“Noel,” Daedalus replied. He crossed his arms in an X over his chest and bowed respectfully, but it was clear they were not on good terms.
Lucas couldn’t breathe for a moment. He’d been told many times that he looked like he was from the House of Athens, but he had no idea that he looked so much like the man who had killed his grandfather.
“Welcome,” Noel said, barely meaning it. “I offer you my hospitality.”
“I’m honored,” Daedalus said, and entered. His eyes went directly to Lucas, and he smiled ruefully in recognition. Then his eyes darted past Lucas and hardened. “Hello, son,” he said, and for a confused moment Lucas wondered if Daedalus was speaking to him.
“Father,” Orion said formally.
Lucas turned to see Orion standing right behind him with a closed look on his face. He’d been so stunned by Daedalus’s appearance that he hadn’t noticed Orion and Hector joining them.
Daedalus strode forward, his gait proud and more than a little intimidating. He offered his hand to his son, and Orion shook it without smiling.
“You look strong,” Daedalus said, his eyes measuring up Orion.
“I am,” Orion replied tersely. Their eyes locked, and Daedalus was the first to look away.
Lucas had never heard Orion speak so coldly, but after the way his father had abandoned him, Lucas couldn’t blame him. If Daedalus noticed that Orion was being uncharacteristically harsh, he didn’t show it. He looked right past his angry son and at Hector.
“Ajax,” he said under his breath. For a moment his face looked regretful before it hardened again into a forbidding scowl.
“Come inside,” Noel said. “Boys, make a hole.”
A knee-jerk reaction to protect his turf welled up in Lucas. He didn’t want to let Daedalus through, and he could tell Hector and Orion felt the same way he did. They all stood their ground.
“Oh, will you just move?” Noel grumbled impatiently as she pushed past them. “It doesn’t matter that the Furies are gone—you all still act like a pack of wild dogs. Everybody’s got to sniff everybody else’s butt.”
Daedalus managed to crack a smile and followed Noel. Hector, Lucas, and Orion finally eased up and let him through.
“Awkward,” Hector said after Daedalus had pa
ssed.
“A regular ray of sunshine, isn’t he?” Orion said sarcastically, acting more like himself again. “Oh, and that’s his ‘happy face’ by the way.”
“Why didn’t you warn me I look so much like your dad?” Lucas asked, glaring at Orion.
“I thought you knew,” Orion replied, shrugging.
“I knew there was supposed to some sort of resemblance, but this is ridiculous. How the hell am I supposed to feel about this?”
“It’s no picnic for me, either. Every time I look at you I see my dad. The Fates like to mess with us, Luke. They make it so that we all look like the person it would be most ironic for us to look like.” Orion suddenly grinned. “Take Hector. He looks like someone everyone liked, but he sucks.”
“Thanks, buddy,” Hector replied brightly, like Orion had just given him a compliment. They all chuckled, and the tension dissipated a bit.
“Don’t let it rattle you,” Orion warned seriously, eyebrows lifted. “We’ve got other things to deal with tonight.”
“I won’t,” Lucas said firmly. “I know what I’m here for.” He knew Orion understood that he was talking about protecting Helen.
Helen could hear lots of unfamiliar voices downstairs as more and more Scions arrived for the meeting of the Houses. She could feel the mounting tension through the floor like the deep thrumming of a subwoofer. Helen’s new sensitivity to emotions left her wide open to everyone else’s turmoil. She didn’t know all the details of the war twenty years ago, but she was certain that there were plenty of old scores that still needed settling. One story down, a toxic mixture of hatred, love, and loss threatened to explode into violence at any moment. It felt to Helen like she was standing on top of a bomb.
Helen tugged nervously at her outfit. It was a bit fancier than she was used to. She’d always been a sales-rack kind of girl, but Daphne had brought her a designer getup, insisting that it would make her feel more confident. Instead, it made her more nervous. Helen was pretty sure the buttery-soft leather boots she wore were worth more than her entire wardrobe. She wondered where her mother got the money to pay for all the clothes, but decided she didn’t want to know. Daphne had no problem stealing priceless treasures from museums. Helen was pretty sure that department store security systems didn’t even show up on her radar.
For a moment Helen pictured her mother leaving a trail of mayhem behind her as she made her way from Newfoundland to Nantucket to get from Daedalus’s house to the meeting at the Deloses’—stolen cars, robbed stores, broken hearts piling up behind her as she traveled. Her mother had been back for an hour, and all Helen could think about was how many laws Daphne had broken since they last saw each other.
“Stop fidgeting,” Daphne said. She pulled the chain around Helen’s neck and fished out the heart necklace, laying the charm over Helen’s clothes. “The House of Atreus is descended from Zeus, so it’s the highest ranking. We join the group second to last,” Daphne said, coaching Helen. “Last, of course, is the Oracle.”
Helen pulled away from her mother, reaching for a hairbrush to hide the fact that she didn’t want to be touched by her. Daphne noticed, anyway.