The Goddess Test Boxed Set: Goddess Interrupted\The Goddess Inheritance\The Goddess Legacy (60 page)

This was his reality. He'd surrounded himself with death for
eons; why would witnessing it on the surface be any different from seeing the
dead in the Underworld? From ruling over them, judging their lives, choosing the
fates of those who couldn't choose for themselves?

In spite of reason, the way he stared at the ruins with silent
acceptance chilled me. I never wanted to look like that. I never wanted to feel
like death was no great loss, because for the family and friends and loved ones
the people of Athens had left behind, it was terrible.

I leaned against him, and the three of us stood there, linked
together. How could anyone who claimed to be capable of love do this?

Cronus wasn't mortal, though. He didn't understand the bonds of
humanity or the fear and impact of death. To him, he'd done nothing more than
brush away an anthill on a sidewalk, not realizing the ripples would be felt by
millions.

No, he knew. He knew exactly what he'd done. He simply didn't
care.

“Can we—can we get to the Parthenon from here?” I said. “Maybe
Cronus left something or—”

“There's nothing there but rubble and dust,” said James.

“I know, but—”

Henry squeezed my hand. “I will take you.”

Before I could protest, the world around the three of us
dissolved, and we landed in the middle of the ancient ruins. Above us, the sky
was a symphony of color, a stark contrast to the devastation below.

“Are you okay?” I said, watching Henry. He was pale, and a thin
sheen of sweat covered his forehead, but he nodded.

“I will live. Let us search for this clue.”

The tone of his voice made it obvious he was with James on this
one—that there was no way Cronus would've left any sort of sign for us, but we
had to try. I walked around the crumbling structure, searching for anything that
looked out of place. James and I had visited the Parthenon during my first
summer away from Henry, but I'd barely glanced at the details then, more
enamored with the view. Now I wished I'd paid more attention.

What was I looking for? The pillars looked the same. Despite
the destruction below, the council had been right: Cronus had left these ruins
alone. Why?

Maybe it really was just a sign. An offer of peace if they
stepped aside. But Walter had been adamant that Cronus would slaughter them all
regardless of their efforts against him. Was he wrong? Or was Cronus trying to
lure the others into inaction?

I kicked a bit of dirt. No way of knowing without asking, and
the likelihood of Cronus telling me the whole truth was minuscule. Except—

I squinted. The floor hadn't been made of dirt the last time
I'd been here. Kneeling down, I brushed it away, revealing the worn stone
underneath. My heart sank. Just debris from the tidal wave then. But that didn't
make any sense. How would that have gotten up here?

“Is there a way to clear all of this dirt out of here?” I said,
and a few feet away, James waved his hand. A gentle wind swirled across the
ground, revealing the floor below—along with a series of drawings etched into
the stone. There was no way a human had done them. They were too intricate, too
sophisticated, too impossible. The images seemed to warp the very stone, as if
those things really existed within it.

“What the hell is that?” said James. He and Henry stepped back,
and I rose. These hadn't been here last time either.

On the ground, it was impossible to see them all as they
stretched across the Parthenon. Instead I focused on the one nearest my feet: a
drawing of fifteen thrones, all consumed by fire. Even though the lines didn't
move, it was easy to see the flicker of the flames.

My pulse raced, and I hurried over to another. A massive figure
hovering over a crack in the earth as a dozen tiny figures fought it.

Cronus, escaping from the Underworld.

“It's his version of history,” I said, stunned. “Not just
history, but his plans for the future, too.”

Slowly Henry, James and I walked around the ruins, examining
each picture. Some were of a time long before I was born—some before the birth
of humanity—and Henry and James quietly explained them to me. But others I
recognized. The drawing of a gate in Tartarus made me shiver, and I turned away.
Each bar had a bloody handprint on it.

“Kate?” said Henry. “Come see this.”

I moved to his side and slid my hand in the crook of his elbow.
“What's—”

I stopped short. Below my feet, an etching of Cronus stared up
at me, and he wasn't alone. Standing beside him, holding on to him as I held on
to Henry now, was a girl wearing a crown.

Not just a girl.

Me.

That girl was me.

Chapter 8

Queen

Silence. I held my breath, waiting for Henry to say
something, but he didn't. He didn't blink, he didn't move, he didn't look away
from the image. He just stared, and the same black waves of power that appeared
in the airport began to gather.

Terrific. There went any chance I had of stopping Henry from
riding his cloud of doom back to Cronus's island.

James sauntered over and let out a low whistle. “Nice. Cronus
really captured your essence. And look at that tiara.”

I elbowed him. “It isn't me.”

“Who else would it be? I mean, look at her—the nose is a bit
off, but other than that, it's perfect.”

“It isn't me,” I said stubbornly, giving him a look. We both
knew it was a lie, but Henry couldn't find out about the deal I'd made.
“Calliope's been shifting her appearance, and she looked exactly like an older
blond version of me. You can't tell what color hair this girl has, but that is
definitely her nose.”

James held my stare for a long moment, and finally he refocused
on the picture. “You're right,” he said. “It must be Calliope.”

I wanted to hug him for lying and smack him for doing it so
badly. Instead I settled on a smile and wrapped my arm around Henry's waist.
“See? It's Cronus and Calliope. Nothing else makes sense anyway.”

Henry exhaled, as if he'd been holding his breath this entire
time. Maybe he had. “Of course,” he murmured. “My mistake.”

Henry wasn't stupid, but I hadn't lied—Calliope did look a lot
more like me and my mother these days. With luck, that would cover my lies long
enough for Henry to recover. And by then, maybe his involvement would be enough
for the council to take Calliope down and recapture Cronus, after all.

I couldn't stomach staring at that image any longer, and I drew
Henry and James over to the edge of the Parthenon. Together we gazed down at the
devastation once more, but this time Henry's grip felt like steel. He wasn't
letting go for anything, and neither was I.

I didn't know how long we stood there. Minutes. Hours. Years. I
was lost in forever, waiting for something to happen to remind me that there was
still a world out there, a place to fight for even though Athens was gone, and a
future beyond the one Cronus wanted for me. It wasn't hopeless, not yet, and I
couldn't afford to forget that. The ocean grew surlier, whitecaps forming and
waves raging against the shore, and something streaked across the sky.

I blinked. “What was that?”

“What was what?” said James, and another spark sped across the
purple horizon.

“That,” I said as another followed, and another. “Rescue
flares?”

“No,” said Henry. “It is dusk, and Olympus is overhead. The
council is attacking the island.”

My blood ran cold. I'd never seen the other members of the
council attack in their own realm. Down in the Underworld, their abilities had
been muted, but on the surface they must have been giving it their all.

At what cost? Who would be next? My mother was among them.
Would it be her?

I swallowed hard, and my vision blurred. The last time I'd
spoken to her, I'd been a selfish brat. I hadn't given her the chance to explain
why she'd kept the identity of my father secret. What if those were the last
words I ever said to her?

“I should help them,” said James, and he tried to let go of my
hand, but I held on.

“Be safe,” I said. “And make sure my mother comes home.”

He kissed my cheek. “Always. I'll see you in a few
minutes.”

A few minutes? James started toward the center of the
Parthenon, and several feet away, he began to glow. Before I could utter a word
of surprise, he, too, turned into a blaze of light, and he took off after
them.

“Oh, my god,” I said as I followed his path across the sky. “I
had no idea we could do that.”

“They are most powerful when Olympus is nearby,” said Henry.
“As James said, the battle will not last long. Come. We must return to where it
is safe for you.”

“You, too,” I said firmly. He could pretend he was fine all he
wanted, but he wasn't fooling me. I could see the exhaustion in his eyes. He
wouldn't have a chance if Cronus discovered we were here, if he didn't know
already. “Can we still visit Olympus sometime, once you're healed?”

Henry gave me a puzzled look. “We are not returning to the
Underworld. We are going to Olympus. Cronus and Calliope believe me to be dead,
and we must encourage that belief.”

He was wrong; Cronus didn't think he was dead. He knew we were
going to find Rhea, and he had to realize that Rhea wouldn't refuse to help her
son.

Though what if he didn't? He knew nothing about a parent's bond
to a child. He cared about control and power, not affection and love. If I told
him Rhea had refused to help, would he believe me?

“All right,” I said. I would talk to James about it later.
Henry was too tired, and he needed rest, not a late night of planning how best
to screw with Cronus's head. He'd be all too willing to do it, too, after that
image of me beside Cronus. “I don't know how to get back to Olympus.”

“Lucky for you, I do,” said Henry with a faint smile. “Close
your eyes.”

I gazed out across the ruins of Athens one last time. I would
make this right. I couldn't give the people back their lives, but I would do
everything I could to make their stay in the Underworld a happy one.

Focusing on the streaks in the sky attacking the island prison,
I said a silent prayer that they came home safely. To whom, I didn't know. To
anyone who would listen. There had to be a way to stop Cronus's version of the
future from happening, and I would do everything I could to figure it out.

At last I closed my eyes, and Henry wrapped his arms around me.
A warm wind surrounded us, and my feet left the ground. This wasn't Henry's
usual disappearing-reappearing act, but it didn't matter. We were together, and
for one beautiful moment, we were flying.

* * *

I'd spent countless hours in hospitals, waiting for a
doctor to tell me how my mother was doing after her latest round of tests and
surgeries. Anxiety had become my closest companion during those years, and no
matter how many times I played the game, it never got any easier.

I'd never been able to read or make small talk with the others
waiting for news. Sometimes I'd filled in the empty spaces of coloring books
with cheap packs of crayons I'd found in the gift shops. Sometimes I'd stared at
a television, unable to focus on what was showing. It never seemed nearly as
important as what was happening to my mother.

Sometimes I had imagined I could feel everything she felt. I'd
imagined what she could see if she was awake. If not, I'd imagined what she'd
dreamed. And always, always, time had stood still while I waited for the
inevitable bad news.

I'd known I would lose her someday, but then came Henry. Then
came the seven tests. Then came the rest of my life. The moment I'd passed, the
moment I'd swallowed my pride enough to admit defeat, my mother had appeared in
all her immortal glory, and I'd thought it was the universe's way of promising I
would never lose her again.

That promise was a lie.

Henry eased down onto his black-diamond throne in the vast room
inside Olympus, and without saying a word, I curled up in his lap. He kissed me,
the sort of warm, soft kiss that normally washed away every worry I had, but not
today.

We waited. He ran his fingers through my hair, toying with the
ends, and I stared at the center of the throne room. The faint sounds of battle
filtered in from the world below us, and the clouds on the sunset floor swirled,
as if they, too, could sense the world's discontent.

It never ceased to amaze me how quickly a few minutes with my
mother could pass. When I knew I might never see her again, however, those few
minutes turned into hours, and my entire world narrowed until all I could think
of was her.

“Tell me about him,” whispered Henry, his voice muted as if he
were half a world away.

“Milo?” I said.

“Yes.” He threaded his fingers through mine. “What's he
like?”

He was trying to distract me, and my heart swelled with
gratitude. “James taught me how to show you. Do you feel up for it now?”

The smile on his face was worth every drop of guilt I felt for
caring about something other than my mother right now. “Yes. I would love
that.”

“And—and you're sure Cronus won't be able to see you?”

He brushed my knuckles with the pad of his thumb. “I'll make
sure of it.”

Pulling Henry into my vision of the nursery felt like dragging
him through quicksand, exactly like it had with James, but I was almost too
distracted to notice. I had no idea what I was going to say to Cronus. Would I
let him keep up his ruse? Or had I already given myself away with James? And
what about Henry? What if Cronus said something that gave my lie at the
Parthenon away? But I needed Henry to meet Milo. I needed him to see our son for
more than a fraction of a—

Something tugged me sharply back to Olympus. Lost in the middle
of that quicksand, I had no choice but to return to the throne room, once again
feeling as if I were surfacing after a long swim. I opened my mouth to complain,
sure it was James again, but my mother pulled me into an embrace before I could
utter a word.

“Kate.” Her voice surrounded me, soothing away my frustration.
Her skin was cold, but she was alive.

Fighting tears, I hugged her as tightly as I dared. Her body
felt as delicate as it had during the last days of her mortal life. “I'm
sorry—I'm so sorry, Mom. What I said before, I didn't mean—”

“I know,” she whispered. “It's all right. I'm just relieved
you're safe.”

I could've held on to her forever, waiting for her to warm up
again, but she pulled away. Behind her the others gathered, all the worse for
wear, but no one was bleeding.

“I told you not to go to her,” said my mother, and it took me a
moment to realize she was talking to Henry. “You shouldn't have gone anywhere in
your condition.”

Henry grimaced, and he set his hand on my back, as if he
couldn't go a moment without touching me. I wasn't about to complain. “You would
have been just as angry if I had not,” he said.

“Likely so,” admitted my mother, and she kissed us both on the
forehead. “Thank you for taking care of her.”

“Hey, what about me?” said James, and she moved aside so he
could join us. “I did most of the work.”

“You insisted on dropping off in New York City instead of
Africa, like I told you to do,” said my mother sternly. “You could have had her
back days ago.”

James shrugged sheepishly. “Yeah, well. Henry was stable, and
it isn't a trip if there's no traveling involved, you know.”

“Do not pretend it was anything more than you wanting to spend
more time with her,” said Henry.

James grinned. “Can you blame me? She's the only one of you who
bothers with me for more than a few minutes at a time.”

“I wonder why that is,” said my mother, nudging him with her
hip, and he smirked.

Behind them, someone cleared their throat, and my mother's
smile faded. Walter stepped forward. “Brother,” he said to Henry. “Welcome back.
You are well?”

Something flickered in Henry's eyes, as if he were making a
decision. No real question what that was—the last time they'd spoken, it'd been
an argument over me. But I was safe now, and there were more important things to
worry about. Like rescuing Milo.

Be angry with him after the war,
I
thought, pushing it toward Henry.
The council is fractured
enough as it is.

Henry's eyebrow quirked, and though he didn't look at me, his
shoulders relaxed. At last he addressed his brother. “I will be well soon
enough. How was the battle?”

“It was what it was,” said Walter, exhaling. Even he couldn't
hide his relief at Henry's apparent forgiveness. “Tomorrow we will attack again,
and we will continue to do so until we have made the progress necessary to allow
for a winning strategy. James told us of your discovery at the Parthenon.
Perhaps that will give us clues as to Cronus's plan.”

“Perhaps,” said Henry. Walter eyed him as if he was sizing him
up, and I automatically shifted in an attempt to protect Henry from that
calculating stare.

“And you, brother,” said Walter. “Will you be joining us as
soon as you are well?”

“As I am outside my realm, I cannot imagine that my
contribution will be any great thing. But yes,” he said quietly. “I will join
you.”

“Me, too,” I said, and before anyone could protest, I added, “I
have a right to fight for my family. While Henry's recovering, he can teach
me.”

“No.” Henry's voice was little more than a whisper in my ear.
“I will not have you fight in this war.”

Once again, we were back to this, to Henry insisting I couldn't
take care of myself. To the entire council refusing to accept that I might be
able to help them, if only a little. Maybe a little would be enough to change
the tide, yet they refused to consider the possibility. Hadn't I just proven I
wasn't completely incompetent? I'd been the one to suggest going to the
Parthenon in the first place. I'd been the one to discover the etchings. I
didn't know how to fight like them yet, but I could learn. And in the meantime,
I could do a hell of a lot more than sit around and twirl my hair.