Timeless, page 21
Helen shook her head.
“She said ‘I have to go. Bye.’” He looked so sad. “Is she ghosting me?”
“No way. Andy loves you,” Helen insisted when Hector didn’t look like he believed her.
“I just don’t know anymore. I don’t need her with me every second of the day, but I do need her sometimes. Does that make me an unreasonable jerk?”
Helen shook her head. “It makes you human.”
He laughed bitterly as they arrived at Helen’s house. Jason and Kate went inside, but Helen lingered with Hector on the front steps. “That’s another thing. She’s not entirely human, and sometimes I have no idea what she’s doing with me.”
Helen stared at him. She’d never heard him comment about the fact that Andy was half siren in a negative way before. “What do you mean?” she asked.
He sighed heavily. “I mean—all this,” he said, gesturing to the garment bag draped over Helen’s arm. “Sirens aren’t big on commitment, or ceremony, or settling down, and I want...” he broke off and stared longingly at Helen. “I want all of it.”
Claire pulled open the front door, yelling, “Lennie! Oh, there you are.” She looked between Hector and Helen. “It’s time for chorus,” she said, trying not to seem suspicious, but failing.
And rightly so. There was something going on between them. Nothing had happened, but Helen couldn’t lie to herself about it anymore.
She ran up to her room to hang her dress in her closet, then sat down on her bed, taking a moment by herself to recalibrate. She watched the light change as it slid in slits across the walls and furniture that had surrounded her all her life. She missed Lucas.
Claire called her name again and Helen met her outside, getting in the car with her, Hector, and Jason.
Hector started up the car and the radio came on, playing an old song by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Helen recognized it because her dad liked to listen to classic rock sometimes. Strident singing blasted out of the speakers:
…And if you can’t be with the one you love, honey, love the one you’re with!
Hector’s hand shot out a little too fast as he turned off the radio. There was a titter of nervous laughter in the backseat from Claire. Helen didn’t crack a smile. Nothing was funny.
When she walked into the auditorium next to Hector, Helen heard Gretchen hiss and squeal under her breath to whomever was standing close enough to her to be in range of her newest gossip bomb. Helen suddenly found herself the recipient of many hateful stares.
“Don’t worry about it,” Claire said. “This is just like in the fourth grade when you wore that t-shirt with the unfortunate piece of fruit on it.”
“What are you talking about?” Jason asked.
Helen rolled her eyes and spoke quickly to get it over with. “I wore a t-shirt with a watermelon on it and Gretchen got everyone in the school to start calling me Helen-Helen-Watermelon.”
Hector snorted a laugh. Claire smacked his arm. “Sorry,” Hector apologized.
“And now no one calls you that,” Claire said.
“Yeah. Because you beat them up.”
“My point is, who cares what Gretchen says? Everyone will forget it by tomorrow.” Claire left to go take her soloist place on the risers.
Doubtful, Helen went in the other direction to her place in Siberia and took out her jingle bells. She could hear Hector and Jason laughing at the revelation that she was, basically, the chorus mascot. She flipped them both the bird and resolutely shook her hated handful of holiday cheer.
They’d made it past Claire’s solo when Orion sauntered into the auditorium and sucked all the air out of the room. He was being as unobtrusive as possible, but even still that meant every eye flew to him.
As he slid into a seat next to Cassandra, Helen gave Orion an expectant look, silently asking if he’d found Lucas. Orion nodded and mouthed the word later. Helen took that to mean Lucas’ absence wasn’t because of something urgent, which was good news. Sort of. Because she couldn’t think of anything non-urgent that should keep Lucas away from her, especially since they had so little time left together. Unless she figured out a way to get him out of his oath, which she would, she promised herself.
The music teacher, Mr. Abebe, approached Orion with his brow furrowed. “Excuse me, but you need to go to the office and get a nametag to be on school grounds,” he said.
“It’s okay, I’m supposed to be here,” Orion said, smiling. Helen could feel waves of calm hitting her, and everyone in the room suddenly believed that Orion belonged there.
“Great,” Mr. Abebe said, smiling back at Orion warmly. He turned to the chorus with a gooey smile on his face. “All right, let’s get back to work!” he boomed happily.
Helen met Orion’s gaze across the room and tipped her chin up at him in recognition of his impressive handiwork. He nodded back at her as he settled into his seat. He was obviously feeling himself. Orion was rarely cocky, though, she had to admit, it suited him. It reminded her of Adonis, but better because it wasn’t watered down with overuse. Orion was dead hot on an off day. On a good day he was frigging lava.
Helen shook her head and her jingle bells a few times to clear one and check that the other wasn’t dented. Which was which she had not yet determined.
She jingled her way through three more carols, mentally berating herself. What was wrong with her? Lucas was missing, but she was thinking about every guy except him, which had never happened to her before. Sure, there was a minute there—when she and Lucas had believed they were cousins—that she’d entertained the notion of being with Orion. But even then, when she’d thought that being with Lucas was impossible, she couldn’t imagine really being with Orion physically. She was imagining it now. In technicolor. With him and Hector. Helen was so distressed she dropped her jingle bells. Twice.
Unfortunately, her inability to even hold on to her jingle bells, which is literally the only thing required to be a jingle beller, did not get her kicked out of chorus. Mr. Abebe finished off rehearsal by complimenting Claire on her brilliant solo and suggesting that Helen put some sticky tape on her palms before the recital on Friday. Helen grumbled to herself and went right to Orion.
“Woah!” he said, looking down at her heart and then quickly away as he suppressed an embarrassed smile.
“Did you do this?” she demanded, pointing to her chest.
He looked back at her, stunned. “No. I’d never—”
“Do what?” Cassandra asked, appearing at his elbow.
Orion mentally fumbled and decided to simply ignore Cassandra’s question. “It’s not me,” he told Helen. “I mean, maybe it’s me,” he added, that cute-cocky thing coming back. “But I’m not trying to influence you.”
“What do you mean, influence her?” Cassandra asked, her eyes bouncing between them.
“What’s up?” Hector asked, making his way down the row. Helen immediately looked away from him.
“You stay over there,” she demanded, stopping Hector.
“Why?” he asked.
Orion covered his grin. “This is really interesting,” he said, glancing down at Helen’s body. “Both of us?” he asked, pretending to be scandalized.
Helen grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and dragged him a few paces away from the group. “I am not in control of this!”
“Apparently.” Orion couldn’t stop smiling.
Helen crossed her arms tightly over her chest. She felt like screaming. Orion could see that he’d taken his joke too far.
“I’m sorry,” he said, barely touching the tips of her elbows with his fingertips in apology.
“Where’s Lucas? Why hasn’t he come home?” she asked.
His face fell. “The dead have insisted that he make up the three nights he spent with you by spending three days with them.”
Helen frowned, thinking. “How long will that be for him?”
“He wouldn’t tell me,” Orion replied.
“You spoke to him?” she asked excitedly.
“Yeah.” He looked troubled. “Helen—we have to talk. In private.”
“Okay,” she whispered. She caught herself watching his mouth and realized that they were standing too close together and she was leaning toward him. She jerked away. She’d almost kissed him.
Helen turned abruptly and went back to the group. She saw Jason and Ariadne exchange suspicious glances. Cassandra’s cheeks were so red it looked like she’d just been slapped. Helen felt horrible.
“Lennie!” Claire huffed, joining them. “What the hell was up with the jingle bells? You dropped them during Silent Night!”
Helen stared at her for a moment. “I can’t even,” she said, and went back to her unglamorous spot under the exit sign to get her bag.
As she bent down to pick it up off the ground, she overheard Gretchen gossiping. “…Ryan, I think? Looks like she’s doing him, too…”
It took every ounce of self-control Helen possessed not to vault up the risers and punch the freckles off Gretchen’s face. As she stood upright and spun around to get away from Gretchen, she ran into Hector. He’d followed her. He caught her shoulders in his hands and she looked up at him.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly. She saw longing tug at him and felt something inside her tug back.
“Damn it,” Helen breathed. Tears welled up in her eyes. She let her forehead thunk into Hector’s chest and he put his arms around her, swallowing her up. She felt like she was drowning in her own overheated body.
She heard him say defensively, “I didn’t do anything to her, Jace—she’s just upset!” and she pulled out of his arms and headed for the door. She heard snatches of the conversation behind her as she walked.
“…She’s worried about Lucas,” Jason was saying sharply to Claire. “Who cares about the Christmas recital?”
Helen knew that wasn’t fair of him. She stopped and turned around, taking a deep breath. “Sorry, Claire,” she said. “I’ll staple the bells to my hand if I have to, but I won’t ruin this for you. I promise.”
Claire looked embarrassed. “No, I shouldn’t have—” she began, but Helen didn’t need an apology in return.
“We’re all worried about Lucas,” she interrupted. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to care about anything else.”
“Yeah,” Hector said, taking Helen’s side. He looked at Orion. “Didn’t Luke tell you that he wanted all of us to keep living our lives?”
Orion’s eyes darted to Helen. “Well, kind of,” he replied cautiously, like he was considering her talent for Falsefinding.
Helen saw that he was snatching his emotions away before she could read them. She took a step closer to him. “What did he say, exactly?”
Orion rolled his eyes. “Please don’t make me repeat it right now,” he begged.
“Is it about me? He wants me to keep living my life?” she pushed.
“Shit, Helen,” Orion said, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “Later.”
“Why can’t you say it in front of all of us?” Cassandra asked.
“Because it’s private, Cass!” he snapped back at her.
“Private for my brother, or for you?”
Orion looked trapped. “For both of us,” he replied.
It occurred to Helen that, like Adonis, Orion never lied. He was too honorable to lie, and she loved that about him. She kind of loved everything about him, which was a huge problem.
She needed some space. She went down the back hallway and pushed her way out of the same double doors she’d once melted. They’d been replaced, but she would never be able to go through them without thinking of Lucas, how he’d been there when it happened and how he’d helped her discover her lightning that day.
It was dark and cold out. She wanted to leap into the sky and escape from everything. The need to fly was so strong that she actually disengaged gravity—and felt a hand wrap around the top of her arm, yanking her back down before she could take off.
“What are you doing?” Orion asked, pulling her down next to him and spinning her around to face him. “You’re still grounded, remember?”
“I wasn’t thinking,” she said absently. She realized they were already yards away from the door. “How could I have forgotten that? Did I just run out here?” she asked Orion, worried.
“Yeah,” he replied. “You ran fast, too.”
Hector burst through the doors but skidded to a stop when he saw that Orion had ahold of Helen. He spread out his hands in a questioning gesture.
“It’s okay,” Orion called out to him.
“What’s wrong with me?” Helen asked Orion quietly. “It’s like I can’t trust myself anymore. About anything.”
“I’ll watch you,” he said.
She gave him a dry laugh. “You’re one of the reasons I’m not trusting myself right now.” She saw a bright aurora of desire course through him again, but he controlled it.
“I would never—” he began.
“I know I can trust you,” she interrupted, not needing him to spell it out. “Just don’t tell Hector anything about this whole mess yet, okay?” She gestured to the glittering sheen of awareness she could still see under her skin. Then she laughed. “His ego is big enough already.”
Orion drew an X over his heart with his finger as if to say cross my heart, which Helen found adorable. She rolled her eyes at herself. “How am I going to do this?”
“We’ll do it together,” he said, taking her hand. He kept her hand in his as he steered them to the parking lot. He put Helen in the back of Hector’s car and got in the front seat, while everyone else got into Jason’s car. Cassandra stared at Helen through the back windows, her face blank.
“Has Cassandra seen anything lately?” she asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.
There was a long pause. Hector was driving and he glanced over at Orion, curious.
“I don’t know,” Orion answered, looking out the passenger window. “We haven’t had a chance to talk the past few days.”
Helen watched the dark trees blur by outside. “Because of me.”
“Because of all of this,” Orion corrected, spinning around to look at her. “It’s not like you’re to blame for Zeus. Or for what’s happening to Lucas.”
“No. I’m to blame for Luke,” Hector added quietly.
Helen found Hector’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Then you’re the only ding-dong in the universe who could blame himself for getting killed by Achilles—who was the greatest warrior ever, mind you.”
Hector smiled to himself. “I almost had him.”
Orion’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “No, you didn’t,” he said, shaking his head.
“You know I did,” Hector insisted.
“I was there. You never had him.”
Helen watched the two of them taunt each other amicably until they got to her house. Her street was festive with holiday lights that glowed against the snow. She got out of the car, but stopped halfway across the yard, feeling the hairs rise on the back of her neck. She watched her breath cloud in front of her in the multicolored light. She felt a panicked feeling, like she hadn’t done something she was supposed to do. It thrilled through her, making her shiver. A black cat bolted, hissing, right in front of Helen and ran into the bushes.
Hector and Orion both jumped and grabbed Helen, one on each side.
“What the hell was that!” Orion exclaimed.
“Cat,” Hector replied.
“A warning,” Helen corrected. “I think I’m being summoned.”
“Hecate?” Orion guessed.
Helen nodded. “I still have a task to complete.” She’d wasted a whole day, and she didn’t think the Witch Titan was pleased. “But I have no idea how I’m going to do that without Lucas to make a portal to Cronus.”
“Let’s go inside, figure it out,” Hector said.
Helen took a step toward the door and felt the panicky feeling in her grow stronger. “I don’t think I can,” she said, stopping. “I get the feeling that the cat was a gentle reminder, but Hecate won’t be so nice if she has to remind me again. I need to go now.”
“But where? And what do you have to do?” Hector asked.
Helen shrugged. “Cronus wouldn’t tell me. He said it was something for his family… so I’m hoping laundry?”
Hector chuckled, but Orion frowned. “Where is Cronus?” Orion asked.
“In the Underworld.”
“Then I can take you to him,” he said, lifting the Bough of Aeneas on his wrist. “We don’t have to wait for Lucas.”
“Yeah, but we have to get back to the mainland,” Hector said. “That will take hours.”
Orion shook his head. “There’s another portal here on Nantucket. Lucas told me about it when I saw him.”
“Where?” Helen asked.
He looked reluctant to answer, but finally did because he had no choice. “At your house,” he said, tipping his chin at Hector.
Helen blinked, stupefied. “How can that be?”
“Because Lucas is the Hand of Darkness, Helen,” Orion replied, sighing. “Wherever he lives, the dead will climb up to reach him.”
She shrank at the thought, like paper curling up and shriveling as it burned. The dead really were taking him away from her.
“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” Orion said, seeing her sadness. He started pacing in a tight, frustrated circle before facing Helen with his hands on his hips. “My offer still stands.”
“No,” Helen replied immediately.
“What offer?” Hector asked.
“Orion—,” Helen warned.
“To take Lucas’ place,” Orion admitted.
Hector let that sink in for a moment. “What?” His face fell with something like betrayal before rage flared in its place. “You asshole!” he yelled, pushing Orion’s chest and knocking him to the ground. “If anyone’s going to take Luke’s place, it’s going to be me!”
Unsatisfied, Hector grabbed Orion by the front of his jacket and hauled him back up to standing so they could shout at each other properly, but he was interrupted.
