Helen felt another thud, and then she felt the twins slide their hands gently down along her arms and legs. There was a burning sensation inside Helen’s bones that was nearly unbearable, and it made her wonder if she would be better off without any “healing.” Right before she begged them to stop, the burning mercifully ended. The twins counted to three and gingerly flipped her onto her back like she was a runny pancake. Helen tried to be brave, but she couldn’t stop a scream from slipping out. Every muscle, every inch of skin, every bone in her body was lit up with pain as though someone had filled her bloodstream with flaming-hot shards of glass.
She gritted her teeth and took deep, calming breaths before she felt like she had enough control to open her eyes. When she did, she saw Ariadne’s luminous hazel eyes, fringed with the same incredibly long lashes as Jason’s, looking down at her with compassion. She studied Helen’s face carefully, and then gave her a tired smile. Helen thought Ariadne looked drained, as if what she had done for Helen had cost her. Her bow-shaped lips were ashy instead of their usual cherry red and her long, chestnut hair stuck to her perspiring cheeks.
“Don’t worry. Your face is already going back to its right shape. You’ll be your usual, exquisite self by nightfall,” she said, smoothing Helen’s hair comfortingly. “Keep still. I’ll be right back.”
Helen glanced around. For the first time she could see where she and Lucas had spent the night. It took a moment to register that they were in a hole in the ground that was at least five feet deep and three times that wide, and it took even longer to register that the hole had been made by their bodies when they fell. She felt water seep into her clothes as it leached up from the damp sand, and realized that Lucas must have been lying in a cold puddle all night. She rolled her head to the side so she could look at him.
There was a faint Helen-shaped dent running down the length of his body, and his chest was nearly caved in from the weight of her head and shoulders. His face was pinched up in a grimace. He hummed to himself a little as if to try to give his vocal cords something to do other than howl. His father hovered over him, looking Lucas directly in the eye and talking softly. She saw Lucas give a tiny nod, bite his lower lip, then take a deep breath and strain. His chest expanded into a more normal shape, and then Lucas suddenly let his breath out and panted as if he had just lifted a great weight. A tear trickled out of the corner of his eye and ran into his hair.
His father said something reassuring and then pulled himself smoothly out of the hole and started talking strategy with Hector. After a few moments of getting his breathing right, Lucas rolled his head to the side so he could look back at Helen.
“I think the worst is over,” he said, squeezing her hand. She hadn’t realized that they had joined hands, but it felt right to her. She squeezed back gently and smiled. He looked horrible. Much worse than Helen could have guessed.
“Piece of cake,” she said blithely, trying to distract him. “So what are you doing next Friday night?”
“What have you got in mind?”
“We could try hitting each other with cars,” she suggested cheerfully.
“Did that last weekend with Jase,” he said with mock regret.
“Go to the zoo and throw ourselves to the lions?” she fired back quickly, desperate to keep him focused on her rather than his caved-in chest.
“The Romans sort of wore that one out. Got anything original?”
“I’ll think of something,” she warned him.
“Can’t wait,” he breathed, and then turned his face away as he rode another shivering wave of pain.
“Hey! Little help?” Helen yelled, her voice sliding up to a shriek as she watched Lucas shake. “Lucas isn’t doing so hot!”
“No, he isn’t doing so hot,” Cassandra said in a hoarse, bitter voice from somewhere around Helen’s feet. Helen hadn’t realized that anyone was in the hole with them while she and Lucas held hands and cracked jokes, but she had the feeling that Cassandra didn’t like what she had seen.
“Lower the boards down, it’s time to move them,” Cassandra called up to her father, as if she was