voice that reminded Helen of Mr. Hergeshimer. “You’re faster than me. Why don’t you get out of my way?”
Helen shrugged and stood up, adopting a defensive stance again. Hector immediately punched her in the gut, and she fell to her knees.
“That’s enough, Hector,” shouted Lucas in a tight voice. Helen held up a hand, gesturing to Lucas that it was okay as she stood up. Again.
She wanted Lucas to stay out of this. For some reason, Helen’s first real sparring session had turned personal for Hector, and she wanted him to go all the way to the end of whatever trip he was on so he could get it out of his system. The punishment hurt, but not nearly as badly as her cramps, so she could deal with it. As soon as she was back on her feet, Hector took them out from under her again with a leg sweep.
“Easy!” yelled Jason. “She’s never fought before, you dickhead!”
Helen looked up and saw Jason place a hand on Lucas’s shoulder, stopping him from jumping into the cage. “I’m fine, guys. Nothing to worry about,” she said as cheerfully as she could, getting up yet again. Hector did not appreciate her tone.
“Why won’t you take this seriously?” he shouted at Helen. She bent down to spit out the taste of the blood in her mouth, and Hector reeled back and punched her again in the head.
“Stop it!” screamed Cassandra from someplace beyond Helen’s vision. “She isn’t a natural fighter, okay? When are you going to get that through your thick skull?”
Helen felt terrible—she knew she must be a bloody mess to get someone who didn’t even like her that upset.
By the time Helen had struggled back up to her knees, Cassandra was no longer in the practice room where the Scions kept their punching bags and fight cage. Helen swallowed a mouthful of spit and blood and instantly regretted it when she choked on one of her own teeth.
“May I have some water, please?” she asked Ariadne, who was standing over her with a damp cloth.
On the other side of the cage, Helen saw Jason standing between Lucas and Hector. Jason’s shirt was half torn off and blood was running from a cut on his head, but still he fought to keep the two larger Delos boys from ripping each other up like wrapping paper on Christmas morning. Hector was yelling at Lucas, pleading his case.
“She can take anything. Anything! I hit her harder than I’ve ever hit anyone and she stood right back up! But she won’t hit back!” Hector roared, his voice cracking with passion. He saw Helen looking at him and pointed an accusing finger at her. “You think you can just stand back and let Luke do all your fighting for you? You’re stronger than all of us combined, but you’re too good to fight, Princess?”
Jason wrapped both his arms around his brother and held on as Hector bucked and struggled.
“I’m not trying to get hit!” Helen lisped through her broken and rapidly regrowing teeth. Ariadne put her own arms around Helen and held her as she stared daggers at her big brother.
“How dare you, Hector? She wasn’t raised like we were, always at each other’s throats. It just isn’t in her,” she scolded.
Hector seemed chastened by his sister’s tone and finally stopped struggling against Jason’s restraint. He slumped against his brother for a moment and then abruptly pushed him away. Then, with one easy leap he jumped over the fifteen-foot-high fence surrounding the fight mat and landed with an intentionally loud slap.
“She’d better get it in her. Because I don’t want any of the people I love to die defending her lazy ass,” he rasped. As he walked out of the fight room, Lucas ran to Helen.
“I’m so sorry.” He reached out and took Helen from Ariadne’s arms. “You don’t ever have to fight him again.”
“Why not?” Helen asked, pushing off his chest, her speech still slurred from taking too many knocks to the head. “I may not be a natural fighter, but he’s right. I need to learn this or someone else could get hurt. Someone like my father, or Claire, or Kate . . . Those women are still after me. They could hurt anyone I care about.”
Lucas caught her as she fell over. He looked over her mashed-up face inch by inch as he carried her out of the cage and into a back area that served as both locker room and medical