briefly over to Lucas.
And he was mine. Eventually, we fought, but at the last moment,
instead of killing each other, there was a terrible accident. We
ended up saving each others lives. When we did that, I paid my
debt to the House of Thebes. And he paid his debt to the House of
Atreus. After that, Ajax could be with my family without inciting
the Furies, and I could be with his. How could I stand in front of
you if this werent the truth? Daphne motioned to Helen and Lucas.
Youve seen it happen again, right in front of your eyes, and
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you all already know what the outcome is. Once the Furies were
gone, Ajax and I fell in love.
Liar! Pandora hissed.
No, Lucas said, shaking his head with a stricken, almost fearful
look in his eyes. Shes telling the truth.
I touched his body with my own hand, Pandora screamed, tears
tangling her pretty pixie face into a snarl. He was dead!
I think we were both dead for a few seconds, Daphne said compassionately.
She was trying to get Pandora to listen to her, but in
vain. Pandora shook her head at everything Daphne tried to tell
her. Ajax and I never really understood exactly what happened,
but I swear to you, I didnt kill him.
Pandora whirled away from Daphne, turning her back and still
shaking her head in denial. Ariadne went and stood next to her and
took her hand, but Pandora would accept no comfort. She dropped
Ariadnes hand and crossed her arms tightly across her chest, like
her insides hurt, her left hand cupping the cuff-locket on her right
wrist.
Oh, how typical! The House of Thebes thinks it knows
everything because its the House of the Oracle, Daphne said to
Pandoras back, almost pleading with her. And the irony is that
its because you think you know it all that the other Houses have
been able to hide so much from youour relics, like the cestus
even our very existence. You thought the House of Atreus was
extinct, but here I am. Open your eyes! Whether you want to believe
it or not, Pandora, Ajax and I saved each others lives that
night, and then we fell deeply in love.
Then the two of you ran away together? Castor asked, shocking
everyone with his sympathetic tone.
We had no choice. Even though I had paid my debt to the House
of Thebes, and I could be near any of you without inciting the Furies,
you all still wanted me dead, Daphne replied with a shrug.
Ajax said that if we could explain what had happened to Tantalus,
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he would take our side. He really believed your brother would help
us. We were so young, only seventeen. A powerful emotion overwhelmed
her and she suddenly clenched her fists and her jaw, as if
she was refusing to cry.
Finish your story, Lucas said evenly.
Jax and I were living on a sailboat, hiding at sea. Tantalus
rowed out to meet us because we were too frightened of an ambush
to come ashore. As soon as Tantalus saw my face he went mad.
They fought over me in the rowboat. I cant swimI swear, I
couldnt get to them. Ajax lost, Daphne said. She stared directly
into Lucass eyes. Tantalus claimed that he killed me that day, but
obviously thats a lie. He has been chasing me ever since, maybe
because he wants me for himself, or maybe because he intends to
kill me and he doesnt want anyone else coming after me for the
sake of a Triumph. Im not entirely sure what he wants anymore.
I dont believe it, no matter what you say, Lucas, Pallas said,
shaking his head in denial. Tantalus loved Ajax.
Yes, he did. He loved his brother, and then he killed him,
Daphne said, frustrated to the point of cruelty. Now, as a kinkiller,
hes an Outcast, and he cant have contact with anyone from
the House of Thebes without the Furies revealing his sin to you.
Pallas, Castor said gently. Didnt it ever bother you that our
brother stayed hidden even when there were no other Houses left
to fight?
But there were other Houses, and there still are! Pallas
shouted, pointing to Helen and her mother. He must have known
she was still alive, and that she can seduce anyone, even us, to help
her get to him.
I havent used the cestus on you, Pallas. Not even to get you to
believe me, Daphne said tiredly. I want you to know in your own
heart who killed Ajax. I need you to believe that I wasnt the one
who killed my husband.
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Everything shes saying is true, Lucas said, locking eyes with
Helen. She hasnt used the cestus. And she and Ajax were
married.
Helen looked away, although she could feel him studying her
face.
The Fates have done this many times, Cassandra intoned, a
hint of the Oracles glow in her eyes and voice as she momentarily
peeked through the Veil. The Star-Crossed Lovers are in the warp
and weft of the pattern, and my mothers are compelled to repeat it
again and again. Symmetry must be maintained or the fabric of the
universe will be ruined. All Four Houses have been preserved this
way.
All four? Lucas repeated as his eyes sought out Helens. A glimmer
of hope flared up in him, but instead of seeing his own elation
echoed in Helen, her face was pale and empty. She looked away.
Four Houses in Three Heirs, the many voices continued to
chant. The Star-Crossed Lovers have preserved the bloodlines.
And the Three shall raise Atlantis.
A strange hush overtook the room, like the pause between a
blinding flash of lightning and the deafening roar of thunder that
inevitably follows.
Sibyl! Daphne said suddenly, addressing Cassandra by the
most ancient title of her office. I beg you to answer me! How can
the Scions rid themselves of the Furies?
She cant control them yet! Castor gasped at Daphne, whose
face had grown greedy and desperate. Helens mind flashed back to
Daphnes sudden decision to come back to the House of Thebes
with Lucas, and she knew that this was what her mother had
wanted all along.
Castor grabbed Daphnes arm, pulling her away from his daughter,
but it was too late. The Three Fates had been officially
summoned into the body of the Oracle to answer a direct question,
and they would not be stopped. Cassandras mouth glowed, her
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hair writhed, and her head snapped back. Her eyes grew rheumy
with cataracts and her skin wrinkled. An old woman forcibly
pushed her way through a young girls shell like she was tearing
through a piece of paper. Convulsing, the old woman turned into
another woman, and then a third, as the many voices chimed out of
her.
The Descender must go down to those who cannot forgive and
cannot forget. The Descender and her Shield will free the Three
from their suffering as she will free the Houses from the cycle of
blood for blood, they said, and then went silent.
Cassandras head righted itself. The wrinkles smoothed and her
eyes cleared, but the eerie extra presences were still in her. Daphne
pulled herself away from Castor and approached the Oracle with
her arms crossed and her palms pressed flat against her chest in
reverence.
The House of Atreus owes you a debt, Sibyl, Daphne said with a
deep bow, completing her part of the ritual.
And the House of Atreus will pay it when asked, the Oracle said
before the glow died completely and Cassandra returned fully to
herself with a series of blinks and an exhalation. Everyone stared
at Daphne with shock and anger.
Im sorry, but I had to, she said barely above a whisper.
You could have killed her, Lucas said, clenching his fists. Shes
still too young.
If the vengeance cycle isnt broken, she has no future, anyway.
None of us do, Daphne mumbled, unable to look at him. Several
people raised their voices to argue.
Shes right, Cassandra said, cutting everyone off. Things will
change, Prophecy has been made, and like it or not, I am the
Oracle. I cant hide anymore.
Maybe not, Castor said somberly. But next time, we decide together
what questions to ask and when to ask them. He turned
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and pointed a finger at Daphne. Another trick like that and Ill
make sure you dont live long enough to hear Sibyls answer.
Daphne nodded once with a passive face that placated Castor, but
not Lucas. Hed seen Helen make that face before, and he knew it
was bogus. Lucas glanced at Helen, who had noticed the same
thing he did, and they shared an anxious look.
Cassandra said that she was tired, and Pandora took her upstairs
to lie down for a while. Ariadne went into the kitchen to check on
Matt, who was still icing a few bumps and bruises while Noel gave
him a crash course in demigods.
Lucas gestured with his head for Helen to meet him in the next
room. She tried to shake her head no, but he had already turned
away and started moving toward the door. She had to follow.
He led her to an unfamiliar part of the house, the wing directly
opposite his fathers office, one that Helen had never entered. As
they moved through the empty hallways and past the unused
rooms, she could see Lucas tilt his head ever so slightly over his
shoulder, aware of her presence.
As she followed him, never more than a few paces behind, she
could see his shoulders tense and his breathing quicken. She
watched the warm skin of his back moving under his shirt with
every breath, and she had to rub her tight fists against each other
to keep herself from reaching out to touch him. Finally, he entered
the empty solarium on the easternmost end of the compound and
turned around. She had one second to open her mouth in protest
before he was kissing it. The second after that she felt him gently
pushing her down to the floor. The second after that Helen very
nearly gave in to him.
A wave of nausea swept up from her stomach and she clamped
her mouth shut as she turned her head away from him. Lucas
pulled back carefully, thinking he had hurt her in some way. She
braced her elbows against the marble floor and shoved against his
chest.
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Stop, she begged.
He shifted off of her immediately, holding his hands up in a placating
gesture. As they both sat up and faced each other, his eyes
looked so confused, so wounded, that Helens eyes started leaking
tears, even though she had promised herself the night before that
she would never cry again.
What is it? he asked, bewildered and in pain.
We cant do this, she said, shaking her head in a rapid motion.
What are you talking about? He tried to get her to look at him
as he reached for her hands. Helen, were free. There are two other
Houses left to preserve the Truce. We can be together.
We cant do this, she repeated, balling her hands into fists so he
couldnt take them.
Why? he asked in a strangled voice, sensing that Helen was being
honest with him, but still not understanding why. Have your
feelings for me changed so much in one night? Did you stop wanting
me?
Thats not it, she said, agonized. I wish I didnt want you.
How can you say that? Lucas asked, relieved to know that at
least Helen still felt the same about him. I know youve been
through a lot today, and maybe youre not ready right this second.
Thats fine, well wait as long as you want. . . . He tried to pull her
into his arms, just to hold her, but she pushed hard against his
chest and turned her face away from his.
Were first cousins! she cried out hopelessly, her shoulders beginning
to jump up and down with uncontrollable sobs. Jerry
wasnt my father, Lucas. Ajax was.
Lukes whole body went still with fear and in the silence that followed,
all Helen could hear was the sound of the rain on the glass
roof.
Thats not possible, he whispered, even though he could hear
that she wasnt lying. He shook his head. No. We saw the Furies
when we met. We cant be related.
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Yes, we can, Helen said, wiping one cheek, then the other, then
back again to the first in what seemed like an endless procession of
tears that needed to be wiped away. The children of mixed lineage
can only be claimed by one House, and I was claimed by the House
of Atreus. Its been happening like this from the start.
From the start? Lucas asked, recalling Cassandras earlier
statement. Star-Crossed Lovers are repeated in the pattern. How
many other Scions of mixed lineage are out there in hiding?
Helen sniffed and stared at him with a tiny smile. He was so
sensitive, so quick to pick up on every detail she couldnt stop herself
from adoring him. There were an infinite number of ways for
her to admire this one person, and because of that, there were an
infinite number of ways for her to fall in love with him over and
over again. She realized that she wasnt going to have to give up