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“You can’t protect me,” Andy said, her lovely voice faltering as tears threatened to break through her tough-girl act. “Not from a god. No Scion is strong enough to stop them.”
Helen could feel Andy’s desperation, her absolute faith that eventually she was going to suffer and die at the hands of some supernatural brute. Just like Helen had been sure that Ares was going to kill her when he had her tied up in the cave. She remembered how Ares had abused her. How he’d reveled in her helplessness. Helen knew just by looking in her eyes that Andy had suffered something similar.
Furious, Helen got hot all over, and the tiny hairs on her arms stood on end. The room filled with the icy-blue glare of lightning as it coursed over her skin in a flowing web of sparks.
“Tell that to Ares. Oh, that’s right, you can’t. Because I beat the crap out of him and sent him to Tartarus,” Helen said. The sparks fell from her fingertips, bounced, and broke apart like glitter balls shattering silently as they skipped across the floor. She was aware that her voice had boomed a little bit when she spoke, but she couldn’t seem to contain herself. All she could think about was Hergie dying in a fire to save his beloved books. And it was all the gods’ fault.
“Um . . . Len?” Claire interjected in a tiny voice.
Helen noticed all three girls staring at her with open mouths, and snapped out of it. She shook the last of the sparks off her hands with a sheepish look on her face, cleared her throat, and tried to speak again.
“Look, I’m going to be honest. We can’t promise you’ll be completely safe,” she said. “But we can promise that if Apollo comes for you, he’s going to have to fight all of us to take you. Now. Isn’t that better than lying here, waiting for him to bust in and carry you off like some helpless damsel in a Greek myth?”
“Uh. Yeah,” Andy said, her eyes wide.
Helen realized she was scaring the girl and forced a laugh. Glancing over at Claire, Helen caught a hint of fear in her best friend’s expression before she looked away.
Once they managed to get Andy out of the hospital and through the parking garage, she was so wiped out that she fell asleep during the drive to Hyannis. Helen drove. Ariadne had worn herself out healing Andy’s broken leg before they had left the hospital, and then had done a little more healing during the drive while they cruised down Route 495. Her effort left her as pale and sickly looking as Andy by the time they boarded the ferry.
Helen couldn’t help but think it was a good thing that neither Andy nor Ariadne had the strength to get out of the car. Even though it was nighttime and the darkness would have offered some cover, Andy’s injuries were still far too obvious for her to be roaming around. Helen and Claire left the two of them sacked out in the backseat and went to scrounge up some food for them all.
“He really worked her over, didn’t he?” Claire said in a crackly voice as they made their way to the concession stand. Helen could only nod, her lips pinched together. She looked at Claire’s worried face and wished she could say something to comfort her, but came up with nothing.
She could feel Claire stealing little glances at her while they put coins in the vending machine, searching Helen’s face for some kind of explanation. But Helen didn’t have the words to explain what was going on.
“What?” Helen asked defensively when she couldn’t take Claire’s stares anymore.
“Nothing,” Claire said, pursing her lips. A tense moment passed between them, and Helen’s frustration grew.
“Just say it, Claire.”
“You’re different.” Claire gathered their makeshift meal out of the bottom of the machine and turned, but Helen reached out and stopped her.
“I’m different because I have to be,” Helen said, her voice harsh. “The way I used to be wasn’t enough. Not for this.”
“And how much more are you going to change?”
“As much as I have to in order to win.”
“Does that include manipulating cops?” Claire said hotly. “What did you do to him, anyway?”
Helen felt guilty about the police officer, even though she didn’t fully understand what she’d done. There was something wrong about being able to take away someone’s will like that. Helen knew as much, but she wasn’t about to admit that to Claire.
“I did what I had to do. Or do you think I should have killed him to get in the room?”
Claire opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it again, edging away from her as they walked back to the car. Helen realized that Claire was genuinely afraid of her, not just afraid of a few sparks and a booming voice. Helen knew she should have said something to make her feel better. But she didn’t. A big part of Helen was angry with Claire for not being more understanding. Even though it didn’t make any sense, Helen resented her best friend for fearing her.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not, but this isn’t just about our friends and family anymore,” Helen said bitterly. “And I don’t need to explain my actions to you. Or ask your permission to use my powers.”
“You’re right,” Claire replied. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. Just make sure you can explain your actions to your conscience.”
They didn’t talk much after that. Helen and Claire woke Ariadne up and made her eat a granola bar from the vending machine and drink a bottle of water before Helen drove them all back home. She dropped Claire at her parents’ house with a few mumbled plans about meeting up first thing tomorrow, and then went on to the Delos place.
&n
bsp; It was late when they pulled in, and Helen was so exhausted that she barely had the energy to carry the other two girls up to Ariadne’s bed before she collapsed on the couch.
Helen sat opposite herself inside a covered, horse-drawn carriage. It was dark in the enclosed compartment. The only light came from between the slats of a tiny, shuttered window. Helen wondered how she would get in and out of the carriage, because she couldn’t see a door. She guessed that the window might be large enough to let her squeeze through . . . if there weren’t bars over it.
