Starcrossed (27 page)

any longer tonight.”

Helen couldn’t argue with that, so she let Lucas hold her

shoulders and steer her down to the soft patch of grass they had

taken off from. She hovered above him as he transitioned gracefully

into the gravity-state.

“What do I do?” she asked, suddenly frightened again.

“It’s okay. I know landing is intimidating, but I’m right here,” Lucas

said patiently as he stood on the ground, his arms stretched up

to hold both her hands as she floated above him.

“I think I’ve seen a painting like this,” Helen said, giddy with

fear. “But the woman in the painting had wings.”

“Demigods, and gods for that matter, have always been attracted

to artists, and sometimes they’ve painted us. The wings are total

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bull, of course, but they are pretty,” he said in a light tone. He was

just giving her time to calm down, and she knew it.

“Okay. What do I do?” she asked evenly.

“I want you to pick the world back up again,” he answered.

“What do you mean, pick up the world?” she sputtered.

“Concentrate. You can feel what I mean, I know you can, but you

have to trust me.”

“I trust you,” Helen said for the hundredth time that day, but this

time she looked him in the eyes as she said it, and he looked back

at her with perfect faith. His face was glowing with it. Nothing

could be impossible if Lucas had faith in her. So, she picked up the

world . . . and fell, exactly like anyone else would have if they were

trying to walk on six feet of air. Of course, Lucas knew what to expect,

and caught her easily on her way to the ground. Snatching

her out of the air, he eased her down until her feet lightly touched

the grass.

Finally standing on her legs after so long without using them,

Helen felt a bit unsteady. Her vision was reeling, and she rested

against Lucas for a moment, her arms wrapped around his neck.

When the dizzy feeling passed, she kept her arms there still, hoping

to feel some kind of invitation from him. He pulled away and

forced a laugh.

“See? Piece of cake. Next time, just swing your legs under you

right before you change states, and you’ll be good to go,” he said

breezily as he started walking back toward the house. “You’re

learning much faster than I did, you know.”

“Yeah, right. I would have hit the ground like a brick if you hadn’t

caught me,” she said, shoving Lucas away from her as she walked,

laughing with him even though her heart felt a bit twisted up in her

chest.

She wasn’t exactly expecting a kiss, but she certainly had been

hoping for one. She suddenly felt really foolish, like she was being

an idiot for even trying to kiss someone so much smarter, so much

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more confident, so much more worldly than she was. She crossed

her arms and sped up, but Lucas wouldn’t let her pass him. Instead,

he unwound her arms and took her hand. She had just

enough pride to be offended that he would insist on holding her

hand after refusing to kiss her.

“They can see us,” he said so quietly Helen could barely hear him.

She saw him jerk his chin over toward the house.

Following his gesture she saw that Pallas and Castor were sitting

on the dark deck outside their shared study. They must have come

outside to talk privately and been interrupted by Helen’s prolonged

landing. They also must have seen her angling for a little nookie,

which was so horrifying to Helen that she had to banish that

thought from her mind forever or instantly explode from

humiliation.

“She’s learning fast, isn’t she, Dad?” Lucas called out.

“Much better than her first landing,” Castor replied jovially, then

turned to Helen. “Glad to see you’ve stopped trying to impersonate

a comet.”

“Yeah. I’ve also decided to do all my landings conscious from now

on. Saves on food costs,” Helen returned amiably, glad that it was

too dark for them to see her blush. She smiled at Pallas but he

didn’t laugh, or even return her smile. He just watched.

“Very wise of you,” Castor said. “By the way, you’d better not be

planning any side trips, Lucas,” he added in warning. “Your mom’s

almost done with dinner and she’s not in the mood to wait for anyone

tonight.”

“Duly noted. Thanks for the heads-up,” Lucas said as he led

Helen back toward the house. By the way Lucas was rushing her

along it seemed as if he was purposely avoiding his father and

uncle. Either that or he was keeping Helen away from them.

“Okay, what’s going on?” she asked as soon as they got into the

dark garage and closed the door behind them. “Your uncle is really

weird around me. What did he find out in Europe?”

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“No one’s heard of you over there—or at least no one is talking

about you. My uncle Pallas came home because he was following

Creon here, but as far as we know Creon came to the States without

telling his family. We think he just wants to keep an eye on us—on

Hector, mostly,” Lucas said with a dark look on his face.

“Did your uncle learn anything about those two women? The

ones who attacked me?” Helen whispered tensely.

“No, that’s still a mystery. None of Uncle Pallas’s contacts know

anything about them. We don’t think Tantalus knows about you

yet, but no one has seen Tantalus in years, so it’s difficult to say for

sure what he’s got planned.”

“No one’s seen Tantalus?” Helen asked, stunned. “How does he

lead, then?”

“Through his wife. She’s the one who gives all the orders to the

Hundred Cousins, and has been for almost nineteen years now.”

“Why?”

“It’s a long story,” Lucas said, frowning and looking down. Helen

could tell that meant that it was an important story.

“My favorite kind,” she said, angling her head so she could catch

his downcast eyes. When she did, she smiled coaxingly at him until

he gave in. Lucas took her hand absentmindedly and started playing

with her fingers as he spoke.

“My father had another brother. He was the youngest of the boys

and everyone’s favorite. Even Tantalus loved him the most,” he

said with a grimace, as if he had a hard time believing Tantalus

loved much of anything. “His name was Ajax.”

“What happened to him? Did he die?” Helen asked carefully. Lucas

nodded.

“He was murdered. By someone he couldn’t stay away from,” he

said quickly. Frustrated, he brushed a hand over his face before he

continued. “Anyway. When Ajax was killed, my uncle Tantalus

went into hiding to protect himself. As head of the House, he

feared being overthrown. After that, all of his orders either came in

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writing or through his wife, Mildred. But no one has seen him in

person since then.”

“Mildred? That’s not a Greek name.”

“She’s mortal, of course,” Lucas said with a raised eyebrow.

“Scions from other Houses usually send us into a murderous rage,

remember? Not exactly good for a marriage. And the only other

option would be for us to marry our cousins.”

“Oh, right. Forgot about the Furies for a sec. And with just one

House left the only Scions around are related to you. Gross,” Helen

said, rolling her eyes at herself for missing such glaringly obvious

points.

“You’re not related to me,” he whispered, gently pulling on her

hand to bring her closer to him. Then, abruptly, he turned and

started leading her through the garage.

They could have walked in a straight line around the edge, but instead

Lucas chose to bring her through the maze of cars. Right before

they got to the door that led into the kitchen he slowed and

turned back around to face her with a smile. She could hear his elevated

breathing and his hand felt light in hers. For just a moment

he pulled toward her, as if he were looking for a way to scuff his

chest across hers and fall against her mouth, but at the last moment

he turned away and brought her inside the house as if nothing

was going on.

And maybe nothing was. Helen was so confused. But as soon as

they entered the kitchen she had other things to worry about. Like

tinnitus. In an instant, she understood why Castor and Pallas had

gone outside to talk. It was really noisy in there.

Noel was working her magic over the stove, and the rest of the

family seemed to be collecting around her as inevitably as water

running downhill. All the chairs were taken, and the standing room

up against the counter was constantly changing as Noel whirled

and bullied her way around her work space. Everyone was talking

and laughing and arguing at the same time, and although Helen

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couldn’t understand a word, somehow they all seemed to be understanding

each other. It was a Delos symphony, and Noel was the

maestro.

As an outsider, Helen could see Noel for what she was—the center

of the family, the beating heart that fed all that muscle she was

tripping over while she was trying to cook. She was the personification

of a warm fire and an open door, and she welcomed, even expected,

strays like Helen to wander in and eat her food.

“There you are,” she said without looking up from the stove. “I

called your father and invited him over for dinner. I figured you’d

be too worn out to do any cooking yourself.” She turned the vegetables

she was sautéing with a deft flick of her wrist, just like Helen

had seen celebrity chefs do on TV. Helen had always wanted to

learn that move, and for a moment her slightly shell-shocked brain

was distracted by it. Then she registered that Noel had been talking

to her.

“You invited my dad?” Helen asked shrilly.

“I sure did. Pallas is finally home, and since you’re going to be

spending a lot of time at our house to train I’ve decided it’s time

our families met each other. I asked Jerry to bring your Kate as

well, but she’s working the store tonight, so that will have to wait.

Your dad’s going to be here in about fifteen minutes, so if there’s

anything you need to brush or wash first,” she said, finally turning

around to inspect the windswept girl standing in her kitchen wearing

clothes that were about four sizes too big for her. “I’d do it

quick,” she finished with a knowing smile.

Helen looked down at her grass-stained feet. She tried to run a

hand through her hair, and squeaked with pain when all the short

hairs on the back of her neck got yanked out. Ariadne laughed.

“You look like you’ve been dragged through a bush backward. But

I can fix that.” Ariadne stood up, pried Helen’s hand away from

Lucas’s, and dragged her out of the kitchen.

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Helen couldn’t believe how many knots were in her hair, but

eventually Ariadne managed to tease them out with some anti-frizz

lotion and a straight comb. Then Helen washed her feet, tied her

hair back in a ponytail, and threw on some flip-flops that Ariadne

loaned her so fast she was halfway down the steps before she realized

that they were too big on her and she could break her neck.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Jerry said as soon as he saw

her. Helen burst out laughing, partly because her dad had said exactly

what she was thinking, but mostly because of the dumb-ass

look on his face.

“It’s a loaner. My track uniform was all sweaty. Hey, they’re huge,

but at least they’re clean,” Helen said, gesturing down to the

gigantic T-shirt and the rolled-up sweatpants.

“Oh. Well, you look . . . comfortable?” he said suspiciously.

“Next time I’ll wear a ball gown,” Helen promised. Still laughing

with her dad, she turned and noticed that half the Delos family was

watching them, apparently amused.

“I see what you mean,” Castor said to Lucas, and the two of them

shared a look that Helen didn’t understand before he turned to

Jerry and smiled warmly.

“It’s nice to see you again, Jerry,” Castor said, coming forward

with his hand extended for Jerry to shake.

“And you, Castor. I intended to be the first to suggest we all sit

down to a meal together, but your wife seems to be a step ahead of

me,” Jerry said graciously.

“Welcome to my world,” Castor replied with a laconic smile, the

two men already enjoying each other’s company.

The introductions were as brief as possible, considering they included

so many people, and Jerry handled them like a pro. He’d

run a local store for almost twenty years and he was accustomed to

remembering people’s names and adjusting to even the most eccentric

of personalities. Helen watched him respond in just the

right way to make one person smile, another laugh, and yet

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another stop and think. She was proud of her dad, not just because

he was clever and funny, but because he knew when not to be.

It also helped that Lucas’s family had similar tastes, both in conversation

and in food. Jerry ate up a storm and gently leaned on

Noel until she confessed that she had been a chef in her pre-mom

life, years ago, when she lived in France. Noel even admitted that

she had made a few stealth trips to the News Store. She generously