Goddess Interrupted (24 page)

Me. Ava meant me.

I struggled against the force that held me down. I needed to go back. Back to safety and the Underworld and Henry, but my feet were rooted to the ground. “Yes, I know,” said Calliope. “You played your part admirably, Ava.”

I looked back and forth between them, so dizzy I could hardly see straight. “I don’t understand, how could you possibly— Ava, what did you
do?
”

“Nothing,” she cried. “I swear, Kate, I didn’t do anything. She—she wanted me to make you two sleep together, but I didn’t, I promise.”

My heart pounded. No, Ava hadn’t had anything to do with the day before, I was sure of it. It wasn’t like the aphrodisiac Calliope had given us in Eden. Ava had known though. She’d known, and she hadn’t done a damn thing to stop it.

“I couldn’t tell you were pregnant until you got up here,” said Ava. “I’m so sorry. I would have never—”

“But I’m not,” I said, bewildered. “I can’t be. We only just—”

“All you had to do was sleep with Henry,” said Calliope. “I did the rest.”

She twitched her finger, and I fell to my knees in the snow. The thing she’d done to me, I realized, horrified. The goddess of marriage and women. And fertility.

This had been her plan all along.

“I told you that I would take from you what you loved the most,” said Calliope, and a large black rock appeared in her hand. It was the same kind of rock that had been in the cavern, and fog swirled inside it. She giggled. “What, did you think I meant Henry?”

A wave of nausea swept over me. “Please,” I whispered. Her eyes narrowed, and I knew it was hopeless.

“You did this to yourself,” she said. “And your child. Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?”

With that, she cracked the stone against the back of my head, and my world went black.

* * * * *

Acknowledgments

I’m beyond grateful for all the
help, encouragement and support from the people who were brave enough to
stick around while I wrote this monster. I especially want to thank the
following:

Rosemary Stimola, my magical
agent, for the smiley faces.

Mary-Theresa Hussey, Natashya
Wilson and the entire Harlequin Teen team, for believing in these
books.

The incredible community of YA
book bloggers, for their enthusiasm and love of reading.

Angie, Stacey, Mandy and the rest
of the crew, for being a second family.

Lauren DeStefano, for the ups and
downs and late-night emails.

Carrie Harris, for the laughs and
infectious cheer.

Sarah J. Maas, for the endless
optimism.

Courtney Allison Moulton and Leah
Clifford, for being Angels.

Nick Navarre, for the
music.

Sarah Reck, for never holding
back.

Caitlin Straw, for putting up
with me.

And last but never least, Dad—for
everything.

Guide to the Gods

Zeus
…………… Walter

Hera
…………… Calliope

Poseidon
…………… Phillip

Demeter
…………… Diana

Hades
…………… Henry

Hestia
…………… Sofia

Ares
…………… Dylan

Aphrodite
…………… Ava

Hermes
…………… James

Athena
…………… Irene

Apollo
…………… Theo

Artemis
…………… Ella

Hephaestus
…………… Nicholas

Dionysus
…………… Xander

ISBN: 9781459225718

Copyright © 2012 by Aimée
Carter

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