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She was tired—really tired. She was already half asleep. As much as she wanted to stay with Lucas while he held her, Helen’s eyes began to droop under the soothing pressure of his arms. The world melted away, and she stumbled headfirst into the Underworld.
Wasn’t I supposed to meet someone? she thought. Oh, yeah! Orion . . .
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Automedon crawled up from the ocean floor, skittering spiderlike on hands and feet as fast as he could to keep up with the third Heir. Underwater, the big Scion was fast, the fastest Automedon had ever seen, and it was all he could do to not lose him. He had his scent, and now Automedon could track him anywhere over land, but underwater his scent washed away in an instant. He couldn’t let Orion escape.
Automedon needed to find the portal he used to fulfill his master’s order—no matter how whimsical it seemed to Automedon. His master had a thing for situations that struck him as “poetic.” From what Automedon overheard at the store while the Heirs were so valiantly pledging themselves to complete their mission or die (about time, in Automedon’s opinion), the young prince was on his way there now.
They were so young, so trusting, that they’d had their entire conversation about their partial success with the Furies out in the open. They hadn’t even checked to see if anyone was listening. The Face was so open and unaccustomed to guile, very unlike her wily mother. That one changed her appearance, her scent, everything, at the first hint of danger. She was impossible to track—doubly so now that she had the new Hector to train. It was as if having a cub heightened her tiger instincts.
The new Hector was formidable, and for the first time in three and a half thousand years, Automedon did not scoff at the Scion who bore the great warrior’s name. He was the first to deserve it, although he still had a lot to learn.
The prince was not to be taken lightly, either. And the lover. Well. Like the dead lord, he had the hand of Nyx on him, and as such he wielded magic older than the gods, older than the titans, even. He was dangerous, that one. The more Automedon watched this crop of heroes, the more he became convinced that his master was right. This entire generation had to be dealt with before they came into their full potential. They were like none that had come before them, especially the Face.
She was far more talented than the others. The tiny fraction of power this new Helen had used on him just minutes before had been a marvel of agony—truly a moment of awakening for Automedon. He hoped to return the sensation shortly.
Sprinting up onto the sandy beach of mainland Massachusetts, on nearly the exact spot where the Europeans built their settlement and began their invasion, Automedon found Orion’s scent and then immediately lost it again. The trail simply ended. Automedon tried to stay calm as he searched.
This one couldn’t fly, could he? Automedon leapt into the air, and after a disconcertingly long time, finally tasted traces of the young prince on the breeze. Extending his leap for as long as he could, Automedon found that the trail sketched a wide arc that eventually led back to the ground.
Orion had jumped into the air as soon as he came up from the beach. The only reason he would have done that was because he knew he was being followed. Very clever, Automedon thought, impressed. He’s obviously bee
n chased before. But never by me.
Once on land again, Automedon found himself having to struggle to keep up, but at least the trail was easier to follow than it had been underwater. The young prince made many attempts to double back and confuse whoever might be behind him. A bloodhound might have fallen for any one of Orion’s tricks, but Myrmidons were not bloodhounds. They were far better at tracking than any dog ever could be.
The young prince led Automedon down into a dark cave, letting the water guide him, and Automedon had to hang back so as not to be heard in the echoing passages. He wasn’t concerned with the dark. He tasted his way, following the chemical trail that the prince had stamped into the ground.
The air suddenly became unnaturally cold, signaling that a portal was near. Automedon surged close to Orion and held perfectly still, silently calling to his master with an ancient prayer. His mind filled with the squabbling of vultures, and he knew that his master had heard him.
The Heir opened the portal and jumped into the dead lord’s land. The split second before it closed again, Automedon darted over and pulled his master through, into the neutral zone.
Helen landed with a thud next to Orion. They were walking down a deep beach that seemed to go on forever—never meeting the ocean or the land in either direction. She looked around, hoping for some clues that would tell her what she needed to do next. Something about a river kept popping up in her mind. It struck her that she had no idea what she was doing, walking on a deserted beach with a guy when there was no one else anywhere in sight. Lucas was the only one who walked on deserted beaches with her. It was their “thing.”
Was she cheating on Lucas?
Impossible! Not even the hot guy next to her (his name suddenly slipped her mind, although she was vaguely aware that she knew him) could make her feel like Lucas did. Although she couldn’t exactly remember how Lucas made her feel at that particular moment, because she couldn’t quite picture his face.
And where the heck was the sun, or the moon, or the stars for that matter? Wasn’t there supposed to be something in the sky?
“I think someone followed me, but I don’t think he made it through the portal,” her beautiful companion said. “I didn’t get a good look at him, but whoever this guy is, he’s scary good.”
I’m in the Underworld, Helen remembered, just before she completely freaked out. And I’m here because I have some very important compartmentalizing to do.
“Hi,” she said uncertainly.
“Hi,” Hot Guy replied uneasily. “Helen? What’s the matter?”
“I don’t know what I’m doing here with you,” she said honestly, relieved that at least he recognized her and called her by her name. “But you know, right?”
“Yeah, I do,” Hot Guy said, slightly offended. “We’re here to—”
“Don’t say it!” Helen exclaimed, jumping up to cover his mouth with her hand before he could say another word. “We have to compartmentalize, or something. I sort of know where we’re going, but you have to remember what we need to do when we get there, or we’ll never accomplish whatever it is we’re supposed to accomplish. I think that’s what Lucas said, anyway.”
“Okay, I can do that. But why are you acting like this? Did something bad happen to you? Please tell me. . . .” Hot Guy pleaded. “Are you injured?”
“I can’t remember!” Helen laughed, vaguely aware that she sounded terribly foolish, while he sounded deeply concerned. He was really worried about her, and that struck Helen as so sweet. “It’s all going to be okay. You remember your part—but don’t tell me what it is—and I’ll do the other thing. You know, the thing that I’m supposed to do because this is my special little quest?”
