“We’d share everything,” he said, shaking his head like Helen wasn’t understanding him. “And because of that, we’d be considered a married couple in the eyes of the gods, regardless of who took your virginity. I want a whole life with you, and because I want that, you would be my wife. I can’t even pretend I would settle for less.”
“You’re saying that it’s our commitment to each other that will define us to the gods, not a white dress or a ring?” Helen asked, already knowing the answer.
“Exactly,” he said. Then he suddenly laughed at a thought. “Also, it’d be kinda hard to be together if I was in prison.”
“What are you talking about?” Helen asked, suddenly alarmed. “Why would you go to prison?”
“For killing the guy that took your virginity,” he replied. “You I would forgive. But the guy? Dead man.”
Helen smirked at Lucas like she didn’t believe him, but she wisely decided not to question his sincerity.
“Then what’s the plan?” She sighed, resting back against him. “We can’t be together and we definitely can’t be apart.”
“We stick together and play by the rules until we can rewrite them. We’re going to find a way to make this work. I promise.”
“Isn’t that hubris?” she asked, raising her eyes to his. “Thinking we can beat the Fates?”
“I don’t care what it is anymore. I need to hope,” he responded before he allowed himself to kiss her.
Helen fell against him, and this time she was able to enjoy his mouth without the shock that came along with the unexpectedness of their first kiss. This time she could pay attention to him, feel him responding to her. Far sooner than Helen wanted, Lucas pulled back, pinched his eyes together like it hurt, and gently pushed her hands off of him.
“You have to stop,” he said, forcing himself to laugh, even if it was a shaky, watered-down laugh.
“Sorry. I don’t know what I’m doing yet,” Helen said through her tingling lips.
“Could have fooled me,” he mumbled as he took both of her hands and stood up, pulling her to her feet with him. “I think a little cold air will do us good.”
“Where to? Venice?” Helen asked with a cheeky grin.
“Sure. Because that’s exactly what you and I need—a more romantic setting,” he replied sarcastically. “Sorry, Sparky, but I’m taking you home to your father before I start a war.”
He leapt into the air and spun back to face her, holding out a hand like they were in an old movie and he was asking her to dance. She groaned at how gorgeous he was, then joined him with a smile, taking his hand and rolling her body over the playful eddies he carved into the wind for her.
Moments later, they were landing in Helen’s yard and strolling toward the door, hand in hand. Just as Helen was about to go inside the house, Lucas stopped her.
“You actually thought I didn’t know, didn’t you?” he asked her incredulously. “Happy birthday.”
“I totally forgot!” Helen exclaimed with a bemused smile.
“I didn’t,” he said, kissing her. He looked up at the brightly lit house, and they both listened briefly to an emergency weather report blaring away on the TV. “Your dad’s waiting for you. You’d better go in.”
“Yeah. Kate made me a cake,” Helen said. She grimaced, guilty over how she’d treated her family this past week.
“Tomorrow, first thing, I’ll be back to get you,” Lucas promised as he brushed his mouth lightly against hers. “Then we’ll go to my house and tell my family. Together.”
“Right. We still have to plead our case,” Helen said. Wrapped around each other, they kissed for a few more moments, stalling for time that the storm wouldn’t give them. Finally, Lucas pulled away. Glancing around at every shadow suspiciously, he told her to hurry into the house. It was dark out and he was unwilling to leave her unguarded for even a moment. Helen ran inside and closed the front door behind her, peering out the window in time to see Lucas fly away. She called out for her father as she walked into the family room.
“Jerry isn’t here, Helen,” said a woman’s voice behind her. Helen spun around, already calling up a bolt, but the woman grabbed her tightly by the wrists and shook her head.
“That won’t work on me,” she said. Electricity danced across her flawless face, making her long, blonde hair crackle and fluff, and circling the pupils of her warm brown eyes.
“Oh my god,” Helen said, looking at the heart-shaped charm that fell neatly into the groove at the base of her attacker’s throat.
The woman ripped off Helen’s identical necklace with one hand and jabbed a needle into her neck with the other. Helen felt her muscles go limp and refuse to follow her commands. The world faded into a pale gray haze, and even though she kept trying to see, her eyes could only chase the bright squiggles that tracked across the backs of her eyelids. She was losing consciousness so fast, Helen knew that she had to have been given a powerful drug, maybe even a lethal one. The last thing Helen felt was her attacker tenderly supporting her body as it swooned to the floor. Helen couldn’t see, couldn’t move, but for just one moment longer she could still hear.
“My sweet little girl,” the woman whispered, and then Helen experienced nothing, not even nightmares.
Lucas was only halfway home when the wind tried to throw him down to the ground and the sky started to flash with the first bolts of lightning. He landed immediately, and had to go the rest of the way on foot rather than get electrocuted or crushed. He wondered if Helen could fly through the lightning and if she would be able to control it so that he could fly with her in a storm if the situation ever arose. That would be beautiful, he thought as he walked through the garage and into the kitchen, flying through lightning-bright clouds.
