Goddess by Josephine Angelini Page B

hypno-voice, the word jangled out of tune inside Helen’s head.
    “Liar,” Helen declared, shaking her head once. Andy stared at her for a moment before continuing.
    “And half siren. Unfortunately,” she admitted reluctantly. It was obvious that Andy didn’t like to think that half of her was a creature who sang people to their doom.
    “So what are you three doing here?” Andy asked cautiously.
    “You know who, or rather what , attacked you last night, right?” Ariadne asked bluntly. Andy’s shoulders tensed with fear. She nodded. Ariadne softened her tone and went to stand by the side of Andy’s bed, her big, hazel eyes filling with compassion. “Then you know he’ll be back for you. We came to take you home with us, to our family, so we can protect you.”
    “You can’t protect me,” Andy said, her lovely voice faltering as tears threatened to break through her tough-girl act. “Not from a god. No Scion is strong enough to stop them.”
    Helen could feel Andy’s desperation, her absolute faith that eventually she was going to suffer and die at the hands of some supernatural brute. Just like Helen had been sure that Ares was going to kill her when he had her tied up in the cave. She remembered how Ares had abused her. How he’d reveled in her helplessness. Helen knew just by looking in her eyes that Andy had suffered something similar.
    Furious, Helen got hot all over, and the tiny hairs on her arms stood on end. The room filled with the icy-blue glare of lightning as it coursed over her skin in a flowing web of sparks.
    “Tell that to Ares. Oh, that’s right, you can’t. Because I beat the crap out of him and sent him to Tartarus,” Helen said. The sparks fell from her fingertips, bounced, and broke apart like glitter balls shattering silently as they skipped across the floor. She was aware that her voice had boomed a little bit when she spoke, but she couldn’t seem to contain herself. All she could think about was Hergie dying in a fire to save his beloved books. And it was all the gods’ fault.
    “Um . . . Len?” Claire interjected in a tiny voice.
    Helen noticed all three girls staring at her with open mouths, and snapped out of it. She shook the last of the sparks off her hands with a sheepish look on her face, cleared her throat, and tried to speak again.
    “Look, I’m going to be honest. We can’t promise you’ll be completely safe,” she said. “But we can promise that if Apollo comes for you, he’s going to have to fight all of us to take you. Now. Isn’t that better than lying here, waiting for him to bust in and carry you off like some helpless damsel in a Greek myth?”
    “Uh. Yeah,” Andy said, her eyes wide.
    Helen realized she was scaring the girl and forced a laugh. Glancing over at Claire, Helen caught a hint of fear in her best friend’s expression before she looked away.
     
    Once they managed to get Andy out of the hospital and through the parking garage, she was so wiped out that she fell asleep during the drive to Hyannis. Helen drove. Ariadne had worn herself out healing Andy’s broken leg before they had left the hospital, and then had done a little more healing during the drive while they cruised down Route 495. Her effort left her as pale and sickly looking as Andy by the time they boarded the ferry.
    Helen couldn’t help but think it was a good thing that neither Andy nor Ariadne had the strength to get out of the car. Even though it was nighttime and the darkness would have offered some cover, Andy’s injuries were still far too obvious for her to be roaming around. Helen and Claire left the two of them sacked out in the backseat and went to scrounge up some food for them all.
    “He really worked her over, didn’t he?” Claire said in a crackly voice as they made their way to the concession stand. Helen could only nod, her lips pinched together. She looked at Claire’s worried face and wished she could say something to comfort her, but came up with