Dreamless

things than me, and this was right after I owned up to stabbing one of my best friends in the chest. So what would you consider worse than that?”
    Orion smiled pensively as he walked, thinking over her question carefully. Helen watched his face and smiled. He was such a thoughtful guy, and when something was important to him he took his time to think it through before he opened his mouth. She really liked that about him. It sort of reminded her of Matt.
    “Can we have that conversation later?” he said finally. “I promise to tell you someday, just not yet, okay?”
    “Sure. Whenever you’re ready.”
    He looked over at her with tight lips, trying to be tough, but his eyes were vulnerable and that made him look very young.
    “Am I really one of your best friends?” he asked quietly.
    “Well, yeah,” Helen replied, feeling jittery, like maybe she shouldn’t admit to caring for him so much. But she was only admitting to friendship—not making any commitments that could harm the Truce, right? “Aren’t I one of your best friends?”
    Orion nodded, but there was a pained look on his face. “I haven’t had many friends,” he admitted. “I never knew when I’d have to disappear, so I never saw the point, you know?”
    He smiled cheerfully enough, but underneath he still looked troubled, like he was thinking a thousand things at once. Helen didn’t push him. He must have been terribly lonely his whole life. Her heart pinched at the thought.
    She knew she was supposed to maintain some sort of barrier between herself and Orion. But every time she saw him she felt closer to him. And she didn’t want to block him out anymore.
    What does it matter, anyway? she thought rebelliously. I’m not going to be alive long enough to commit myself to anyone, anyway. The Truce is not in any danger.
    They kept walking in no specific direction, wherever their feet decided to wander. It wasn’t like they had a time limit or a deadline to meet. Technically, they could stay down there as long as they could bear being parted from food and drink, and although Helen already felt the beginnings of a serious thirst, she had gotten very good at doing without.
    As they walked, Helen did most of the talking, telling Orion all about Claire and Matt and her father, Jerry. She should have felt more pressured to make progress, but she didn’t. She trusted that eventually she and Orion would find the blasted river they were looking for, and it would lead them to Persephone’s Garden.
    Helen considered telling Orion about how she was sort of dying, but she couldn’t bring herself to spoil the moment. She was enjoying herself too much. And besides, what could Orion do to stop her from dying, anyway? What could anyone do about it? She had no guarantee that finding the Furies would end her descents into the Underworld and save her life. Helen had to accept the fact that this task might be the last she ever completed.
    At least it’s something worth dying for , Helen thought.
    She looked over at Orion and knew that there were worse things that could have happened to her. Hades was no picnic, but at least she’d found Orion down here. It just goes to show that Fate is nonsense, she thought wryly. Even if someone tells you the future, you never really know what you’re going to find until you get there.
    A whimsical idea crossed Helen’s mind, and she laughed out loud.
    “What is it?” Orion asked as he shot her a look.
    “No, it’s nothing,” she replied, still snickering. Not looking where she was going, she tripped over some loose rocks in the sand and had to grab on to Orion’s arm to regain her balance. “I was just thinking, wouldn’t it be great if you and I randomly stumbled over what we were looking for?”
    “Yeah, that’d be pretty great,” he said as he helped steady her. “Most people would want to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
    “It’s not that,” she said, subdued. “I’m not thinking that I want our quest to be over right this second . But I do want Persephone’s Garden to magically appear in front of us.”
    The scenery changed.
    There was no warning, no gust of wind, and no freaky dissolve like in an old movie. One second they were walking down the infinite beach during the day, and the next they were someplace else. Someplace dark and terrifying.
    Just to their left, a massive structure, made entirely out of a strange black metallic rock, soared up into the dead, starless sky. The