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Orion had a rare ability. He could make Helen fall out of love with Lucas with a light touch. If that wasn’t bad enough, after Helen’s feelings for Lucas were severed, Orion could control Helen’s heart so that he could have the kind of casual relationship that wouldn’t violate the Truce—no commitment, no strings, just sex. That asshole could do whatever he wanted with Helen, and there was nothing Lucas could say against it.
The thought made Lucas want to beat the crap out of something, but instead he reminded himself that his family was probably worried about him and forced himself to head home.
Fortunately, Orion seemed squeamish about using his talent for any reason—even self-defense. He’d been deeply offended when Lucas had suggested that he had touched Helen’s heart in the cave for a cheap thrill. And after seeing the two of them in the Underworld together, Lucas knew that Orion would never force Helen into anything. In fact, Lucas was sure he’d protect her with his life. That made him hate Orion less, which only made things harder. Lucas wanted to hate Orion, but since he couldn’t, there was no one left to hate but himself.
Heading down the eastern coast, Lucas stayed out over the water so he didn’t have to fly too high and freeze his ass off. He’d left his jacket in his locker, but it didn’t really matter. He could think himself warm whenever he needed to. In fact, Lucas was beginning to believe he could think himself hot—really hot—almost as if he were on fire. But he didn’t have time to deal with that odd new talent right now. It only took him a second before he was landing in his backyard.
The guilt hit him as soon as he touched down, and he started looking around for his little sister. He shouldn’t have left her alone at school for Helen. Now that the Fates plagued her nearly every day, Cassandra was even more fragile than a fully mortal child. It took all of her strength to just survive each possession, and the fact that she did survive when so many past Oracles had died made Lucas suspect she was probably stronger than he was. But as strong as she was, after a possession she barely had enough strength left to breathe.
The other day he had found Cassandra sitting halfway up the stairs, slumped over and panting. After half a dozen steps, she’d been so worn out that she’d had to rest a minute and catch her breath. Lucas had carried her to her room, but it had been a struggle for him to go near her. She still had the aura of the Fates clinging to her, and although Lucas loved his little sister dearly, the Fates sent a chill down his spine.
Even Cassandra was scared of them, and she had to suffer their presence inside of her several times a week now. Lucas couldn’t know exactly what that kind of physical and mental intrusion felt like, but from the way she looked afterward, he assumed it had to be like rape.
The fact that this was happening to his baby sister, and that there was nothing he could do to stop it, made him very angry.
Striding across the back lawn toward the house, Lucas struggled to control his rage, reminding himself that he needed to be more careful. So many things made him angry these days. Since that disastrous dinner when he’d struck his father, he had developed a “side effect” that was tied to his anger.
He discovered it in full at Helen’s track meet when he saw her surrounded by the Hundred, but it didn’t start there. It had started with his father, just a small seed at first. But it was growing.
Part of him wondered if it would be easier if he talked to Jason or Cassandra about it, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that just yet. It would only worry his family more if they knew. Hell, it worried him.
Lucas had almost told Helen in the hallway earlier that day, but he couldn’t spit the words out for the life of him. Helen had been so afraid of Creon, and Lucas didn’t know if he could bear it if Helen started looking at him like that. He still hadn’t decided if he should talk about it with anyone, even though the reality was that eventually his all-knowing, all-seeing little sister would find out.
“Cassandra?” Lucas called out as he entered the kitchen. “Jase?”
“We’re in here,” Jason called from the library.
Jason’s voice didn’t sound right. He was tense, but Lucas assumed it was because he was still angry with Claire for disappearing with Helen all day and making them worry. The way Jason was handling the situation with Claire really frustrated Lucas. He wanted his cousin to wake up and realize that he’d been given a gift. He’d fallen for someone he could actually have.
The heavy double doors to the library were tilted open, and even before Lucas entered the room he could feel the tension and hear the barely controlled anger in everyone’s polite voices.
“Where were you?” Cassandra asked with narrowed eyes. She’d been grilling him about his whereabouts a lot lately, even though half the time she already knew the answer.
“What’s going on?” Lucas asked instead of answering her.
“Matt finally decided to share something with us,” Jason said tightly. He was so furious his cheekbones were flushed. Lucas had seen that particular shade of red before, and he knew firsthand how hard it was to get Jason that angry. He looked at Matt and raised his eyebrows questioningly.
“I’ve been in touch with Zach. He called me the night before last, and warned me that something was going to happen today, but he didn’t know what, exactly,” Matt replied heavily.
“Why didn’t you say anything, Matt?” Ariadne asked in a hurt voice. “Even if Zach didn’t know the specifics, why didn’t you warn us?”
There’s another problem just waiting to happen, Lucas thought. But there was no way around it. Scions tended to fall in love young because they tended to die young. At least Lucas couldn’t find any fault in Ariadne’s taste. Matt had proven his loyalty to the House of Thebes many times over. Which was what made this current situation so puzzling. Matt usually made better choices and showed more sense than this.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Matt replied sullenly.
“Try us,” Lucas said, his internal temperature rising. He hated it when full mortals acted as if they were so different from Scions, as if they didn’t have all the same feelings.
“If I told you what he told me, what would you have done to him? Questioned him? Beat him up?” Matt exploded. “The guy’s a compulsive liar. Most of what he says is bullshit, and that’s what I thought his warning was. He has no idea what he’s gotten himself into!”
“And that’s supposed to make it all okay?” Jason said.
The argument continued, getting more and more hurtful with every exchange. Lucas hadn’t been on Nantucket for very long, but he still had every single class with Matt at school. He spent more time with the guy than he did with his own father, and he couldn’t remember ever seeing him get angry before. Like Jason, Matt was levelheaded, but right now both of these usually calm individuals were so angry they could barely see straight. Everyone was riled up.
This much discord isn’t natural, Lucas thought. Discord. The riots, the uncontrollable anger—even angelic, goody-two-shoes Helen had wanted to do something bad. It all added up.
“Eris,” he said out loud. He felt like kicking himself. “Listen, everyone. If Ares tried to instigate some kind of conflict with Helen in the Underworld, then it only makes sense that his sister would try to do the same in the real world. The Truce doesn’t include her—she isn’t one of the Twelve. She can use her powers here on Earth.”
“Oh, gods! Of course!” Cassandra passed a hand across her face and smiled up at him. “How did I miss that?”
