by Unknown
brother. You never loved him, and he could never have loved you.
Her words were harsh, but doubt was beginning to creep into her
tone. Ajax was too good, he was too pure. . . .
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And too noble, and tender, and generous, and brave, Daphne
said, raising her voice to talk over Pandora. She was blinking repeatedly
as her eyes squeezed at dry tear ducts and came up with
nothing. Her body was crying, but the moisture was missing, and
somehow that made it hurt more than it usually did. Since Ajax
left the world nineteen years ago, there has been no good in it for
me, Daphne whispered.
What about Helen? Shes good. And shes at least a part of
Ajax. . . Pandora trailed off when Daphnes eyes begin to drill into
hers.
Helens birthday was yesterdayher seventeenth birthday,
Pandora whispered in shock. But why? Why would you want to
make her think that Lucas is her cousin. . .
Pandora looked away, shaking her head with grief. She couldnt
understand how Daphne, how any mother, could hurt her own
daughter like that. But they had run out of time. Creon was coming
up the beach, behind Pandoras back. Daphne had tried to win her
over, had honestly hoped to spare her, but there had never been a
real chance for that. Daphne could only pray that Ajax would forgive
her in the Underworld.
Thats right, Pandora, Helen isnt his child. I have nothing of
Ajax, and so I have nothing in this world thats of any value to me.
Even you, the baby sister he loved so much, the one he made me
promise to protect, even you have been polluted beyond hope. You
know, it would kill Ajax to see you like this.
Dont you dare tell me what my brother would feel! Pandora
screeched as something snapped inside of her, just as Daphne
knew it would. She dove for Daphne, her fingers hooked into claws,
trying to scratch her eyes out. Daphne rolled under Pandora, protecting
herself as well as she could while shackled. She knew she
only needed to defend herself for a moment.
Dont touch her, she could have more bolts! Creon yelled as he
caught Pandora from behind and hauled her off of Daphne.
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Daphne turned away from Creon and Pandora as they struggled.
Covering her face with her arms, she adopted short, dark hair and
pretended to cower.
He would never have fallen in love with her! Pandora
screamed, lost in her grief as she struggled with Creon. He would
have despised her just like I do, I know it!
Pandora strained against Creons strong arms, but Creon followed
every motion of her desperate attempt to break free. Daphne
couldnt have asked for a better distraction.
Dont let her confuse you, cousin! She is one of Aphrodites
chosen, and you dont have to be a man to feel her influence. She
can twist anyones heart with a look, he said as he finally managed
to drag Pandora away.
He led her down the beach and away from the valuable capture,
talking to her the entire time. They moved just far enough away
that Daphne could be sure they didnt see her make the full transformation,
as she adopted Pandoras shape. Then she hit herself in
the eye and the mouth and started groaning.
Creon! Daphne-as-Pandora yelled out hoarsely. What are you
doing? Get away from her. Thats Daphne! She tricked us! Dont
listen to her!
Daphne screamed and howled until she saw Creon waver and
then grab Pandora harshly by the arm and haul her back to where
Daphne was staked to the ground.
When we were rolling around on the ground! Daphne sobbed,
pointing a finger at Pandora and using the influence of the cestus.
She got out of the shackles and put me in them. Shes so strongI
had no idea!
Shes lying, Pandora stammered. She tried to pull her wrist out
of Creons grasp, but he didnt let go. She glanced from Creon to
Daphne, so shocked she didnt know what to do.
Dont believe a word she says! Daphne said, her eyes locking
with Creons as she folded up his will like a piece of tissue paper
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and tucked it into one of the back pockets of his mind. She wants
to be taken to your father, but she wants to be taken to him as Pandora
so she can get close enough to kill him! Shes been planning
this from the start and I played right into her hands! Im so sorry,
cousin. I had no idea how cunning she was!
Creon stared at Pandora with perfect hate. He wrenched her arm
in its socket and she fell to her knees, screaming. With blank eyes
he drew a small bronze blade from his belt and slit Pandoras neck
so deeply he nearly cut off her head. She was dead before her blood
had a chance to soak into the sand.
Helen flew about fifty feet over Hector as he ran out the front door
of the Delos compound and began a circuit around the edge of the
island. It was dark, unbelievably dark, especially since most of the
island didnt have power back yet. It was also cold. Everyone on the
island would be inside, huddling around fires, or turning on their
emergency generators. The rest of the Delos family was certain that
Creon would take advantage of the fact that the streets were deserted
to move her mother off island. Cassandra was exhausted and
drawing a blank, so they were forced to guess as to how that would
be done. After a long discussion, the family was convinced that
Creon would leave by helicopter or private plane. Lucas was to fly
over Castor and Pallas while they covered the airport on the west
side of the island, and Ariadne was to watch the ferry landing in
the northwest, just in case Creon tried to sneak Daphne off by boat.
Hector did something unexpected. He chose to run around the
dark, deserted east-northeast shoreline, apparently on a fools
errand.
Of course, Helen immediately volunteered to fly over him. If
there was one thing she had learned in her few short weeks of
training, it was that Hector could get inside his opponents head
and figure out exactly what he or she would do next. No matter
how logical the Delos familys strategy was, Helen would bank on
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Hectors gut instincts about Creon over any carefully laid plan.
There had been a heated argument about whether or not Helen
should be allowed outside the compound at all, but in the end, no
one from the House of Thebes could deny the Heir her the right to
look for her mother, the Head of the House of Atreus. It also
helped that everyone thought Helen would just end up flying
around in the pitch black over Hector, safe and useless and on the
wrong side of the island.
Below her, Helen watched Hector plow into the waves a few
times. She stared at him, perplexed. Each time he would pause, fan
his hands out as he ran them through the water, and then bound
out again, looking thwarted. She knew he had a Scion talent that
had to
do with the water, and from the way he seemed to be testing
the waves, almost communicating with them, Helen guessed that
he was looking for something out in the dark ocean. She suddenly
realized why Hector had chosen this gods-forsaken routehe was
looking for something in the water, probably a boat offshore. Why
bother with airport records or ferry manifests when you were on an
island? In the dark of night all you needed was a rowboat and a
small ship of some kind anchored in deeper waters and you could
move on and off the continent without having to declare anything
to the authorities. You could even move a kidnapped woman.
Helens heart turned over and she started to scan the black water
frantically for any hint of a boat. She couldnt stop picturing the
animal look Creon had in his eyes as he brought his dagger down
over her heart. Helen didnt love her mothershe barely knew
herbut she wouldnt wish the terror that she had felt in that moment
on anyone. There was an evil inside Creon, and Helen suspected
she had only seen a tiny fraction of what he was capable of
in their one brief struggle.
Hectors shape suddenly darted forward, urged on by a huge
burst of speed. Helens eyes werent as keen in low light as Hectors
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and she had to squint to see what he had seen, but when she did,
she faltered and nearly fell out of the sky.
There were dark shapes on the beach. There was no fire, no flashlights
to illuminate the scene so it was hard to tell how many
people were there. Helen sped up, overtaking Hector from the air,
and watched helplessly as a woman was brought to her knees by a
big man. Helen heard the woman scream, and suddenly the scream
was silenced with a gurgle. Flying faster than ever before, Helen
swooped down and got close enough to see Pandora fall lifeless
onto the sand at Creons feet, and another Pandora, chained and
staked to the ground behind them, shimmer and shift into
Daphnes form.
A second later, a bestial roar erupted out of Hector as he saw the
body lying in the sand. His whole frame shook with unnatural rage
and pain, and Helen knew the Furies had possessed him. Still far
away, Hector bounded across the wet sand, his eyes locked on
Creon, as Creon turned and stared at Daphne. Creon clutched the
bloody knife he held in his hand and advanced with murderous
purpose toward Daphne.
Get back! Helen yelled at Creon as she thumped down into the
sand next to her chained mother.
Helens hands glowed icy blue with the light of a gathering bolt.
Knowing he was outnumbered and outgunned, Creon immediately
turned and ran inland. Just seconds away from reaching his target,
Hector snarled and changed direction, chasing after Creon.
Hector, wait! Dont go after him alone! Helen called after him,
unable to leave her bound and wounded mother behind. But Hector
didnt listen to her. Helen saw the two of them sprint away, so
similar in looks they could be twins, and for all the world, it looked
to her like Hector was chasing a shadowy version of himself.
Helen turned back to Daphne and ripped the chains off the
shackles with her bare hands.
What did you do, Mother? she asked through gritted teeth.
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Not this! Daphne said breathlessly as she gestured to Pandoras
body.
I saw you in Pandoras shape from the air! Helen yelled, raking
her hands through her hair and starting to pace with frustration.
I did that to confuse CreonI had no idea he would kill her!
And you didnt use the cestus to influence him? Helen asked
skeptically.
I never influenced him to kill! Daphne asserted vehemently as
she got up off her knees and faced Helen. I was just trying to buy
some time, stall for as long as I could. I never thought hed do
this!
Okay. Whatever, Helen said, suddenly done with the conversation.
She took her jacket off and put it over the gruesome
corpsePandoras corpseHelen thought in grief before she
turned back to her mother. Are you badly injured? she asked.
Ill be fine. You need to go stop Hector, Daphne said as she
changed gears seamlessly. Go. Ill take Pandora back to her family.
Then Ill find you.
Helen nodded at her mother, knowing there was more to the
story, but that would have to wait. She jumped into the air and
headed west, staying low to the ground so she didnt miss Hector
and Creon as they ran through the unbelievably dark interior of the
island. Her eyes couldnt manipulate light the way the eyes of the
Children of Apollo could; out here she was the one at a disadvantage.
She wished Lucas was with her. He would be able to see perfectly
even in the dark of the moors. He would also know where to
look because he was a better strategist. Most of all, she just wished
he was with her so that she wouldnt have to face Hector and Creon
alone.
Putting that thought aside, she flew from one end of the island to
the other, but she didnt see them anywhere. She backtracked,
knowing that her adversary wasnt stupid enough to keep running
until he fell into the ocean. Creon was trapped on the island, unless
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he was trying to get to someplace where he could get off of it.
Helen took a sharp turn and flew north toward the ferry.
It was late, too late to catch the last ferry, but maybe Creon didnt
know that. In a second, Helen was approaching the more populated
area by the town center, and she had to either fly up high to
avoid being seen or touch down and run the rest of the way. She
decided to land while she still knew she could do so without being
spotted. She started to trot toward the ferry, looking and listening
as she went. As she passed India Street, she heard the slaps and
thuds of what sounded like a massive hand-to-hand fight. Her feet
pounded against the pavement as she ran up the middle of the
road toward the sounds, already knowing where she was going,
where the Fates would have arranged this. The Nantucket
Atheneum.
Helen rounded a corner and saw that a dark pall erased the entire
end of the street. Even in a dark room its possible to sense
other things around you, but Creons shadows were so complete
they robbed Helen of more than just her vision; they uprooted her,
tilting all of her other senses off balance as well. Looking at the
thing he created, Helen understood why Creon was called a Shadow
Master. He did more than simply take away the light; he made
that same thing that lurks under the basement stairs or at the back
of the closetthat full darkness that your brain believes is stuffed
with serial killers and monsters. Helen had to swallow down a
scream just looking at it.
Somewhere inside that terrifying black hole, she could hear
Creon and Hector hammering away at each other in a blind rage.
Helen was at a loss. She was so scared o
f the disorienting nothingness
that Creon had created she couldnt force her feet to run into
it. She screamed Hectors name and scrunched her fists up in frustration,
and as she did so her hands began to glow with the stark
blue-white glow of electricity. Then something occurred to her.
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When she was fighting for her life against Creon in her foyer, her
spark had thrown back the gloom so she could see him. Even
though he could control other kinds of light, her lightning had to
be different somehow. Acting immediately, Helen held out her
hands and summoned a bright spark to dance between her palms.
She lit up the whole scene in front of her.
Hector was on his back and Creon was over him, beating his head
repeatedly into the marble steps of the library. The blue glow
snapped and hummed with increasing intensity around Helens
hands, and Hector turned his swollen eyes toward her bright light.
He smiled. Freed from Creons disorienting shadows, Hector was
able to struggle out from under his cousins grip and he stood to
face him.
They came at each other before Helen could take another step.
Clashing together, Creon and Hector ground each others faces into
the marble steps. They threw each other into the Doric columns,
and yanked at one anothers skin and bones, each of them trying to
pull the other apart. Helen began running, yelling at them to stop,
but she was too late. While she was still half a block away, Hector
managed to get behind Creon. With one cracking yank, he broke
Creons neck.
Helen stopped running and froze in the middle of the street, her
mouth hanging open as Creons lifeless body tumbled down the
steps. Hector looked down at the body, and then up at Helen, momentarily
free of the Furies and in complete possession of his own
passion. For a split second, Helen knew that Hector understood
what he had done, and that what he had done was unthinkable. He
had killed his own cousin.
A dark comet fell out of the sky and plowed into Hectors distracted
body, knocking him through three columns and cracking the
very foundation of the faux temple.
Lucas, stop! Helen screamed, her voice breaking painfully as
she cried out with all of her strength.
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Lucas couldnt hear her. The Furies had him. All he could hear
