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.She wanted to tell him thatshe was sorry for workingagainst him like this, but sheknew she didn t have to.Hecould read the regret in herheart.The leader of theEumenides tilted her head tothe side, listening to the verdict of the dead. The candidate has beenfound unworthy, she said,and Helen nearly collapsedwith relief.But theEumenides weren t finished. However.He must still fulfillhis vow. What does that mean? Helen asked the spirits on theair, even though she couldn tunderstand their whisperyspeech. It means that someday theHand of Darkness mustreplace Hades, replied thelittlest of the Eumenides. Hecannot rule until he is foundworthy, but someday he mustoffer himself up to be testedby the dead, and if he passes,he must take Hades place inthe Underworld. Helen couldn t speak.Sheracked her brain for a reasonto object, something that would trump Lucas s vow, butshe came up with nothing. Helen, Lucas whisperedin her ear. Let it go.It sokay. No it isn t! Helen hissedback at him. It means that atany time you can be calleddown here.We won t knowwhen, or how, but somedaythe dead will call yournumber and you ll have to goto Hades. Lucas laughed softly andshook his head. That s life,Helen.That s what everyonefaces.It just means I ll haveto live every day like it couldbe my last day on Earth.I cando that. He looked over atHades, his eyes shining withthat inner light that Helenhadn t seen in him in weeks. Thank you. You must go.Now, Hadesreplied gravely. The two of you are needed back on Earth.And Helen? Don t let Zeuswin.No matter what you haveto do to stop him do it. Helen sighed and nodded,knowing what Hades meant,but not sure if she was strongenough to go through with itnow that she knew Lucas hadto serve in Hades someday.Could she face the longfuture, knowing that if shewanted to be with Lucas she would have to do it in Hades?Would she end up likePersephone? Thank you again, Uncle, she said. Give your queenmy love. SIXTEENHelen and Lucas appeared onthe beach.Hoping to end upclose to Orion, Helen figuredthat the best place to appearwas near the spot of themakeshift arena where theduels had taken place.Shewas expecting to find that thebattle lines being drawn on the beach wouldn t be thatmuch bigger than when shehad left, so that she wouldinstantly know which way togo to find Orion.She couldn thave been more wrong.When Helen and Lucasstepped out of the ring offrost, they found themselvesin the middle of a giganticcamp crawling with thousandsof fighters.Scions,Myrmidons, and mortals were all preparing themselves forbattle. Son of a biscuit, Helensaid, gaping like a hick at thebustling tent city that hadsprung up along the beach.Helen saw Mr.Tanis from thehardware store sharpening asword on a large, round stone.His eyes looked blank andstrange.Helen was just aboutto call out to Mr.Tanis andcheck if he was okay, when she felt Lucas yank roughlyon her arm. Up! he growled fearfullyand threw her into the air.Asshe disengaged gravity, heflew past her and took herhand to pull her along. Wrong side! he shoutedback at her, steering theminland.From the air, Helen couldsee the two camps, but shestill couldn t believe the scale of it all.She and Lucasfloated for a few moments,studying the new map that hadbeen drawn over the beach onthe westernmost side ofNantucket Island.FromSiasconset all the way up toSesachacha Pond, the shorewas lined with the tents ofTantalus s army.Orion andhis soldiers had been backedup onto the dunes, where theyhuddled on the high ground, ridiculously outnumbered.Helen could hear Lucaswhispering to himself, like hewas memorizing a list ofthings for later. Didn t we just leave? Helen gasped, incredulous.There were too many peopledown there, too many tents. How did this happen sofast? Hephaestus has enougharms stored under Mount Olympus to put a sword in thehands of every man, woman,and child in the world, Lucasreplied distractedly.Helenwatched his eyes skip around,and his lips move as hecounted tents under his breathand marked supply lines.Arrows started whizzingpast them.A few of thembounced off Helen, and Lucasinstinctively jerked her out oftheir path.They had been spotted by a phalanx ofMyrmidons, and more arrowsfollowed until the air wasthick with them. I m fine, she said,knocking a shower of arrowsaway from her face.Shetouched the gold heart shewore around her neck toremind Lucas that she worethe half of the cestus thatprotected her from weapons. It stings, but arrows can t kill me.Or you, either. Lucas watched as arrowsbounced off him, hisexpression blank.Helenlooked at his heart and saw adozen different emotionsswirling around inside of him. Are you angry with me? she asked pleadingly, placingher hand on his chest.Lucaslooked up at Helen, but hiseyes were so wild she had noidea what was going through his head. I know I made youmostly immortal without evenasking you first.But it s stillup to you.If you want to die,you still can whenever youwant.Not that you d want todie right now.But saysomeday in the future youknow, you still can. Lucas s face crumpled withconfusion.A flaming ball catapultedpast, barely missing them, but neither Helen nor Lucas paidit any mind [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.She wanted to tell him thatshe was sorry for workingagainst him like this, but sheknew she didn t have to.Hecould read the regret in herheart.The leader of theEumenides tilted her head tothe side, listening to the verdict of the dead. The candidate has beenfound unworthy, she said,and Helen nearly collapsedwith relief.But theEumenides weren t finished. However.He must still fulfillhis vow. What does that mean? Helen asked the spirits on theair, even though she couldn tunderstand their whisperyspeech. It means that someday theHand of Darkness mustreplace Hades, replied thelittlest of the Eumenides. Hecannot rule until he is foundworthy, but someday he mustoffer himself up to be testedby the dead, and if he passes,he must take Hades place inthe Underworld. Helen couldn t speak.Sheracked her brain for a reasonto object, something that would trump Lucas s vow, butshe came up with nothing. Helen, Lucas whisperedin her ear. Let it go.It sokay. No it isn t! Helen hissedback at him. It means that atany time you can be calleddown here.We won t knowwhen, or how, but somedaythe dead will call yournumber and you ll have to goto Hades. Lucas laughed softly andshook his head. That s life,Helen.That s what everyonefaces.It just means I ll haveto live every day like it couldbe my last day on Earth.I cando that. He looked over atHades, his eyes shining withthat inner light that Helenhadn t seen in him in weeks. Thank you. You must go.Now, Hadesreplied gravely. The two of you are needed back on Earth.And Helen? Don t let Zeuswin.No matter what you haveto do to stop him do it. Helen sighed and nodded,knowing what Hades meant,but not sure if she was strongenough to go through with itnow that she knew Lucas hadto serve in Hades someday.Could she face the longfuture, knowing that if shewanted to be with Lucas she would have to do it in Hades?Would she end up likePersephone? Thank you again, Uncle, she said. Give your queenmy love. SIXTEENHelen and Lucas appeared onthe beach.Hoping to end upclose to Orion, Helen figuredthat the best place to appearwas near the spot of themakeshift arena where theduels had taken place.Shewas expecting to find that thebattle lines being drawn on the beach wouldn t be thatmuch bigger than when shehad left, so that she wouldinstantly know which way togo to find Orion.She couldn thave been more wrong.When Helen and Lucasstepped out of the ring offrost, they found themselvesin the middle of a giganticcamp crawling with thousandsof fighters.Scions,Myrmidons, and mortals were all preparing themselves forbattle. Son of a biscuit, Helensaid, gaping like a hick at thebustling tent city that hadsprung up along the beach.Helen saw Mr.Tanis from thehardware store sharpening asword on a large, round stone.His eyes looked blank andstrange.Helen was just aboutto call out to Mr.Tanis andcheck if he was okay, when she felt Lucas yank roughlyon her arm. Up! he growled fearfullyand threw her into the air.Asshe disengaged gravity, heflew past her and took herhand to pull her along. Wrong side! he shoutedback at her, steering theminland.From the air, Helen couldsee the two camps, but shestill couldn t believe the scale of it all.She and Lucasfloated for a few moments,studying the new map that hadbeen drawn over the beach onthe westernmost side ofNantucket Island.FromSiasconset all the way up toSesachacha Pond, the shorewas lined with the tents ofTantalus s army.Orion andhis soldiers had been backedup onto the dunes, where theyhuddled on the high ground, ridiculously outnumbered.Helen could hear Lucaswhispering to himself, like hewas memorizing a list ofthings for later. Didn t we just leave? Helen gasped, incredulous.There were too many peopledown there, too many tents. How did this happen sofast? Hephaestus has enougharms stored under Mount Olympus to put a sword in thehands of every man, woman,and child in the world, Lucasreplied distractedly.Helenwatched his eyes skip around,and his lips move as hecounted tents under his breathand marked supply lines.Arrows started whizzingpast them.A few of thembounced off Helen, and Lucasinstinctively jerked her out oftheir path.They had been spotted by a phalanx ofMyrmidons, and more arrowsfollowed until the air wasthick with them. I m fine, she said,knocking a shower of arrowsaway from her face.Shetouched the gold heart shewore around her neck toremind Lucas that she worethe half of the cestus thatprotected her from weapons. It stings, but arrows can t kill me.Or you, either. Lucas watched as arrowsbounced off him, hisexpression blank.Helenlooked at his heart and saw adozen different emotionsswirling around inside of him. Are you angry with me? she asked pleadingly, placingher hand on his chest.Lucaslooked up at Helen, but hiseyes were so wild she had noidea what was going through his head. I know I made youmostly immortal without evenasking you first.But it s stillup to you.If you want to die,you still can whenever youwant.Not that you d want todie right now.But saysomeday in the future youknow, you still can. Lucas s face crumpled withconfusion.A flaming ball catapultedpast, barely missing them, but neither Helen nor Lucas paidit any mind [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]