Starcrossed

matter.”
    “Thanks,” Lucas replied, a little confused by the alien metaphor.
    He and Jason shared another look, and this time there was obvious admiration in their eyes.
    “You know what I don’t get?” Helen asked, changing the subject. “Why can she be around when I do Scion stuff but it doesn’t affect me? All of these times she saw me use my powers over the years, but I don’t remember ever feeling pain in my stomach.”
    Helen explained her mother’s curse to Claire, but no one had an answer to her question. They turned their attention to cleaning up as best they could before Jerry got home. Claire offered to stay with Helen for the night, in case she was too freaked out to sleep alone, but Jason nixed that idea right away.
    “And what are you going to do if Creon shows up again? Throw your pocketbook at him and give him a piece of your mind?” he said shaking his head. “Uh-uh. I know you two are like sisters, but you’re not staying here.”
    “I’ll stay. You take Claire home,” Lucas said, quietly assuming control before Claire could start another argument with Jason. “Let me know if you see anything around her house.”
    “Right,” Jason said with a nod as he guided Claire toward the door.
    He didn’t seem surprised that there might be something dangerous lurking around Claire’s house, but Helen and Claire were. Helen lifted her arm to stop them from leaving, suddenly terrified again. It was night and any shadow could have Creon inside it. Sensing Helen’s fear, Lucas intercepted her hand and held it tightly.
    “Jase can handle it,” he told her confidently.
    “Wait, what do you mean, my house? My parents are home,” Claire said, her anxiety resurfacing as well. “You don’t think the guy who did this . . .”
    “Don’t worry,” Jason said with a sensitivity he usually reserved for everyone in the world except Claire. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your parents.”
    “Thank you,” she said slowly, looking a bit surprised that she had any reason to say those words to him.
    She turned and waved at Helen, who thought to herself that the impossible had just happened. Claire had finally run out of nasty things to say to Jason. Helen shut the door behind them and took a deep breath. Then she glanced over at Lucas, and prayed to a pantheon of gods that looking at him would get easier someday.
    “You look tired,” she said, realizing it was true as she said it.
    “So do you. I hear you’ve been having a lot of nightmares,” he said back, completely unashamed to admit he was asking his cousins about her.
    “Why do you care? Please, Lucas, just go away,” she begged, rubbing her face with her hands.
    “I can’t. I won’t,” he said, moving forward and pulling her into his arms.
    She felt too fragile to fight him off. She melted into his chest and rested there for a few moments.
    “Why do you smell like the ocean?” he said suddenly, pulling away from her to get a better look. He studied her bedraggled clothes speckled with sand, and asked suspiciously, “What happened to you today besides Creon?”
    “How is that fair?” she demanded. She pushed him from her with a bitter laugh. “If I lie to you you’ll know, and if I stay silent you’ll assume something worse than the truth.”
    “Then just tell me as much or as little as you want,” he said quietly, stepping away from her to allow her some personal space. “But tell me something . What happened?”
    “I was dodging practice because I couldn’t bear to see you. Hector found me hiding on the beach, I got in his face, and he nearly drowned me to teach me a lesson in humility,” she blurted, tears of exhaustion brimming in her eyes. “Then I went to Claire’s to cry on her shoulder and tell her I was a Scion. Then I flew home, where Creon attacked me, tried to break my neck, and stabbed me in the heart. You pretty much know the rest. Now I just want to take a hot shower and lie down because I’m freezing cold and itchy and I don’t think I can handle anything else happening today.”
    “Okay. You go shower,” Lucas said, nodding tightly as he stepped out of her path. “I’ll wait for you in your room.”
    Helen staggered up the stairs and ran into the bathroom. She got into the shower and began to cry. Sitting down in the tub with the spray fanning out all around her she couldn’t stop the tears any longer. She tried to be as quiet as she could, and hoped that the droning