The Goddess Test Boxed Set: Goddess Interrupted\The Goddess Inheritance\The Goddess Legacy (68 page)

“I can't do this anymore.” Ava's voice broke, and she turned to
look each council member in the eye. When ours met, she winced, and I held her
stare.

“Can't do what anymore?” It wasn't my place to speak, but I
couldn't stop myself. “Can't assist a mass murderer in getting his way? Can't do
laundry for someone who steals innocent babies?”

Her lower lip trembled, and I scraped my nails against my
throne. I'd had to risk my life, my family,
everything
to earn a spot on the council, to prove I was worthy of
ruling over the Underworld with Henry. Yet they were allowed to hurt as many
people as they wanted so long as it meant they got their way. I was sick of
it.

“Please,” she begged, her hands shaking as she stepped toward
me, but the golden light wouldn't hold her, and she was forced to return to the
center. “Kate, I love you— Calliope made me— Please understand, I never wanted
any of this—”

“There comes a point in your life when you have to make a
choice,” I said. “You can keep going down the easy path no matter where it takes
you, everyone else be damned, or you can fight for what you believe in.”

“I
am
fighting!” she exploded. “I'm
doing this for Nicholas and Milo and Henry and all of you—don't you get that? Do
you think I wanted to walk away from my family like this? I have a son, too,
Kate. I know what it's like to love someone as much as you love Milo. Do you
think if I had any other choice—”

“Enough.” Walter's voice, low and anything but neutral now,
echoed through the throne room. “You have said your piece, daughter, and now you
must allow the council to—”

“Screw the council.” Ava didn't so much as look at her father,
and if she'd been more than an illusion, I had no doubt the room would have
crackled with power. As it was, no one dared to speak. Even Walter looked as if
she'd slapped him across the face.

“I want you to listen to me, Katherine Winters,” she said.
“Everything I have done, every word, every look, every betrayal, has been to
help our family. Doing the right thing doesn't always mean acting like a saint.
Sometimes it means getting your hands dirty and doing the thing you hate most so
other people might have an easier time of it. So other people might not
die.
”

“If that's your excuse, then how do you justify dragging Milo
into it?” I snapped.

“He was never supposed to be part of it. He was never supposed
to
exist.
”

“But he does. He's here, and now Calliope has Henry, too. All
because of
you.
”

The council remained silent, and not even my mother reacted. So
I'd been right. They all knew exactly what he'd planned to do, and none of them
had stopped him.

Ava took a deep breath. “I'm sorry,” she said in a measured
voice, and it was such a change from seconds before that it took me a moment to
understand she was sincere. Something ugly surfaced inside me. I didn't want her
to apologize. I wanted her to fight. “None of this should've happened. No matter
what stupid mistakes I've made...I'm sorry for those, Kate. I'm sorry to all of
you for leaving you. I never wanted to, but like I said, I didn't have a
choice—”

“Ava.” Walter's voice reverberated through the throne room.

“You've done enough, Daddy. It's my turn to talk now,” she said
with inhuman quietness. “I'm sorry for everything. I love you all, and I did
what I thought I had to do. But Henry's here to protect the baby now, and I
can't do anything more to help Nicholas.”

Around the circle, several council members glanced at
Nicholas's empty copper throne. “You are willing to abandon him, knowing it may
mean his death?” said Walter.

“I'm more of a danger to him if I stay and give Calliope the
chance to use him to keep controlling me,” said Ava. “He wants me to go, and the
only way I can help save him is to return to Olympus. Cronus has decided he's
going to escape the island on the winter solstice, and given what he's shown
himself to be capable of, I believe him. I want to help.”

In that moment, she didn't sound like the Ava I knew—the
selfish, simpering goddess of love who couldn't prioritize what others needed
before what she wanted. She sounded old. Haunted. Like the other members of the
council did when they were so deep into planning that they let their masks slip.
It was one more reminder of who and what they were—ancient. Powerful. Wiser than
I could ever imagine, but shortsighted and close-minded, as well. Cut off from
the real world, from the humanity they struggled to defend. Stubborn and as
passionate about protecting their own interests as they were about doing their
jobs.

That was Ava. Stubborn and passionate, and now lost to me as
completely as our father was.

“I am sorry, daughter,” said Walter, but he didn't sound very
sorry at all. “We cannot pretend to know Calliope's intentions, and we must act
cautiously. It is possible that Nicholas remains alive only because Calliope
believes he is the key to controlling you. If you abandon her, there is no
telling what she might do to him.”

A murmur rose from the other members of the council, but no one
objected. I didn't blame them. As much as it pained me to admit it, Walter was
right.

“You will remain with Calliope until given further
instructions,” said Walter. “You will carry on as normal, with no sabotage or
acts of ill will toward her. She must believe that your intentions are
pure.”

“But you haven't even discussed it!” cried Ava, and Walter
raised his hand, cutting her off.

“There is no need. Two of our own are now at the mercy of
Calliope and Cronus, and we cannot upset the balance until we are ready for a
fight. We will heed Cronus's deadline, though we already expected it. Any
further information you acquire will be useful to us, but do not give it at risk
of the prisoners.”

“I don't count as a prisoner?” she said, her eyes watering.
“Because I don't fight the way you do, I'm not worth saving?”

For a fraction of a second, Walter's expression softened. “My
dear, of course you are.”

“I've done everything you asked me to,” said Ava. “I've risked
my life, my integrity, my friends, all for false promises. Turns out you're just
as bad as Calliope is, Daddy. But at least she doesn't pretend to be something
she isn't.”

Stunned silence. Was she telling the truth? Had he really asked
her to do all of those things? Walter paled, but he didn't argue, and that alone
was an admission of guilt.

So it wasn't entirely Ava's fault, after all. She wasn't
blameless, not by a long shot, but she wasn't alone in this either. Henry had
been right. Walter had known I was pregnant. He'd known where I was and what was
happening. He'd known, and he hadn't done a damn thing to stop it.

And the things he'd made Ava do, knowing how it would affect
everything, knowing how the rest of the council would see her—how could he
possibly hurt his own daughter like that?

“I'll agree to return to Calliope under your terms as long as
you agree to fulfill one of mine,” said Ava. “I want to talk to Kate.
Alone.”

A murmur rose from the other members of the council, and my
eyebrows shot up.

“You know that is not possible,” said Walter. “It is draining
enough for us to maintain this method of communication without Calliope and
Henry.”

“Then she can come to me,” said Ava.

“Out of the question.” My mother's voice rose above the others,
and they fell silent. “I will not have her risk herself again. It is a miracle
she managed to get out of there in the first place.”

“I know how her visions work,” said Ava. “I know she can see me
and hear everything I say. I don't need her to talk back to me. I just need her
to listen. And I won't agree to your terms until Kate agrees to mine.”

Whatever she wanted to talk to me about, she couldn't say it in
front of the others. Which meant she thought she couldn't trust them—or at least
couldn't trust her father.

Something about Henry? About Milo? Had she found a way to
smuggle him to me somehow?

Hope surrounded me, so fragile and delicate that a single word
could have shattered it into pieces. It was possible, and because it was
possible, I would do it.

I nodded once, and Ava deflated, as if she'd used up everything
she had to make it to that moment. “Tomorrow at sunset,” she said. “In the
nursery. I trust you to be there.”

She had no way of knowing if I would be, but she was smart
enough to know that she had me hooked, and I wouldn't miss it.

“I love you,” she said, and this time it wasn't directed at any
one person. Instead the words whispered through the council, touching each of us
as they passed. “Goodbye for now.” The golden light in the sunset floor flashed,
and she was gone.

For nearly a minute, no one spoke. Not to talk about Ava, not
to ask James and me what had happened on the island, nothing. Finally Ella and
Theo rose. “We must return,” said Theo. “Thank you for including us,
Father.”

Walter nodded, and confusion washed over me. They weren't here
to fight? “What about the war?” I blurted. “I thought—”

“We are doing what we can on earth,” said Theo. “We've made
overtures to many of the minor gods, but not even Nike will support us, not
without Henry.”

“And the twins?” said Walter. “I thought you were making
headway with them.”

Ella frowned. “Lux was receptive until you turned down his
terms. Now they've disappeared again, and it was hard enough tracking them down
the first time around. I'm not going through that again.”

James's expression grew distant. “They're in Paris.”

“It doesn't matter now,” said Theo. “We can't force them to
help. Even the Fates have gone into hiding. Everyone's scared, and nothing we
say or do can smooth things over. They're convinced if they don't help us,
Cronus might spare them.”

“Fools,” muttered Walter. “Very well. Keep me updated as you
can.”

Theo and Ella nodded in unison. A split second before they
disappeared, her eyes met mine, and I swore I saw pity.

“Come,” said my mother, and we both stood. “You've had a long
day, and I'm afraid it isn't going to get any easier. You need to rest.”

“You, too,” I said, taking her hand. As we walked down the
hall, her shoulders slumped, and she paled with the effort it took to make it to
her room. I wrapped my arm securely around her. After all she and I had been
through together, after all we'd managed to survive, how long would it be before
Cronus took her from me, too?

Chapter 14

Chains of Fog

I told my mother everything that had happened in
Calliope's palace, and though she didn't confirm my fears, I knew I was right.
She'd known about Henry's plan—maybe she'd even helped him. And from the way she
kept touching my face, it was easy to tell she was glad it was him Calliope had
taken, not me.

“We'll figure it out,” she murmured as we curled up on her bed
together. “We've made it this far, after all.”

I wasn't sure who she meant. She and I? The council? Did it
even matter? This would end one way or the other, and no one, not even my
mother, could reassure me that everything would be okay. Not this time.

It took me ages to fall asleep, and when I did, I dreamed of
Henry whispering words I didn't understand. Dozens of questions swirled through
my restless mind, but that voice offered no answers. Why had he gone through
with this, knowing what it might mean? Had he done it purely to protect Milo?
I'd had it handled, more or less—I hadn't anticipated Calliope interrupting, but
Henry couldn't have possibly known she would either.

He should've stayed behind. He would've been much more useful
as a weapon Cronus and Calliope didn't know about. He might've been the weight
that tipped the balance away from them and toward the council instead, and he'd
given that up to turn himself over to Calliope.

I wanted to be mad. I wanted to be furious, to rip the room
apart until there was nothing left. It wouldn't accomplish anything though, and
the best I could do was exactly what James had asked of me: to focus my efforts
on thinking of something that the council hadn't.

Right. Wasn't pride the very thing that had nearly lost me
Henry and my mother and immortality in the first place?

But the members of the council weren't exactly angels either.
They could do whatever they damn well pleased, and if they could cheat, so could
I. Pride it was then, along with a side of wrath for good measure. If there was
a way out of this, I would find it.

After a restless night and an even more fitful day, the sun set
on Greece, and at last it was time. As the council disappeared from the throne
room to battle against an enemy they no longer had a prayer of defeating, I
closed my eyes and slid into my vision.

Ava was waiting for me in the nursery, exactly where she'd said
she would be. Milo wasn't in his crib, though. Ava's arms were empty, and Cronus
wasn't standing in the shadows rocking him either. Henry must have had him
then.

Peering anxiously out the door, Ava pressed her lips together,
oblivious that I was waiting. I glanced over her shoulder and followed her gaze
to a window in the hallway. Through it I saw half a dozen small shapes attacking
an opaque fog. The evening's battle had begun.

“Kate?” said Ava, turning so suddenly that I didn't have time
to move out of her way. She walked right through me. “Are you here?”

I didn't bother to reply. She wouldn't be able to hear me, so
it was useless.

She stared into the empty nursery, and her shoulders sagged.
“I'm sorry. I know you don't want to hear it, but it's true. I swear to you I
didn't know what Calliope was planning.”

This was it? Another round of apologies? I huffed and closed my
eyes, ready to return to Olympus. I'd come. I'd listened. I wasn't going to
waste my time with this any longer.

“I know the last thing you want to do is trust me,” echoed Ava
as I slipped back to Olympus. “But I need to show you something.”

I snapped back into the nursery, hungry with hope. Glancing
around as if she wasn't sure I was there, Ava exited the room, and I followed on
her heels. She led me down the hallway and the narrow staircase I'd used the day
before. We stopped on the same level that held my prison, and my stomach
exploded with butterflies. Where was Ava taking me? Calliope couldn't possibly
be holding Henry down here, could she?

Ava paused at a door. Nicholas's room. The clang of metal
against metal ripped through the silence, mingling with his screams. I flinched,
but Ava pushed the door open and stormed inside. I hurried after her.

“You swore you'd stop,” she said, and it took me a moment to
realize she wasn't talking to me. “I did what you told me to. Now you hold up
your end of the bargain.”

Calliope stood in the middle of a dank room with shelves and
worktables along the edge. Discarded scraps of metal and dozens of weapons—some
glowing weakly and others nothing more than lumps of steel—littered every
surface.

Nicholas's forge. This was where he'd made that damn
dagger.

Right beside the dying fire in the center of the room, someone
had welded a metal chair to the floor with opaque fog. Nicholas slumped against
it, bloody and broken in ways gods should've never been. He was half-conscious,
his face slashed and purple and his body a mess of cuts and bruises.

“Your side of our deal hasn't been finished yet,” said
Calliope. “Kate is still alive.”

Ava scowled. “That has nothing to do with—”

“I don't care.” Calliope's voice sliced through the air like a
scythe. “You will do what I say, or I will kill Nicholas. That is all there is
to it.”

He groaned, his eyeballs moving underneath his swollen lids,
and Ava reached for him. Calliope stepped between them.

“I don't think so,” she said with girlish delight. “You know
what happens if you touch him.”

“I don't care anymore.” Ava darted around Calliope and knelt
beside the chair. “Nicholas? I'm here. I'm so sorry, baby.”

Nicholas tried to mumble something through his cracked lips and
broken jaw, but it was unintelligible. To me, at least; Ava's eyes filled with
tears, and she gently took his hand. When her skin touched his, a hissing sound
filled the tiny prison, and Ava winced. But it wasn't until Nicholas grunted
that she let go. Where she'd touched him, her palm turned scarlet, as if she'd
handled hot embers.

“I will release him once I have won the war,” said Calliope.
“No sooner.”

Ava's face twisted with barely contained rage, and she shifted
her stance as if she were about to throttle her. Calliope must've noticed, too,
because in the blink of an eye, the dagger appeared in her hand, and she held it
delicately to Nicholas's throat.

“I wouldn't if I were you, my dear,” she purred.

It was a damn shame I was insubstantial, else I would've
happily punched her lights out. Ava clenched her fists, apparently having the
same idea, but she made no further move toward Calliope. “You monster,” she
hissed. “He's your
son.
”

“We all make sacrifices. Surely you of all people must
understand that.”

The room trembled, and like she had the night before, Ava began
to glow magenta. “No wonder Daddy never loved you. There's nothing lovable about
you. All this time I thought he was in the wrong, treating you the way he did,
but you deserved it. You pervert love and family until they're unrecognizable,
all for your own twisted sense of satisfaction. No one, not even Cronus,
deserves to burn in Tartarus more than you do.”

“Is that so?” said Calliope in a dangerous voice. “It must be
such a pity for you then, knowing we will win and you will never escape me.”

“Oh, I will,” said Ava. “First chance I get, I'm getting the
hell out of here and—”

“What's going on?”

Henry stood in the doorway, cradling Milo. I moved toward them
so fast that I could've sworn I created a breeze, but Henry looked straight
through me, his focus on Calliope.

A knife twisted in the pit of my stomach, but he couldn't see
me. He had no idea I was there. Even if he did, he'd still be looking at
Calliope like she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

“Hello, darling,” said Calliope. “I was just coming to see you.
How's the baby?”

“He's fine.” Henry gave Ava a curious look, and she averted her
eyes, her hand hovering half an inch over Nicholas's. “What's going on?”

“Ava here seems to believe that despite his crimes against us,
Nicholas is entitled to leave now,” said Calliope, and she giggled. “As if we
could afford such a risk. We can't have Nicholas rushing back with our secrets,
now, can we?”

Henry eyed Nicholas the way he'd looked at Calliope after the
brothers had captured her in the Underworld and tied her up in chains. My
stomach lurched. The Henry I knew and loved had to be in there somewhere, but
right now, this wasn't him. No matter how badly it hurt, I had to remember that.
Whether it was Ava's influence or Calliope's power to cut the ties of loyalty
between Henry and the rest of the council, it didn't matter. He was the enemy
now.

No, not the enemy. As much of a prisoner as Nicholas and
Milo.

“Of course, my dearest love,” said Henry, and I gagged. “We
will do what we must to ensure victory.”

Crossing the room, he gave Calliope a sensuous kiss. I shielded
my eyes and scowled. But despite my best efforts to ignore them, I couldn't
resist a glance, and that's when I saw it.

Henry's eyes were open, and he was staring right at Ava.

In his arms, Milo stirred and reached for me. He knew I was
there. Did Henry know, as well? He wasn't Cronus—Calliope would never kiss him
like that if he was. But could he sense me?

To my astonishment, Ava nodded once, so slightly that at first
I wasn't sure if I'd seen her right. Henry closed his eyes again, however, and I
was certain. Henry and Ava were working together.

Against Calliope? For Calliope? To save Milo? Or had she told
Henry that I would be here and listening in on everything that happened?

I couldn't be sure unless Ava told me, and whether or not Henry
knew I was there, he was still kissing Calliope. Maybe he had to. Maybe he
wanted to. I didn't have the answers, but that didn't matter. He wouldn't have
been kissing her if it was up to him, and I had to hold on to that.

At last Calliope pulled away and touched her swollen lips.
“Perhaps we should retire to the bedroom.”

Oh, god. Were they sleeping together? Nausea overwhelmed me.
Knowing he'd been with Persephone eons ago was one thing, but this was too much.
He was my husband.
My
Henry, not hers.

“Yes,” said Henry quietly. “Allow me to take care of the baby,
and then I will join you.”

With a giggle, Calliope kissed him once more and glided out of
the room. For a split second, Henry deflated, his arms tightening around Milo
protectively, and he met Ava's gaze again. Neither spoke. At last Henry turned
and left the room, leaving Nicholas bound to the chair.

I closed my eyes. This wasn't him, and if we had any chance of
getting through this without our relationship being irreparably damaged, I had
to remember that. Just like I'd offered myself to Cronus in exchange for Milo's
safety, Henry had done the same with Calliope. I had no right to be upset with
him. With Calliope and Ava and every single member of the council who'd let him
do this, yes. But not Henry.

“Kate,” said Ava once he was gone. I opened my eyes. Nicholas
was unconscious again, his chest rising and falling shallowly, and Ava stood
beside him. “Now do you understand?”

I understood. It didn't excuse any of this, and it didn't fix
our friendship. But I understood.

“Henry still loves you, you know. I didn't take that away from
him. I never could.”

She'd made him fall for Calliope, though. Artificial or not, it
was still love, and it wouldn't erase what happened in that bedroom.

I shuddered. I had to stop thinking about that. I'd seen
enough. Ava had apologized so many times that the words were meaningless now,
and I had to leave before the hurt dug so deeply inside me that I could never
get it out.

I was halfway gone when Ava spoke. “Cronus is going to escape
on the winter solstice.”

She'd already told the council that though, and she knew I'd
been right there with them. I sank deeper into oblivion, already on the edge of
ending this vision.

“And,” said Ava, her voice so distant it was little more than a
whisper, “the first place he's going to attack is New York City.”