development. She turned to Lucas and dropped her disguise.
He gasped.
?You are all of the women,? Lucas said, remembering what Cassandra
had seen. ?Helen, this is the woman that?s been attacking
you, this isn?t her real face . . .?
?I know. I even know that she was the one who hurt Kate in the
alley,? Helen said, swallowing painfully. ?I thought it was me?that
I had shocked Kate by accident.?
?Helen, you aren?t to blame,? Daphne said, sounding almost annoyed
at the idea.
?She was trying to kidnap me to get me away from your family
before you found out who I really was,? Helen continued, ignoring
Daphne. ?She knew I wouldn?t trust her, and that she would literally
have to tie me down to get me to listen to her. So that?s what
she did. But this is my true mother, and this is her true face, Lucas.
It?s our face.?
?It?s not possible,? Lucas said, looking from Helen to Daphne and
back again. ?No Scion resembles another this closely.?
?The bearers of the cestus always look like the first Scion to ever
posses it,? Daphne said.
?Helen of Troy,? Lucas said quietly.
Helen nodded, then clarified while looking at her mother. ?Aphrodite
and Helen were half sisters, and they loved each other very
much. When the siege of Troy began, Aphrodite gave Helen the
cestus to protect her. Since then, it?s been passed from mother to
daughter, along with the Face.?
?The Face?? Lucas asked.
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?That Launched a Thousand Ships,? Daphne said, repeating the
title automatically. ?It?s our curse.?