accident because I’m not injured . . .”
“Then the whole thing goes away before it gets started,” Daphne finished for him. “Are you really willing to lie to your own kind for us?” she asked coldly.
“I don’t see it as your kind or my kind. All I see are my friends and they need my help,” Matt said with narrowed eyes. He glanced over at Helen uncertainly, as if to ask if she was sure about this new mother she had acquired.
“I’ll take you wherever you need to go,” Helen said as she stood. “I’ve got to go talk to my dad, anyway. I’ll drop you off on the way.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Daphne said, surprised that Helen would even suggest it. “It’s far too dangerous.”
“I can’t just leave him,” Helen said. “That’s what you did, and I’ve spent my whole life cleaning up the mess you left behind. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that I don’t want to repeat your mistakes. Not now, not ever.”
“Well, I can’t tie you down every time we disagree, but I can tell you to be careful, Helen, especially when you use words like ‘never,’” Daphne replied, her eyes soft with understanding. “The gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”
Helen turned and half stumbled for the door, so shaken to hear an echo of Lucas in her mother that she lost all sensation for a moment.
“I got you,” Matt whispered into her ear as he took Helen’s elbow and steered her through the door so she didn’t clip her shoulder on the frame.
“Your mom’s a real trip,” he said with a touch of fear when they were outside and the door was shut safely behind them.
“I haven’t decided if she’s right about everything that ever mattered to me, or if she’s just evil,” Helen said honestly.
“That’s what everyone wonders about their mother,” Matt said with a smile as he rolled his eyes. “The thing is, nobody’s mom is entirely one or the other.”
Helen smiled at Matt, hoping he was right, and led him downstairs. They went into the kitchen, looking for someone to lend them a car, but the only person they saw was Pandora, who was just coming back into the house from the garage.
“Helen,” Pandora said, surprised. “You’re not leaving, are you?”
“Matt needs to go home and I need to . . .” Helen started to say, but Pandora shook her head.
“I can’t let you leave this house. You know that,” she said forcefully.
“Then maybe you can take him?” Helen asked.
“I’m sorry, I can’t right now,” Pandora said, looking down at her unadorned hands. “Why don’t you ask Ariadne? She’s in the library.” She smiled briefly at Helen and Matt, and silently hurried off toward the fight cage. It took Helen a moment to realize what was missing. For the first time Helen could remember, Pandora wasn’t wearing any jewelry.
Helen led Matt to the library, where Castor, Pallas, Hector, Ariadne, Cassandra, and Lucas were all talking in a tight circle around Cassandra’s chair. The conversation ended as soon as they saw Helen.
“Matt needs a ride home,” Helen announced nervously. She tried to keep her gaze away from Lucas, but her eyes kept jumping back to him.
“I’ll take him,” Ariadne offered, immediately coming forward and motioning for Helen and Matt to leave the room.
“What’s going on?” Helen mouthed to Ariadne, who took her hand and led her away. When they were a few paces from the library, Ariadne answered.
“We’re trying to figure out what Creon’s up to,” she said.
“Why was I excluded?” Helen asked, offended.
“Come on, Helen,” Ariadne replied with a chiding look on her face. “Lucas can’t bear to be in the same room with you right now, and no offense, but he’s a much better soldier than you are. We need him at the table and we need him focused.”
Matt shot her a confused look, but thankfully, he didn’t ask any questions about her and Lucas. It wouldn’t matter in a few hours, anyway. Helen would be gone and she would never see him or any of them again. Later, she’d crawl into some strange bed in some strange state and then she didn’t care if she ever got out of it or not. But she couldn’t let herself think about that yet. First, she needed to make sure that the people she loved were taken care of.
When they reached the kitchen, Ariadne grabbed her bag off the back