The Goddess Test Boxed Set: Goddess Interrupted\The Goddess Inheritance\The Goddess Legacy (25 page)

I let go of her hand, and she walked away
to join the others. Henry led me to the archway, and as Walter spoke, I could
feel every eye on us. Henry and I repeated our simple vows, and in a voice with
such unshakable authority that the very stones of the manor seemed to quake,
Walter proclaimed us husband and wife.

Henry leaned forward to kiss me, and as he
did, heat started at my lips and ran through me, leaving coolness in its wake
that replaced the pain. By the time he pulled away, my body felt whole again,
healed and strong in a way it never had before. But that wasn't what
mattered; what mattered was the way he looked at me, as if this moment were the
happiest in his long life. And deep inside of me, I knew I would never be alone
again.

 

We spent our wedding night in my suite
playing card games and making every effort to avoid mentioning what would happen
the next day. It was my last night in Eden Manor for six months, and even though
I knew I would return, something about it felt final. Half a year was no time at
all for Henry, but for me, it stretched out in front of me, the end nowhere in
sight.

Married one day and gone the next. Somehow
it didn't seem fair. I could return early if I wanted, I knew that, but my
mother was adamant that I spend my first summer without Henry.

The next morning we had breakfast in bed,
me sitting cross-legged in my pajamas on one side and him on the other. I was
allowed to eat now that it was spring again, and even though I wasn't any
hungrier than usual, I attacked my pancakes with unusual vigor, making a mess of
myself in the process. Henry didn't seem to mind; every now and then he
leaned toward me and kissed the syrup off my lips, smirking when he saw me
blush.

Packing took no time at all, and much
sooner than I'd anticipated, I stood facing the majority of my new family
on the winding drive that led to the front gates. Once again Calliope was
missing, but it was James's empty spot that made my insides twist
unpleasantly.

One by one I hugged them goodbye, even
gruff Phillip, who smelled of horses and looked like he wanted to be anywhere
but witnessing this tear-filled display of sentimentality. Before I'd even
reached her, Ava was crying, and she threw her arms around me so tightly that I
thought she might never let go. “Oh, Kate—I'm going to miss
you!”

“I'm going to miss you,
too.” No matter what had passed
between us that
winter, I hoped her tears meant all was forgiven and that I would see her when I
came back in the fall. “One day you'll have to fill me in on
everything that happened when I wasn't looking.”

She nodded, too choked up to speak, and
with one last hug, we finally let go of each other.

My mother was next. She stood serenely in
the sunlight, looking as if she were glowing, and for a moment I was afraid to
touch her. She fixed that for me, gathering me up in a hug and giving me a wet
kiss on the cheek. “Have fun,” she said warmly, but there was a
glint in her eyes that made it clear she expected me to uphold our deal. I would
stay away for six months, but this was the only summer I'd let her boss me
around. “Go experience mortal life before it passes you by.”

I wasn't sure I'd ever be able
to enjoy mortal life again, knowing what was waiting for me in the autumn, but I
nodded. “Love you,” I said, suddenly as choked up as Ava. My mother
gazed at me, and for a long moment it felt as if we were the only two people in
the world. But as quickly as it had come, the feeling vanished, and then it was
Henry's turn.

I didn't know what to say, so instead
I wrapped my arms around him, and he embraced me. I was crying in earnest now,
making a mess of what little makeup Ava had talked me into that morning, but I
didn't care.

“Take care of Pogo, yeah?” I
said with a sniff, pulling away to wipe my eyes.

“Cerberus and I both promise to do
so,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine. “Kate…whatever is
waiting for you outside that gate, remember that the summer is yours to do with
what you please.” His voice was strained, but he seemed to make an
effort to push past it. “It is none of my business
what you decide to do with that time.”

“I know,” I said. “And I
also know that the way I feel about you isn't going to change just because
the seasons do. So if you don't mind too much, I'm going to stick to
the vows I made.” I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile.
“You can't get rid of me that easily.”

He managed to return it. “I cannot
tell you how relieved I am to hear that, but that still does not
change—”

“Henry,” I said firmly.
“Enough about that. You're stuck with me whether you like it or not,
so you might as well get used to it.”

He hesitated, but finally he gave in.
“Anytime you need me, I will be by your side. You have my word.”

I nodded, and he pressed his lips to my
forehead. It was such a chaste kiss that I wondered if he would give me a proper
goodbye or not. Probably not, I realized. Not with my mother watching.

“I will be waiting for you when you
return,” he said. “And I love you.”

This time I hadn't imagined or
dreamed it; he'd really said it, and not because of some test or bet or
obligation. Because he meant it. Something inside of me swelled, and I felt as
if I was going to burst. “Love you, too.”

With that, he braved the mess that was my
face and kissed me deeply. I tried to make it linger, but he pulled away, and I
knew it was time to go.

I trudged down the drive, glancing over my
shoulder every few seconds as I took my time. While Henry's presence
behind me pulled me back, knowing that I would have to leave before
I could see him again pushed me forward. This was my home
now, and nothing could keep me away forever.

When I reached the top of the gentle hill
that hid any view of the manor from the outside world, I turned and waved,
startled to see Henry was the only one still there. He raised his hand in
return, and I forced myself to continue forward.

The gate came into view and with it a sight
that made me stop in my tracks. Suddenly I understood exactly why Henry had been
so adamant about reminding me I could do what I wanted with my summers.

James leaned against the same car
he'd used to drive me to Eden Manor, and he wore the same humungous
headphones he'd had in September. The only thing that was different was
the lack of a smile on his face.

I slipped out from between the gates and
hesitated, not sure what to say. Wordlessly he stepped around to open my door
for me, and I thanked him, but he said nothing. It wasn't until we were
driving down the gravel road that I finally found the courage to talk, and even
then my voice came out as a squeak.

“I'm sorry,” I said, my
hands clasped together so tightly that my knuckles were white. “For
everything.”

“Don't be.” He turned the
corner and the hedge disappeared from view. “You did what you had to do,
and so did Henry. So did the council. I knew it was a long shot anyway after I
met you.”

I pressed my lips together, not knowing
what to say. I was sure he'd meant it as a compliment, but it didn't
help the guilt that gnawed at me incessantly. “You'll exist for a
long time, right? I mean, the world isn't going to end
tomorrow.”

“I don't know,” said
James, and for a moment I heard a hint of the boy who liked to build things with
fries. “With Calliope on the rampage, anything's
possible.”

Leaning back against my seat, I let myself
relax. At least he was still in there somewhere. “Where are we
going?”

“Someplace I think you should go
before you leave for the summer,” he said. When it was clear he
wasn't going to give me any more details, I resigned myself to looking out
the window and trying to think of something to say that wouldn't hurt so
much.

Henry had been telling the truth. What had
once been Main Street in Eden was now a dirt road surrounded by trees on either
side, and the spot where Eden High School had stood was nothing more than a
meadow. Even though I'd only been there for a few weeks, I felt a pang as
we drove by. There would be no going back, not to the life I'd known as a
mortal, and it was a loss I hadn't been prepared to deal with.

By the time we reached our destination,
we'd found civilization once more. It wasn't New York City, but it
wasn't all dirt and trees either. Several small buildings clustered
together to form a town near the hospital where my mother had stayed. I looked
around, trying to find something familiar, but there were only small factories
and churches and grocery stores.

James drove past a pair of wrought-iron
gates, and my eyes widened as I realized where we were. I could hear the gravel
on the road crunch underneath the tires, and he wound the car down the path
slowly, coming to a stop a quarter of a mile inside.

“Come on,” he said, opening the
door. “I want to show you something.”

I stepped out and stared at the cemetery
that surrounded us, the headstones and statues rising out of the brown grass.
Some of them were newer, the names clear and readable, while others we passed
were so old and worn that I could hardly make out any kind of engraving at all.
James kept his distance, shoving his hands in his pockets as if he were afraid
to touch me, and I trailed behind him, busying myself with avoiding the mud and
the melting snow.

He stopped in front of a fresh grave, one
that was so new that there was no tombstone. Just a temporary marker with a name
written in black marker. James stepped aside so I could see it, but there was no
need. I knew exactly where we were.

“Diana Winters,” I said softly,
running my shaking fingers over the letters that formed her name. “But I
thought she was—”

“Alive?” said James, and I
nodded. “As a deity, yes. But she took a mortal form to raise you, and
that mortal form died ten days ago.”

I was silent, wondering what he expected me
to say to that.

“She's still your
mother,” he said, “but you need to understand that things
won't be the same between you now, and things won't be the same
between you and Henry or you and the rest of the council either.”

I bristled at that. “Just like things
aren't the same between you and me?” I said, but instead of showing
any signs of anger or frustration, James shrugged.

“Somewhat different, given
you're closer to both of them, but yeah. Something like that.”

I crouched down next to the marker, running
my fingers
over it as I stared at the mound of dirt that
held my mother's human body. I wasn't sure what to
feel—sadness was unavoidable, but there was a jumble of other emotions I
didn't fully understand. Relief, maybe, that her battle had ended. Fear
for this new reality I faced and the truths I'd learned while she'd
been wasting away in a hospital bed.

But most of all I felt a hollow ache inside
of me, and it took me several seconds to realize I missed the life we'd
had before we'd come to Eden. Not the years of sickness and pain, but the
trips to Central Park. The Christmas trees. The days when I knew my best friend
was only a short walk down the hall. Those were over now, and a new existence
stretched out before me, blank except for the faces of Henry, my mother, and the
rest of the council.

“I know it's the end,” I
said, placing a hand on the raised dirt. “I've known that for a long
time.”

“No, it's not,” said
James, moving to stand beside me. “It's the beginning.”

We stayed there until the cold seeped into
my clothes and the fog clung to my hair, leaving me chilled and damp. I accepted
his hand as he helped me up, and I touched the marker one last time, proof of my
humanity and my brief existence in a world where all things died. At last, with
a heavy heart, I tore myself away.

“So what are you going to do during
the summer?” said James as we walked to the car. Even though it was an
obvious attempt to lighten the mood, it took me several moments to reply, my
mind too clouded with thoughts of my mother. I felt anchored to her grave, but
with each step I took, the
weight became a little easier to
bear. It would never go away completely, I knew that, but at least I was sure
that one day I would be able to accept it.

“I don't know,” I said,
and I stared at the muddy ground as I entertained the possibilities laid out
before me. I could go back to New York City, but there was nothing for me there.
I could stay in Eden with the trees, but I figured that would get boring after
the first month or so. “Maybe try some authentic Greek food. I've
never been to Greece, y'know.”

“Greece,” said James, and there
was emptiness in his voice that ate at me. “It's nice in the
summer.”

Tentatively I reached out to slip my arm
into his, and he didn't move away. “Do you want to come?”

His eyes widened. “Really?”

“Of course.” I grinned with
effort, but that didn't make it any less real. “I don't want
to go to Greece on my own, and I can't imagine a better tour guide than
one of my best friends.”

Slowly a smile spread across his face, but
there was a hint of distance in his eyes I couldn't completely ignore.
“I'd really like that.”

The gravel crunched underneath our feet as
we reached the car, and he opened the door for me, the silence between us now
comfortable instead of tense and ugly. I sat down and relaxed against the seat
as he slid behind the wheel. There was a lingering doubt in the back of my mind
as I smiled at him and saw that look in his eyes again, but I pushed it away.
Things weren't anywhere near perfect, but no matter what happened, at
least I had my friend back.