The Goddess Test Boxed Set: Goddess Interrupted\The Goddess Inheritance\The Goddess Legacy (65 page)

“Hi, baby,” I whispered, kneeling beside Ava. The blade of her
rocker sliced through my insubstantial thigh. “Look at you.”

His eyes were bright, his cheeks pink, and he waved his little
hands at me with more enthusiasm than before. He looked like a healthy
ten-day-old baby. Whatever Ava was giving him, it was working.

“Why does he look so much healthier?” I said to Cronus, and he
repeated the question.

Ava, who must not have realized that he was once again speaking
for me, shrugged. “Everyone knows that newborns need to be held, and not by a
walking void of emotion either. A little love does them wonders.”

And right now, she was the only one who could give that to him.
I bit the inside of my cheek and focused on Milo. He was so beautiful that it
hurt to look at him, but I couldn't tear myself away.

“Why did you attack those people?” I said to Cronus.

“For the same reason I attacked Athens,” he said. “To teach the
council a lesson.”

“And what lesson was that supposed to be?” I snapped. “The more
you hurt them, the less likely it is they'll agree to your truce.”

“We both know that will not happen,” said Cronus, and in the
rocker, Ava's brow furrowed with confusion.

“Stop it,” she said, her grip on Milo tightening. “She isn't
here.”

“Tell her that you lied yesterday,” I said. Ava was doing
something no one else could or would for Milo right now, and if Cronus said the
wrong thing, I couldn't risk Ava leaving the baby alone again. The last thing he
needed was to lose someone else who loved him.

Cronus sighed and said in an annoyed voice, “My words yesterday
were purely my own, not a reflection of what Kate expressed. My sincerest
apologies.”

Ava smirked triumphantly. “I knew it. You're scum.”

“So I have been told,” said Cronus with surprising ease. “My
dear Kate, the fact remains that we all know a truce will not happen, not while
Walter is in charge of the council.”

“It isn't in my power to convince them to overthrow Walter, and
even if I could, I wouldn't,” I said.

“Then you know the consequences,” said Cronus. “The time for
inaction is over. I have given the council long enough to surrender, and now
that they have chosen not to, I will do what I must to put them in their
place.”

My stomach dropped. “Please,” I said. “Give them a little more
time. Give
me
a little more time.”

“It will not make a difference. The winter solstice is in less
than three months. The council's bonds will no longer hold me then.”

“I know.”

“Then why did you come?” said Cronus. “Do not tell me it was
merely to see your son.”

I would've spent eternity locked in a room with Calliope if it
meant getting to spend five minutes with Milo. But I didn't say that, because
Cronus was right. He was always right. “You know why I'm here.”

His footsteps echoed behind me, growing closer until he knelt
beside me and snaked his arm around my waist. Ava pulled away from him. I didn't
blame her.

“Kate?” she said, her voice trembling as she searched the space
I was in. I ignored her. Now wasn't the time.

“I want to hear it from you,” said Cronus huskily, and despite
his lips lingering next to my ear, he no longer had any breath. Not warm, not
cold—nothing.

I tightened my hands into fists and focused on Milo's blue
eyes. Henry would understand. He had to. “I'm here to make a trade.”

“For real this time?” said Cronus.

“Yes,” I whispered. “For real.”

Chapter 11

Horizon

Cronus gave me seven days with Henry and my mother
before he would attack again.

It wasn't out of the kindness of his heart. I had no way of
reaching the island on my own yet, and I couldn't ask anyone to go with me.
Besides, the more people I involved, the bigger chance it had of getting back to
Henry.

So I had to learn how to get there myself. I could barely
travel across the room without Henry's help; learning how to cross half an ocean
in a week seemed impossible, but I had to.

As my mind returned to Olympus, I grew aware of two things:
first, I was crying. And second, Henry lay beside me, his eyes locked on
mine.

“Are you all right?” He brushed his thumb against my cheek,
catching a stray tear. The urge to tell him everything overwhelmed me, making it
hard to breathe, but I couldn't. This was for Milo. If one of us had to do it, I
was the best choice. Cronus had already issued Calliope an ultimatum not to hurt
me or Milo; Henry wouldn't have the same security, and he was too important, too
powerful, too needed to sacrifice himself. I would find a way back as soon as I
could. Maybe if I could learn how to travel properly, I would be able to take
Milo and escape. It wasn't much, but it was something, and I couldn't have Henry
risk himself in the meantime.

“I love you so much,” I said, closing the distance between us
and wrapping myself around him. “No matter what happens, no matter how this war
turns out—I love you, forever and always.”

Henry was quiet for a long moment, and I counted the seconds,
taking comfort in each breath he took. At last he lowered his lips to mine,
kissing me with aching tenderness.

“You are my life.” Though his words were barely a whisper, they
seemed to echo from somewhere deep within him, enveloping my body and infusing
me with something unshakable. “There is nothing I would not do to make you
happy. Before I met you, my world was a string of days that were gray and empty.
I had nothing to look forward to, and I cannot tell you what it was like, facing
down eternity alone. Every day I wished for you. Every day I held on in hopes
that eventually we would meet. And when I finally found you...”

He leaned in and kissed me again, as tenderly as before. His
hand slid underneath my shirt, splaying across my stomach, but the touch wasn't
sexual. It was as if he were trying to memorize me, just as I was trying to
memorize him.

“I have existed for more eons than I remember. I have seen the
sun rise and fall so many times that the days lost all meaning. For so long,
they passed me by in a blur. But that night we met by the river—the night you
gave up yourself in order to save a virtual stranger—my heart began to beat
again.”

He took my hand and pressed it against his chest, and there it
was—
thump thump,
thump
thump,
strong and beautiful. I would've given
anything to keep his heart beating. The black abyss that had become my world in
those hours I'd thought he was dead had faded, but it was a scar I would always
bear. I couldn't go back to that. Even if I had Milo, I would never have another
Henry.

“I see the sunrise now,” he said. “Because of you, the days
have color. Eternity has meaning once more. You found every broken piece of me
and put me back together, even though I hurt you too many times for me to
deserve it. You are the glue that holds me together. If I lose you, it will be
the end of me.”

A knot formed in my throat. “You'll never lose me,” I said, my
voice breaking.

“Promise.” His gaze searched mine as he ran his fingertip up my
spine.

“I promise.” I closed the minuscule gap between us once more,
capturing his lips and trying to show him how much I meant it. “I love you. I
love our family. I love our life together, and I can't wait for the day when
we're back home, just the three of us, and this whole war is over. I swear to
you that will happen. That
will
be our future.”

He cradled the back of my head, his palm searing against my
skin. “I have waited an eternity for this love. I'm not going to let anyone,
Titan or not, take it from us.”

“Promise?” I said, and this time it was Henry's turn to kiss
me.

“I promise.”

“Then do me a favor.”

“Anything.”

I shifted onto my back, rolling him with me. His body pressed
against mine in all the right places, and I lifted my head high enough to rest
my forehead against his. “Live this love now,” I whispered. “And never
stop.”

* * *

In those seven days, I spent every moment I could with
Henry. Walter ruled that despite him being mostly healed, Henry would remain in
Olympus until the last possible moment, to give the council the element of
surprise. Though Henry had a tendency to pace around mumbling things about his
brother that I was all too willing to agree with, it gave us more time
together.

When we weren't playing our new brand of tag throughout the
sun-drenched palace, we fought our way through the quicksand of my visions to
see Milo. Cronus was always there, a silent reminder of the little time I had
left with my family, but now Ava had become a permanent fixture, too.

The happier and healthier Milo became, the thinner and paler
Ava grew, as if she was pouring everything she had into him. Maybe she was.
Maybe she was the only thing keeping him alive. When I voiced that to Henry
after returning to Olympus one day, however, he shook his head. “We are both
immortal, and so is Milo.”

“What?” I stopped in the middle of the abandoned throne room,
the only place we could go that didn't feel stuffy. The sun shone a little
brighter here, and the sunset at our feet seemed deeper, more real somehow. “But
I thought everyone had to take the tests.”

“Members of the council do,” said Henry. “Demigods attempting
to earn immortality usually have to prove themselves in some way. And royals
take the test, as well. If Walter chooses to take another queen, regardless of
her mortality, she will have to pass the same tests you did to earn her
position. If Milo ever replaced me as King of the Underworld—”

“Why would he?”

“Just hypothetically,” said Henry, and his fingers danced down
the curve of my back. “If he replaced me, he would have to take the test,
too.”

It wasn't just hypothetically, though. Was he planning the same
thing I was—to sacrifice himself to get Milo back somehow?

No, he wouldn't do that to me, not after everything we'd been
through, which made doing it to him all the more difficult. I'd find a way back
to him though, no matter what it took. I rested my head against his shoulder.
The silver scar from Cronus's first attack poked out from underneath his collar,
and I traced it with a featherlight touch.

“Come,” he murmured. “I want to show you something.”

Before I could say a word, the now-familiar feeling of
disappearing washed over me, and the throne room faded. However, a similar room
replaced it, with sky that stretched out endlessly before us.

There was something different about this, though. Before it had
been easy to tell the difference between the ceiling and the floor, but in here
they blended together as if it were the real thing. Unless—

I blinked. It
was
the real
thing.

“I am not supposed to bring you here, or even be here myself,”
admitted Henry. “This is the balcony outside Walter's private quarters. It's the
pinnacle of his domain, and he is very protective of it. But there is nothing
more beautiful in the world, and I wanted you to see it.”

He led me to a glass railing, and I gazed out across the
infinite sky. Caught between day and dusk, the colors swirled as if they were
liquid, and flames seemed to dance in the clouds. “This is incredible,” I said,
stunned.

We stood there for a long moment, and at last he wrapped his
arm around me, pulling me closer. “You can tell me anything, you know.”

“I know,” I said softly.

“Then tell me what has been bothering you.”

I focused on the horizon. I couldn't lie to him. I didn't want
to, and even if I tried, he would know. “We're in the middle of a war, and we're
both being used as pawns in ways we don't understand.”

“That is not atypical for my brother,” said Henry with a hint
of mirth.

“That's not what I mean. We're all on one big chessboard,
aren't we? Cronus is on one side and Walter's on the other, using everyone like
chess pieces. Except I'm not so much as a pawn on Walter's side.”

Henry opened his mouth, but I interrupted him before he had the
chance to speak.

“Don't tell me I'm wrong. We both know I'm not. I'm useless to
Walter. I've tried to give him information, act as an envoy, learn how to fight
so I can help everyone, but he isn't having it. Cronus though—he's moving me
around like I'm a damn king piece. One step at a time in any direction he wants,
but I can never venture too far on my own, because if I do, if he loses
me...”

“He will not lose the war if he loses you, if that is what you
are thinking.” Henry turned so he was facing me, and he held my stare. There was
something earnest and anxious in his eyes, as if he were desperate to make me
understand. “You are not a king piece to him. If you are anything at all, you
are a pawn. Something small and inoffensive, easily overlooked, nothing more
than fodder. If he gets you where he wants you though—so deep into enemy
territory that we don't even know you're there—then you will become more to him.
But only because of the role you play, not who you are. Despite the illusion of
whatever he is offering you, you will be nothing more than another piece of the
game to him. Do you understand?”

I took a deep breath and released it slowly. There was no good
solution to any of this. “Cronus wants me. Whatever ungodly reason he has for
it, whatever he thinks of me, having me means something to him. I can't ignore
that.”

“I'm not asking you to,” said Henry. “I'm asking you to think
of me, to think of Milo, and realize that you're no good to either of us if he
has you. You cannot trust a Titan.”

“Now you're starting to sound like Walter,” I mumbled.

“He has a point about Cronus. The only person who can stop him
from reneging on a deal is Rhea, and she's already made her position on this war
clear. In the meantime, it isn't worth the risk. Milo is safe. Ava's taking care
of him, and she will not let anything happen to him.”

“She already let something happen to him, though,” I said. “And
how do I know that the first chance she gets, she won't throw him into the
ocean?”

“If she does, then we ought to consider ourselves lucky,” said
Henry, pulling me into another hug. “Phillip would find him, and we would have
him back again.”

“But what if Calliope decides to kill Milo, after all? She has
the dagger. She has Cronus. She could do it. Cronus could do it if I refuse to
go to him—”

“If Cronus or Calliope threatens to kill our son, I will rip
them apart with my bare hands,” said Henry. “You are not alone in this fight,
Kate. Do not forget that. I have already failed you more times than I can count,
and I will not do it again.”

“You haven't—” The words caught in my throat. “You haven't
failed me.”

“You died on my watch,” he said. “And my feelings for
Persephone—”

“Ancient history. You haven't failed me, got it? And I'm not
going to let you storm in there on your own.”

He ran his fingers through my hair. “Nor will I allow you to do
so either. We are in this together no matter what happens. I will not make the
mistake of leaving you behind again. All I ask is that you do the same for me,
as well.”

Cold horror hit me. He knew. Somehow, someway, he knew what I
was planning, and instead of admitting it and forcibly stopping me, he was
trying to reason with me. He was giving me a choice.

But he'd also made the consequences of me making the wrong
decision painfully clear. If I ran off on my own to try to protect Milo and stop
this war, he would, too. And we both knew his attempts would be a hell of a lot
bloodier than mine.

I tilted my head upward to capture his lips, kissing him with
every ounce of passion and frustration and guilt inside me. He had to
understand. “I love you, and I will always be yours.”

“And I yours. We will have our future,” whispered Henry.
Despite everything that was happening around us, despite the wrenching choices
we both faced, I believed him completely.

On my last day before surrendering to Cronus, my mother tracked
me down. I'd been practicing for ages, and Henry had long since grown tired of
chasing me around Olympus. In spite of the hours I'd clocked disappearing and
reappearing in random places throughout the palace, I hadn't seen all of Olympus
yet. Now I never would, but it was a stupid regret to have, all things
considered.

“We need to talk,” said my mother as I reappeared in the throne
room.

“About what?” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. No use
giving her any reason to think I was up to something, and if anyone could figure
it out, it was my mother. Unless Henry had already told her.

“You've been anxious lately,” she said, and I swore
inwardly.

“We've all been on edge.”

She couldn't argue with that. Instead my mother pursed her
lips. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Yes. I wanted to crawl into her lap like I had when I was a kid
and admit every stupid thing I'd done and every idiotic thing I'd agreed to. I
wanted her to tell me that everything would be all right, and I didn't have to
worry anymore, because she would fix it.