Starcrossed

she didn’t want to see him. But that was his fault, she reminded herself. He was the one who was forcing himself to teach her how to fight and fly, right?
    “Well, tell me now, then,” she said briskly. Lucas looked up at her sharply. His eyes were angry.
    “You can generate lightning. Electricity. I don’t know how strong a charge you can create, but from what I’ve felt, and what Hector felt in the grocery store, I’m thinking it’s big.”
    “Lightning?” Helen said with disbelief.
    She remembered Hector convulsing when he first touched her in the grocery store, and then she remembered Lucas letting go of her so abruptly in the hallway the very first time she had seen him. She had been so afraid of them both, so desperate to defend herself . . . . Was it possible she had summoned a power she had never been aware of? Had she created lightning ?
    Somewhere in the back of her mind she saw a blue flash, and Kate crumple to the ground. A terrible thought occurred to her. She tried to banish it as she had done since childhood, but this time the thought wouldn’t go away.
    “We think that means you are descended from Zeus,” Cassandra said. “But from which House is still uncertain. The Four Houses were founded by Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, and Poseidon. Aphrodite and Apollo were Zeus’s children, so Scions from their Houses could display his traits as well. The fourth House, the House of Athens, was founded by Poseidon, so it can be ruled out. Well, maybe.”
    “My House?” Helen said, still so wrapped up in her own head that she was having a hard time understanding English. She was remembering a blue flash from her past, and a scary man that kept trying to touch her hair, flying away from her off the back of the Nantucket ferry. The smell of burning filled her throat. Helen rubbed her hand over her face and tried to rebury that memory. She had always believed that she couldn’t have been the cause of that. And worse—had she hurt Kate, too?
    “When we say your House, we mean your heritage, Helen,” Castor said gently, noticing Helen’s disquiet. “Zeus had a lot of children, so your House can’t be pinpointed with any certainty yet. But don’t worry, we’re still trying to find out who your people were.”
    “Thanks,” Helen muttered, still overwhelmed.
    “You can’t control the lightning yet, it sort of jumps out of you when you’re upset,” Lucas said after a long pause. He was looking at her strangely.
    “Is it like a Taser?” Helen asked anxiously, suddenly snapping out of her trance.
    “Yeah,” Hector said as if he was recollecting both sensations and comparing them in his mind. “But stronger.”
    “Does it really hurt?” Helen said quietly. She felt sick to her stomach.
    “I guess,” Hector said with a condescending shrug. “You know, if you put in some real training, you could probably generate a lethal charge soon.”
    “That won’t be necessary,” Helen said, jumping to her feet, horrified with the suggestion. And with herself.
    “Wait, Helen, it could be a good thing,” Jason replied. “You could learn how to use your bolts instead of fighting.”
    “You don’t have to use them to kill. Just to knock people out,” Lucas amended, aware now that something was disturbing Helen deeply.
    He couldn’t know that what he was saying to make it better only made it worse. Helen thought of Kate’s unconscious body—how Kate had convulsed in that nauseating way when the blue light flashed. How her head had lolled back and her mouth fell open uncontrollably when Helen had picked her up off the ground. She couldn’t get the horrifying images out of her head so she started pacing around, wringing her hands to dispel the nervous energy she felt. She knew everyone was staring at her. She looked up and locked eyes with Pandora, who was clearly attentive to her strange reaction.
    “Why don’t we talk about this tomorrow?” Pandora said to the room in general. “Hector needs to eat and everyone else needs a shower. No offense, but pee-ew, guys.” She got a few laughs, but more important, she got the focus off Helen. Helen smiled at her gratefully.
    “Are you okay?” Ariadne whispered in Helen’s ear as the family meeting broke up. Helen squeezed Ariadne’s hand and tried to smile, but she had no idea what to say. She started to wander toward the door.
    “I’ll take you home,” Lucas called out over his shoulder to Helen, ending the brief conversation he was