Starcrossed

politely how she could be so sure his blade was defective.
    “Because if this girl truly was impervious to weapons, then you would have also said she has the most beautiful face you’ve ever seen. You wouldn’t be able to ignore that fact—it’s in your blood,” she replied petulantly.
    “And if she does have the most beautiful face I’ve ever seen? What then?” Creon asked calmly, although a wonderful rush of adrenaline was sending a chill across his skin. The line went silent for a full five seconds.
    “You need to come home now . We need to tell your father. This is much bigger than you know,” Mildred finally choked out before she abruptly ended the call.
    The next morning Helen jerked herself awake, her entire body snapping from sleep to high alert in a blink. Her hand flew to that spot on her chest where Creon’s blade had broken, and she had to press her fingers into her breastbone to convince herself that there was no gaping hole there.
    She heard faint whispers coming from across the room. Sitting up, she saw Lucas standing in the window, talking to someone outside in such a low voice that no human could hear. The clock by her bed read 5:25, and the sky was barely gray with the dawn.
    “She’s safe, that’s all that matters,” Lucas said out the window.
    “Not all that matters,” came the whispered reply.
    Helen got out of bed and joined Lucas at the window. She looked down and saw Hector standing on the edge of her lawn. He looked up at them, glancing back and forth from Helen to Lucas, an indignant look on his face.
    “You okay?” Hector asked Helen gruffly.
    “Yeah. But you don’t look so hot,” she said. Even from one flight up she could see that Hector’s eyes were bloodshot with fatigue and worry. He grimaced sarcastically at her compassionate look, and turned to Lucas with a warning.
    “Stay high until we’re sure. She’s safer in the air.”
    Hector ran off so fast that Helen could only make out his blur. Lucas shut the window and leaned against it. His eyes were wide and unblinking.
    “What was that about?” Helen asked in a nearly inaudible voice. She could hear her dad’s deep breathing from his bedroom. Thankfully, he was still asleep.
    “My family went looking for Creon last night,” Lucas answered with downturned eyes. “We think he caught a charter flight off the island, but we aren’t sure yet.”
    “He’s gone?” Helen asked, a little too hopefully.
    “Maybe. But if he did leave, it won’t be forever.” Lucas stared at Helen so intensely she had to reach out and touch him somehow just to break the tension. She stepped forward and placed her hand on his chest. He was shaking.
    Straightening suddenly, Lucas crossed to the door. “Put on something warm.”
    “Why? Where are we going?” she whispered.
    “Up.”
    As soon as they were airborne, Lucas seemed to relax a little, but not much. She asked for a flying lesson, partly because she wanted to learn, but mostly just to distract him. They worked on Helen’s air-pressure control for over an hour before they got a call from his family. Castor had called from the airport, finally confirming that Creon had left the island by private charter like they had suspected, and it was safe for Lucas to bring Helen in.
    Hector took the phone and insisted they come in right away—he wanted her to resume her combat training that morning. The cousins got into a heated exchange. Finally, Lucas agreed to land, but he seemed put out by the request.
    “What’s wrong?” Helen asked, confused that he wasn’t happier to learn that Creon was gone.
    “Hector has the wrong idea about us being up here alone. I’m not keeping you aloft so we can . . . damn it, you need to learn this!” he snapped, raking a hand through his hair. “I want you to be able to fly away from trouble, rather than try to stand and fight.”
    “Me too,” she replied enthusiastically, grabbing on to Lucas’s shoulders so she didn’t waft away. “Call your cousins back and tell them we’re not done. I’d rather spend the day flying with you than getting sweated on by Hector any time.”
    Lucas gave Helen a sinking look, like he was thinking a painful thought. “We’d better go in,” he finally decided, his face darkening. “You need to learn both.”
    Helen knew Lucas was worried, but after spending the morning soaring weightless, she couldn’t feel anything but elated. She took both his hands and swung him around her so they spun