Starcrossed

cocky smile. Something behind Helen caught his eye and he started to back away. “I’ll see you sooner rather than later, preciosa ,” he promised as he ran off, a dark, ominous mist collecting to obscure his outline.
    Helen tried to shout something tough and ballsy after him, but all that came out was a pathetic moan. He was gone in a second, and she was left to lie there alone until she was noticed or until she was well enough to walk away. Finally, she heard someone approach.
    “Helen?” a familiar voice said as it neared. “Oh, no. It is you.”
    “Matt,” Helen grunted. “Get Lucas.”
    He came around into Helen’s field of vision and got down on his knees in front of her. “Don’t you think the nurse would be a better idea? Or maybe a paramedic?”
    “Please. Lucas. Quick.”
    He sighed once, rubbed Helen’s back in an awkwardly reassuring way, and then got up and ran off. Once she got her breathing under control, Helen could see enough around her to take in the fact that she was practically in the school parking lot—much closer to the school than she had realized. Still curled up in a ball on the ground, Helen banged her forehead against her knees. She couldn’t believe she had been that stupid. Her ear pressed to the ground, Helen heard approaching footsteps that were a little too heavy and a little too quick to be a normal’s and smiled to herself with relief even though she was still in terrible pain.
    “Thanks, Matt,” she heard Lucas say from somewhere behind her. “Where are you hurt?” he asked her as he came around toward the front, Jason close behind him. Helen pointed to her stomach and spoke with her eyes. Lucas nodded and looked around, confused.
    “Did you see what happened?” he asked Matt.
    “I think she was running after someone. I don’t know,” Matt said skeptically. “I just heard from Gretchen that Helen was chasing some guy, then she screamed and fell down.”
    “Is that true?” Lucas asked Helen with a tense face. She nodded, and he smiled back at her, his worried eyes softening for her sake. He plucked some of her hair off her sweaty forehead and looked back over his shoulder.
    “I’m on it,” said Jason too quietly for an ordinary mortal to catch, and then Helen heard his rapidly retreating footsteps.
    “I should go with him,” began Hector’s voice from someplace that Helen still couldn’t see.
    “No, you shouldn’t,” ordered Lucas sharply. “I need you to get the girls. They could have whatever sickness Helen has, and they might need you. Right?”
    “Right,” Hector said without bitterness, suddenly understanding Lucas’s hidden meaning. Cassandra and Ariadne were unaware, unprotected, and therefore in the most danger of being attacked by the stranger. Hector ran off so silently that Helen couldn’t even hear his feet brush against the grass, and she couldn’t help but be both impressed and a little frightened by his skill.
    “Matt, can you help me get Helen up? If you could just grab her feet . . .” Lucas asked in an apologetic voice.
    “Sure, no problem,” Matt said as he slipped his hands behind her knees. “Jeez, Len, you smell awful! Did you have to fall into every cranberry bog on the island?” Helen chuckled briefly, but it hurt to laugh so she stopped.
    Helen initially wondered why Lucas would ask Matt for help when he didn’t need it, but as she listened to them talk and work together to carry her to Hector’s SUV she realized that Lucas had to be one of the smartest people she’d ever met. Not only did asking for help make Lucas seem normal, but it also made Matt feel needed. Lucas was treating him like a partner and, more important, like a man. Helen knew that if Lucas ever asked for Matt’s loyalty, this simple gesture of inclusion made it more likely that he would get it. A fresh bout of pain gripped her so tightly that a sweat broke out on her upper lip. Helen blew out her breath slowly, trying to navigate her way through the pain.
    Lucas popped the back hatch of the SUV and laid Helen down, then asked if Matt didn’t mind waiting with them until his sister and cousins came back.
    “If Helen gets any worse, I’m not going to wait for them, I’m just going to take her to the hospital. If that happens, I’d really appreciate it if you stayed here to tell them where I went. It shouldn’t take long,” Lucas explained.
    “I’ll stay as long as you need me,” Matt offered with his usual