Dreamless

door, and sprinting up the stairs on all fours. The mother mortal raised her hand to draw the curse of Hestia down upon him, but she was too slow.
    Leaping over the precious Oracle to spare her, Automedon knocked the two pretty but useless handmaidens aside. He shattered the lover’s door into splinters, vaulted onto the bed, and cupped the princess’s sleeping head in his right hand half a heartbeat before she descended, the very moment she was most vulnerable. Her beautiful amber eyes snapped open. From inside his left wrist, Automedon slid his stinger out of its sheath and pierced the Princess’s slack throat. Her eyes fluttered and her lips quivered as his venom flooded her blood. He heard screaming from the hallway and from the bottom of the stairs, but the noise was inconsequential. He had his prize, and none of them was anywhere near strong enough to keep him from taking it.
    The princess went still. Automedon picked her up and carried her paralyzed body out of the lover’s window and off the island.
    Lucas watched Hector blur as he sped off to find his father, while he and Orion stayed back to help a cluster of injured people onto the sidewalk. A triage center was forming, and people who lived in the area were coming out of their houses with water, bandages, and first aid kits to help the wounded. Lucas and Orion had urged Hector on, but had to stop themselves when they couldn’t ignore the cries for help.
    “We should check the next block, too,” Orion said when they had helped the last of the injured, and the two of them began to run at a human pace down the nearest alley.
    “Hold up,” Lucas called out to Orion as he fished his buzzing phone out of his jeans.
    Lucas looked at the screen and saw that it was his mom. He answered it immediately, already feeling a sick, slithering sensation in his gut.
    “Lucas, he took her,” she said in a clipped and urgent monotone. “Helen was just about to descend to help her father and the twins when Automedon broke down the door, stung her, and then jumped out the window with her.”
    “How long ago?” Lucas asked coldly.
    Orion’s eyes flared as he picked up on Lucas’s chaotic emotions.
    “A few minutes ago. Claire and Kate got knocked down by that creature, and I just finished making sure they were still alive,” his mother responded in a disgusted tone. “I don’t understand this, Lucas. How could he sting Helen? The cestus . . .”
    “I gotta go.” Lucas hung up on his mother, not because he was angry but so that he could think. After relaying the information to Orion he went silent.
    “Should we go back to your house? Try and find a trail?” Orion suggested.
    “There won’t be one,” Lucas said quietly, wishing Orion would just shut up.
    “Then what do you suggest?” Orion continued as he scrutinized Lucas carefully. When Lucas didn’t respond he raised his eyebrows and repeated himself. “Lucas. I can read your feelings, you know. Tell me what you’re thinking so we can work it out together.”
    “I’m trying to figure out how the hell anyone would be able to capture Helen! Have you ever tried to fight her? Even when she holds back she’s a beast!” Lucas was teetering right on the edge of violence. He wanted to hit Orion, but he settled for yelling. “I can barely handle her and I don’t think she’s shown me even a fraction of what she’s capable of. Can you imagine what she’d do to someone if they tried to kidnap her and keep her against her will? Half of Massachusetts would be on fire!”
    Orion looked at Lucas’s chest with concern.
    “You’re freaking out. I need you to calm down right now. For Helen.” Orion grabbed Lucas by the shoulder, and Lucas felt flooded with warmth. His heart slowed down, and a wave of soothing feelings overtook him.
    He knew Orion was a Son of Aphrodite and could manipulate emotions, but Lucas had never actually experienced anything like it before. It was a physical change, like an instant drug working on his body and mind, and for a moment Lucas wondered just how much Orion could affect him, and in what ways. If Orion could make him feel this good, it was reasonable to assume he could make him feel just as bad as well. The implications were astounding.
    “I’m sorry,” Orion said, releasing Lucas. “I don’t like to do that without asking first.”
    “No, it’s okay. I needed it,” Lucas said gently, knowing that Orion disliked using his talent to control hearts under any