Dreamless

here.”
    “Yeah, that I’ve noticed,” Helen said. Intrigued by her leading inflection, Orion looked over at her as he stamped down the high vegetation to make a path. He paused in thought, and then laughed when he figured out what Helen meant.
    “The hellhound! You just stood there with your eyes crossed!”
    Helen’s shoulders started shaking with embarrassed laughter. “I didn’t know what to do! I don’t know how to fight without my lightning!”
    “You froze up like you were having an asthma attack or something,” he chuckled. “For a second I thought I needed to have a chat with Daphne about whether I should carry a spare inhaler. . . .”
    He broke off when he noticed how quickly Helen’s mood changed at the mention of her mother. She hated how he could just call her “Daphne” like that, like they were best friends or something.
    “That bad, huh?” he asked quietly after a moment of tense silence.
    “I don’t know what you mean,” Helen replied in an angry monotone. She turned, intending to blaze her own trail through the tall reeds, but Orion laid a hand on her shoulder and turned her back around.
    “I’m a Rogue, too,” he said softly. “I know what it’s like to hate your family.”
    Helen’s anger evaporated at the sight of his sad eyes. One of her hands reached out to touch him, and she had to snatch it back at the last second. She had forgotten for a moment that Rogues like her could only be claimed by one House. Half of Orion’s family would be compelled to kill him if they ever encountered him, which they were sure to do. The Furies worked like magnets, drawing opposite sides together until they eventually collided. Helen had been hidden on a tiny island, and the House of Thebes had still found her; she could only assume that something similar had happened to Orion.
    “Did you and your family ever find a way around the Furies? You know, like I did with the Deloses?” she asked softly. Helen didn’t want to specifically say Lucas’s name or talk about how the two of them had fallen and saved each other, she just hoped that Daphne had filled Orion in on some parts of her history.
    “No,” he said in a tight voice, understanding Helen’s meaning immediately. “I still owe my blood debt to my mother’s House, the House of Rome.”
    “But you can be with her at least, right?” Helen asked tentatively.
    “No, I can’t,” he said in a final way. Helen recalled that he was the Head of the House of Rome, and not the Heir . He must have inherited his mother’s title when she died.
    “So you were claimed by your father’s side? The House of Athens?” she asked, making an effort to move the conversation away from his mother.
    “That’s right,” he said, turning away from Helen to end the line of questions.
    “Hey, I’m sorry, but I’m just trying to get this straight. You were the one who brought up the whole family thing in the first place. Asking about my mother.”
    “You’re right, I brought it up.” Orion held up his hands and made a frustrated sound. “I’m good at listening, not talking, and I have no idea what you’re feeling right now because I don’t have my powers. I can’t read your heart, and it’s driving me bananas.” He shook his head at a thought. “I guess this is the way normal guys feel it, huh? It’s really scary, so just give me a second, okay?”
    “Okay.” Helen couldn’t look at him. She didn’t entirely trust herself with Orion.
    “I’m going to start over,” he said, almost like he was warning her. Helen nodded and found herself laughing nervously again.
    “All right. Start at the start this time.” Helen steadied her voice, trying not to sound so giggly. It was annoying .
    “Right. Here goes. I’m Head of the House of Rome, but because I was claimed by the House of Athens, the House of Rome has been hunting me since the day I was born. But for other very complicated reasons, the House of Athens has never accepted me, either.” Orion looked at Helen like he was forcing himself to jump off a cliff. “When I was ten my father, Daedalus, became an Outcast defending me from my cousins. He had to kill one of his own brother’s sons to protect me. Since then I haven’t been able to go anywhere near him. The Furies make us try to kill—”
    “Yeah.” Helen cut him off quickly so he wouldn’t have to spell out what he’d tried to do. Orion nodded at her, silently thanking her for stopping him.
    The image of