?Matt needs a ride home,? Helen announced nervously. She tried
to keep her gaze away from Lucas, but her eyes kept jumping back
to him.
?I?ll take him,? Ariadne offered, immediately coming forward and
motioning for Helen and Matt to leave the room.
?What?s going on?? Helen mouthed to Ariadne, who took her
hand and led her away. When they were a few paces from the library,
Ariadne answered.
?We?re trying to figure out what Creon?s up to,? she said.
?Why was I excluded?? Helen asked, offended.
?Come on, Helen,? Ariadne replied with a chiding look on her
face. ?Lucas can?t bear to be in the same room with you right now,
364/395
and no offense, but he?s a much better soldier than you are. We
need him at the table and we need him focused.?
Matt shot her a confused look, but thankfully, he didn?t ask any
questions. It wouldn?t matter in a few hours, anyway. Helen would
/>
be gone and she would never see him or any of them again. Later,
she?d crawl into some strange bed in some strange state and then
she didn?t care if she ever got out of it or not. But she couldn?t let
herself think about that yet. First, she needed to make sure that the
people she loved were taken care of.
When they reached the kitchen, Ariadne grabbed her bag off the
back of one of the chairs and fished her keys out, looking around
like she had misplaced something. She looked out in the garage,
counted the cars, and then glanced back into the house, whispering,
?She?s back?? to herself. Before Helen could ask what was
wrong, Ariadne said good-bye and hurried Matt out to her car.
Helen waited a few moments for Ariadne?s little car to disappear