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Ariadne’s face was already a scary shade of puce. Matt wanted to help her so much it felt like a cramp inside, but he didn’t know what she needed. If he were a Scion, maybe he could be more useful.
During the twenty-minute walk to Claire’s car, the twins leaned against one another, talking softly as if they were encouraging each other with small, private phrases that only they could understand. It seemed to take forever to load everyone in, and then Matt had to walk around to the front and shut Claire’s door for her because she could barely lift her arms.
“Call me if you need anything,” Matt told her.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Claire slouched over the steering wheel, utterly exhausted. “Aren’t you coming back with us?”
“No. I’m going to find Zach.”
“What?” Ariadne protested weakly from the backseat. “Matt, he’s a traitor!”
“A traitor who reached out to me, trying to tell me that this was going to happen, and I turned my back on him. Zach is my friend, Ari,” Matt said evenly. “I can’t let him get in any deeper. I have to help him.”
“This isn’t your fault,” Ariadne began to argue, but Jason pulled her back gently.
“Save your strength. You know we need to be careful right now,” he whispered to her, their heads lolling close to each other. Ariadne met his eyes and immediately settled down. Jason looked back up at Matt. “Go get your friend. Good luck, Matt.”
Nodding a quick good-bye as he lightly tapped the roof of Claire’s car, Matt turned and ran back into the center of town. His town, not the mad god’s, he reminded himself fiercely, before looking through the frenzied, masked throngs for Zach.
“Put your arms around me,” the tall young man said.
“Why?” she asked nervously, trying not to giggle. He grinned at her.
“Just put your arms around my neck,” he cajoled. She did. “Now. Repeat after me . . . I want us to appear . . . um,” he broke off, biting his lower lip in thought.
“I want us to appear . . . um,” she parroted back to tease him.
“I can’t remember what I was supposed to say,” he said through an embarrassed laugh.
“Then it must not have been very important, right?” she said logically. “What are we doing here, anyway?”
“I don’t know. But whatever the reason, thanks.” He moved his hands from her waist up her back, pressing her closer to him as he felt her shape under his hands.
“Are we dating?” the girl asked.
“I don’t know, but it seems that way,” he said, gesturing to their tight embrace. “Let’s check it out.” He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.
Her knees melted. This guy was that good a kisser. The only problem was, the girl had no idea who he was. She pulled back and blinked a few times to clear her vision, sensing that something was off.
“Wait. Is your name Lucas?” she asked.
“No. I’m . . . hang on. I know this one. I’m Orion,” he finally decided.
“I’m probably going to kick myself for this later, but I don’t think you’re my boyfriend.”
“Really?” he asked doubtfully. “Because that felt damn good.”
“Yeah, it did,” she mused. “You know what? I’d hate to be wrong about this, so maybe we should check again?” She kissed him, and this time she completely let herself go with it just to be sure. A tiny voice in her head kept saying, That’s not him, but the rest of her was really enjoying kissing this Orion guy.
He guided her down to the ground, careful not crush her underneath him. The tiny voice started yelling. She tried to ignore it because this guy felt amazing, but no matter what the rest of her body was saying, the damn voice wouldn’t shut up until she pulled away from him.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think this is right,” she said reluctantly, unable to stop herself from running her fingers through his soft curls one last time. The gesture felt strangely familiar. She looked up at his confused face and noticed he had something strapped to his back, which the girl thought was odd, considering they were making out and all.
“Why are you wearing a backpack?”
“I don’t know,” he said, reaching back to touch it, like he was just noticing it himself. His eyes flared and he sucked in a breath as his hand felt the shapes through the outside. The contents made a sloshing sound. “The water! Helen, let me see your arm!” he said, leaning back and reading the inside of her arm. She heard the name Helen and remembered that it was hers.
“I’m sorry. I nearly forgot myself,” he said in a shaky voice as he got off her and helped her stand. He placed her arms around his neck and then put his hands on her hips in a perfunctory way, all the seduction gone. “Say this. I want us to appear near the Furies.”
