“I hate that girl,” Lucas said with a wrinkled nose as they flew back, hand in hand, to his house.
“Everyone hates that girl. That’s why I can’t automatically do whatever you say, even if you are right. I’ve got my pride,” Helen said jokingly as they landed in his yard, but he didn’t laugh. She squeezed his hand. “What is it?”
“Pride is a really dangerous thing for Scions. We’re prone to it, and it’s usually our downfall. I know you were kidding, but be careful, okay?” he said gently.
“Oh, yeah. Hubris. Ancient Greece’s big no-no.” Helen nodded sagely. Lucas gave her a surprised look. “What? I’ve been doing my mythology homework. Actually, I guess it’s my history homework, isn’t it?”
“It is. Family history,” he said, and pulled her close to him.
They walked down to the fight cage with their arms around each other before separating. They changed into workout clothes and met back on the practice mat.
Helen was expecting there to be a little lingering tension between her and Lucas after his “slip” at Great Point, but if anything, that momentary loss of self-control only served to make him more focused on training. Usually, there was a moment or two when one or the other of them would become conscious of the intimate positions they pressed each other into as Helen tried to grasp the basics of jujitsu, but not that afternoon. Lucas was all business.
“I just realized, we’ve been fighting all day,” Helen said as she tried and failed to break out of his armbar for the tenth time. “And I don’t think I’ve wononce.”
“How long has it been?” he asked, suddenly curious about something she didn’t understand right away. He craned his head and looked at the clock on the wall, then back at Helen. “Do you have your bolts back yet?”
Helen connected to that strange sense at the bottom of her belly and felt a spark there. She nodded at Lucas, a bit surprised, and he grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet.
“Then let’s go try it out,” he said with a grin as he led her out of the gym.
“Wait,” Helen said uncertainly, stopping him with an outstretched hand. “My lightning almost killed you today.”
“Because you don’t know how to control it yet.” Lucas turned and cupped her shoulders in his hands. “You have to accept this. I know it freaks you out, but as harsh as it sounds, you’ve just got to get over it. This is who you are, Helen, and I’m not afraid of you, or your lightning. So you shouldn’t be, either.”
Helen looked up at Lucas. His eyes were so sure, so accepting.
“You know what?” she said, standing up straighter. “Iwantto learn how to control my lightning.”
“Yeah, you do!” he nearly shouted. When they got outside, they saw Hector’s truck pull up and the rest of the Delos siblings pile out.
“We’re going to test her bolts!” Lucas yelled toward them. Jason and Hector glanced at each other briefly with wide eyes. They both broke into a run.
“How long has it been?” Hector shouted, sprinting toward them, giddy as a schoolgirl.
“About an hour and forty-five minutes,” Lucas said. “She drank two gallons of water.”
“And I still feel a little thirsty,” Helen admitted.
“Well, get her some more water, Lucas!” Cassandra ordered as she and Ariadne caught up. “How is she supposed to make lightning bolts without hydrogen?”
“Right,” Lucas said distractedly. Jumping into the air, he flew to the house and back in about twenty seconds. “Why didn’t you tell me you were thirsty?” he asked Helen, handing her a large bottle still cold from the fridge.
“I didn’t know. I guess I should start paying better attention to that,” Helen mumbled to herself sheepishly.
“You have to pay attention to everything that makes you more powerful. And your bolts make you very powerful,” Hector said, a feline grin spreading across his face. Helen tipped the bottle back and drank deeply.
“That door was insane!” Jason exclaimed. Recalling it, he rubbed a hand across his face in that Delos gesture that Helen always noticed. “It was like you had taken an industrial-strength welder to it.”
“How many volts do you think you have stored right now?” Cassandra asked. They all entered the arena.
“No idea.” Helen shrugged. She felt for the charge and tried to gauge it, but she couldn’t describe it. “It’s a feeling, not a digital readout, Cass.”
“Oh, then wait!” Cassandra said, holding up her hands. “Maybe I can devise a way to measure it.”
“Cassie, geek out later! We’re all dying to see this right now,” Hector whined.
“All right, fine! Sorry, Helen. Whenever you’re ready,” she reluctantly allowed.
