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Zach’s face fell and his eyes looked up at her desperately. For a moment, Helen felt bad for him. Then she thought about how he’d almost gotten Hector killed at the track meet and her softening heart turned back into stone. She might have known Zach since grade school, but those days were long gone. Helen moved to another desk and didn’t look at him again.
After school, Helen and Claire ran track and then went to the Delos compound together. When they got there no one was around. Not even Noel, who had left a message taped to the refrigerator informing any hungry person who came into the kitchen that there was nothing to eat and she’d be back in a few hours with groceries. Claire and Helen grimaced at each other when they read the note, then they raided the cupboards for anything they could find to quiet their rumbling post-run tummies. Over their pilfered snack, they sorted out why the house was so darn empty.
Pallas and Castor were still in New York, deep in the never-ending bickering of Conclave. According to their last letter, there was still no decision about permanently getting rid of the Myrmidon, although they had ruled that he wasn’t allowed to take up residence on the island. Which was useless, anyway, because it turned out that this whole time he’d been living on a yacht. Jason and Lucas were at football practice, and since Cassandra’s cello was missing from the library, Helen and Claire assumed that she and Ariadne were at school rehearsing for the play.
Somehow, the two Delos girls had gotten roped into playing the music for the winter production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Neither of them had the time, but Cassandra was especially peeved about it. She no longer saw the point in trying to appear normal when her underdeveloped body and her uncanny stillness so obviously signaled that she wasn’t. Helen knew that maintaining appearances was important, but she had to agree. No amount of volunteeri
ng could make Cassandra seem like a normal fourteen-going-on-fifteen-year-old, so why torture the poor girl with theater?
“Hey, Gig?” Helen mused while she and Claire polished off the last of Jason’s hidden stash of chocolate chip cookies. “How much do you weigh?”
“Right now? Probably about a thousand pounds,” Claire said, brushing cookie crumbs off her lap. “Why?”
“I want to try something that might be kind of dangerous. Are you game?”
“I’m so game I should change my name to Yahtzee,” Claire replied smoothly with a hell-raiser grin.
Horsing around the whole way, Helen led her out to the arena while Claire continually tried and failed to hip-bump, trip, and or shoulder-throw her much larger and supernaturally strong friend. When they finally got out to the middle of the sand, after much staggering and giggling, Helen grew serious, telling Claire to hold still. She stood close to Claire, and concentrated on her petite friend’s mass.
“Len, that tickles!” Claire giggled. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to make you weightless so I can finally show you what it feels like to fly,” Helen murmured, her eyes still closed. “Maybe put your hands on my shoulders?”
Claire eagerly did as Helen asked. She’d always wanted to know what Helen and Lucas experienced when they soared effortlessly into the air, but until now, Helen had been too uncertain of her ability to agree to try it with Claire. Lucas had warned her that carrying a passenger would be difficult, but that didn’t scare Helen so much anymore. She figured if she didn’t try it now, she might never get the chance again.
As soon as Claire leaned into Helen, the two of them floated up about ten feet in the air. Claire gasped with awe.
“I feel . . . It’s amazing!” Claire’s voice wavered with elation, and although Helen was still concentrating on all the variables that kept the two of them aloft, she had to smile.
Flying really was amazing, and despite what Lucas had said, Helen was surprised to find that lifting Claire was complicated, but not draining. She knew Lucas wouldn’t mislead her about something like this, so she had no choice but admit to herself what he’d been telling her all along. She was stronger than he was. Emboldened, Helen rose even higher.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jason screamed from the ground below them, startling them both.
Claire screeched, and Helen’s concentration faltered. Before she could recover, the two of them started to drop quickly. Looking below, Helen could see that they had soared up higher than she’d thought. Even though she and Claire had fallen a long ways, they were still nearly thirty feet above Jason, Cassandra, Ariadne, and Matt, who were all staring up at them with panicked faces.
“Let her down now!” Jason commanded furiously.
“Jason, I’m fine,” Claire called in a soothing voice, but he wouldn’t listen.
“Now, Helen,” he growled. Even from so high up, Helen could see that Jason was bright red with anger. She decided she’d better do as he said before he popped a vein or something, and she began to gently lower Claire down to him.
She was still about ten feet off the ground when Jason jumped up and snatched Claire out of the air, forcing Helen to release her entirely. He was so angry he couldn’t even look at Claire as he put her down on her own two feet. He rounded on Helen as soon as she touched down in front of him.
“How could you be so selfish?” he asked in a strangled voice.
“Selfish?” Helen squeaked incredulously. “I’m selfish?”
“Did you ever consider how badly you could have hurt Claire if you dropped her?” He got louder and more wound up with every word. “Do you have a concept for how long a broken leg hurts a full mortal even after it’s healed? It can cause them pain for the rest of their lives!”
“Jason,” Claire tried to interrupt, but Helen was already yelling back at him.
“She’s my best friend!” Helen howled. “I would never let anything bad happen to her!”
“You can’t promise that. None of us can promise her that because of what we are!” he howled back.
“Jase . . .” Ariadne put a calming hand on her twin’s arm. He shook it off roughly and then turned on her.
“You’re no better, Ari. You won’t date Matt, but you think training him is going to help?” Condemnation seethed out of him. “How many times do we have to see it before we finally accept the truth? Full mortals don’t live for very long around Scions. Or hadn’t you noticed that we don’t have a mother?”
