I hang out with you,” Helen said harshly.
Orion looked up at her, wounded, until he saw the smile spreading on her face. She shook her head sympathetically, like she thought he was foolish for even thinking her cruel words were said in earnest. He made a frustrated sound and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand.
“I’m dangerous when I’m out of control. And you and me together with the Furies . . .” He trailed off uncertainly, desperate to find the words that would make Helen understand him. “I could hurt a lot of people, Helen.”
“I get it.” And she did. “In the cave you could have hurt me in a million ways, and maybe killed a million people while you were at it. But you didn’t. You’re a better person than you think you are. I trust you completely.”
“Really?” he asked in a hushed voice. “You’re really not afraid of me?”
“Maybe I should be. But I’m not,” she answered softly. “You know, when the Delos family first saw my lightning, for a second there they looked at me like I was a weapon of mass destruction. But I haven’t burned down any major cities. It’s not our talents that make us safe or dangerous, it’s our choices. You of all people should know that.”
Orion shook his head. “There’s this prophecy,” he said.
“Ugh! Not this malarkey again!” Helen said vehemently. “You want to know what I think? I think all those ancient prophecies are so full of poetic nonsense that half the time no one understands what they mean. You’re not the big bad Tyrant, Orion. And you never will be.”
“I hope you’re right,” he mumbled so quietly Helen barely heard him.
“You are so afraid of yourself,” she remarked, truly sad that he couldn’t see what a crime that was.
“Yeah, well. I’ve got reason to be.”
“Okay, I wasn’t going to ask, but now I sort of have to. You said earlier you’d done way worse things than me, and this was right after I owned up to stabbing one of my best friends in the chest. So what would you consider worse than that?”
Orion smiled pensively as he walked, thinking over her question carefully. Helen watched his face and smiled. He was such a thoughtful guy, and when something was important to him he took his time to think it through before he opened his mouth. She really liked that about him. It sort of reminded her of Matt.
“Can we have that conversation later?” he said finally. “I promise to tell you someday, just not yet, okay?”
“Sure. Whenever you’re ready.”
He looked over at her with tight lips, trying to be tough, but his eyes were vulnerable and that made him look very young.
“Am I really one of your best friends?” he asked quietly.
“Well, yeah,” Helen replied, feeling jittery, like maybe she shouldn’t admit to caring for him so much. But she was only admitting to friendship—not making any commitments that could harm the Truce, right? “Aren’t I one of your best friends?”
