The Goddess Test Boxed Set: Goddess Interrupted\The Goddess Inheritance\The Goddess Legacy (64 page)

Ava glared at him. “To give him a bath and a bottle. Someone
needs to make sure he knows he's loved, and you and Calliope sure as hell aren't
qualified.”

I stepped toward her, yanking on Henry's hand in an attempt to
get him to follow, but he stood firm. “Come, Kate,” he said, and the world
around us began to fade. “There's nothing more we can do.”

And though I said nothing while he brought me back to Olympus,
I knew he was wrong. There was something more, and now I had no choice but to do
it.

Chapter 10

Destruction

I wasn't sure how long I lay there, staring at Henry in
the middle of our bed. Long enough for my heart to ache the same way it did
whenever I was gone from Milo for too long. Long enough to be certain that the
council meeting was over by now, but my mother still hadn't come to find me.
Maybe she knew I didn't want to be found.

“Why do you think she did it?” I said, breaking the silence
between me and Henry.

“Ava?” he said, and I nodded. “Because she loves Nicholas, and
because she was naive enough to trust that Calliope would keep her word.”

“But why did Calliope go after Ava to begin with?”

Henry leaned over and kissed me. “Calliope sees Ava as her
greatest rival. Walter loves her more than anyone else on the council, and
Calliope has always been jealous of the sway she's had over him. Ava is powerful
in her own right, as well. Calliope has control over a person's loyalty, but Ava
controls love. Not even Calliope can touch that.”

Realization dawned on me. “She wanted you. Calliope was going
to capture you and force you to be her partner. That was her endgame—to lure you
in and keep you like some kind of pet or something. Maybe that's why she wanted
Ava on her side.”

Henry said nothing. I waited for him to speak, but his gaze
grew distant, and eventually it became obvious he wasn't going to respond.

I hesitated. Another topic then. “Do you think Ava's right and
Calliope's using her abilities to make me hate Ava?”

“I don't know. The only person who can answer that is you.”

But I didn't have an answer. I didn't even know the right
questions to ask. My anger wasn't irrational, but I'd never been so furious and
frustrated with anyone in my entire life. Not even Calliope after she'd tried to
kill me. If I could forgive her, then why couldn't I forgive Ava?

Because Calliope had only taken my life. Ava had ripped the
most important thing in the world away from me.

“It still doesn't make sense,” I said. “If she's using Ava's
powers somehow, then why haven't we heard about it? Why hasn't Cronus told
me?”

“I don't know.” His hand slid down my side to rest on my waist.
“There's nothing we can do about it right now except prepare ourselves for the
possibility that Calliope still has an ace hidden up her sleeve.”

Miserable as I was, I snorted into his shoulder. “Hearing you
use poker metaphors is bizarre.”

“I'm much better at it than you might think,” he said.

“I believe it.”

He kissed me again and ran a finger above the waistband of my
jeans, leaving searing heat wherever he touched me. It didn't take a genius to
figure out what he wanted, and I kissed him back, but set my hand over his. He
sighed.

“I'm sorry,” I said. “It's just—last time we did this, Calliope
used it against us. And I can't go through that again.”

Instead of protesting, Henry drew me in closer, shifting his
body so it rested against mine. “Is this your way of offering me more incentive?
Win the war, and you'll sleep with me again?”

I rolled my eyes. “Please. If that's what I was trying to do,
I'd be way more obvious about it. Winning the war's a little vague, after all.
I'd go for something more solid.”

“For example?” he murmured.

“I'd say something like...I'll sleep with you after you teach
me how to disappear and reappear.”

He peered down at me, and for the first time in ages, I thought
I saw a real smile on his face. “Is that a promise? Because with that kind of
motivation, I'm certain we could have it down by next sunset.”

“You're ridiculous,” I said. “But if you're offering...”

He immediately sat up and smoothed his shirt. “There must be
somewhere in this place we can practice without getting scolded.”

I started to suggest returning to the Underworld, but we were
as trapped here as I'd been on the island. If we left Olympus for any reason, it
would only be a matter of time before Calliope and Cronus discovered Henry was
alive. We'd gotten lucky in Africa and Greece, and we couldn't afford to risk it
a second time.

“Do you think we'll ever see him again?” I said, and Henry's
smile faded.

“Milo?” he said, and I nodded. “Yes. We'll see him anytime you
want.”

“You know what I mean.”

He drew me toward him again, his arms tightening around me. I'd
been an idiot to ever think he didn't love me just because he didn't say it. He
told me a hundred times a day without having to utter a word. “I promised you we
would find a way to get him back, and we will. Whatever it takes.”

“Except you dying,” I said firmly, wrapping my fingers around
the hem of his black shirt. “I mean it.”

Henry kissed my forehead. “So you are allowed to offer yourself
to Cronus for all eternity to get Milo out of there, but I am not allowed to
offer my life to do the same?”

“I'd still be alive,” I said. “And I'd find a way out of there
eventually.”

“I admire your bravery, but James is right. You must find a
solution to this martyr complex of yours.”

I gave him a halfhearted glare. “You weren't complaining when
my martyr complex gave you a second chance.”

“But the time has come to fight not just for the lives of those
you love, but for your own, as well,” he said. “If only so you do not hurt those
same people by leaving them the way you're so afraid they will leave you.”

That wasn't fair and he knew it. If someone had to die, I would
much rather it was me than suffer that kind of loss. Henry, my mother, Milo—I
couldn't come out of that and still be me.

“I'll do my best,” I said.

“Promise me.”

But I couldn't, and neither could he. We would both do what we
had to in order to protect each other, and no promise in the world could stop
either of us.

By the time Olympus once again hovered over Greece and the
council departed for another minutes-long battle against Cronus, I managed to
disappear from one side of the throne room and reappear on the other. With the
amount of concentration it took, I had no chance to worry about my mother and
the rest of the council. And I was too frazzled to be annoyed that this must
have been Henry's plan all along.

“Why didn't you teach me this sooner?” I said, pulling my hair
into a ponytail. “This would have come in handy nine months ago, you know.” It
didn't take any physical exertion at all, but the amount of willpower it
required made me dizzy every time I crossed the room. How did Henry travel
through the entire Underworld like this?

“We did not have the opportunity,” he said. “Now try to go into
the bedroom. I will meet you there.”

I gave him a look. “I told you, I don't want to do that
until—”

“Is that all you think about?” he said with a faint smile
before disappearing, and I huffed. Completely unfair.

Closing my eyes, I focused on the air around me. In the throne
room, it was still and warm, but not unbearable. Slowly, agonizingly so, I
pieced together an image of the bedroom in my mind. The plain bed, the dresser,
the closet, the white door, the sunset floor and the sky-blue ceiling exactly
like the throne room. Gathering myself together, feeling every inch of my body
from the tip of my nose to the bottom of my heels, I exhaled.

And then I opened my eyes.

“Very good,” said Henry, standing dangerously close to me. “You
were faster that time. Less than thirty seconds.”

It was difficult to take a compliment from someone who could do
it in the blink of an eye. “What if we appear in the same space?”

“That will not happen,” said Henry. “The laws of the universe
won't allow it.”

Oh. Well, that was good to know. I leaned up against the
bedpost and stuck my hands in my pockets. “Once I have this down, could you
teach me how to fight?”

“It takes centuries to learn how to fight the way that would
make any difference in the battles,” he said. Damn. So James hadn't been lying.
“This—learning how to travel—is your best bet.”

“How can this help?” I said, and he shrugged.

“Any number of ways, really. Never underestimate the value of
being able to go wherever you'd like with a single thought. That coupled with
your visions...well, you could be a very formidable opponent indeed.”

“You're just saying that to try to make me feel better.”

“Perhaps,” he allowed with a smile. “But it doesn't make it any
less true. Now, before you get the wrong idea of me, I will meet you back in the
throne room.”

Once again, he disappeared, and I sighed. If I were still
mortal, I was sure I'd have a raging headache by now. Closing my eyes, I
repeated the process, this time trying to focus faster and shave a second or two
off my time. I had to get better, and I only had so much time to learn how.

I reappeared in the throne room twenty-two seconds later and
grinned. “Next time we play tag, I get to be it,” I said, and my eyes fluttered
open.

Walter stood two inches in front of me, so close my nose was
nearly pressed against his chest. “While it is admirable that you have found the
time to play games during such a troubling period, I must ask that you take your
seat now.”

I stumbled back a step and hit someone else. James. He set his
hand on my shoulder to steady me. “We're back,” he said.

“Hadn't guessed,” I mumbled before shuffling over to my throne.
Henry stood beside his, and he extended his hand. I took it. The rest of the
council each stood by theirs as well, and I did a quick mental count. They all
looked worn down—my mother's skin was sickeningly pale, a painful reminder of
her last few days back in Eden—but everyone had returned.

No one spoke. Their expressions ranged from deep sadness to
inexplicable rage, and it took everything I had not to sink into a vision and
make sure Milo was all right. “What happened?” I said shakily, too scared to
wait for Walter to speak first.

“Cronus's reach is extending. He sent out another tidal wave,”
said Walter. “Alexandria is all but gone, and Cairo is half-drowned.”

“But—” I tried to picture a map of Egypt. It'd been forever
since I'd seen one. “Cairo isn't on the coast.”

“With the power of a Titan behind it, there was nothing to stop
the wave from reaching so far inland,” said Phillip, and he took a great
shuddering breath. “I am sorry. I have done everything I can to counter him,
but—”

“There's only so much you can do,” said Sofia gently, her eyes
rimmed with red. “No one blames you, Phillip.”

From the way he bowed his head, it was obvious Phillip blamed
himself. I shoved my shaking hands between my knees. Two cities this time, and
everything in between.

“How many casualties?” I said.

“Millions,” said Walter. “Several times the amount of
destruction in Athens.”

All the air left my lungs. Why hadn't they taken Cronus's deal?
Maybe it'd only been worth a little more time to prepare, but that was still
something. Cronus was escaping with or without their permission, and it wouldn't
be long before he devastated Europe and Africa. And then where would he hit?
Asia? Australia? North and South America? How long would it take him to destroy
everything?

At least Calliope attacked me for a reason. But Cronus—was he
doing this just to hurt the council? To prove he was stronger and there was
nothing they could do to stop him? They already knew that, even if Walter was
too pigheaded to admit that he wasn't the biggest, baddest bastard in the
universe.

I opened my mouth to demand that Walter do something—anything,
I didn't care, so long as it stopped the attack. Henry took my hand though,
stroking my knuckles with the pad of his thumb, and I fell silent. To Walter, I
wasn't anything more than an incompetent pest. Because of that, no matter what I
said, no matter how much logic and reasoning I used, he wouldn't listen to me.
None of them except my mother, James and Henry would, and the council couldn't
afford to be any more divided than it already was.

“Kate, you may go,” said Walter, and I left the throne room
without protest. I might have been young and inexperienced, but that didn't make
me an idiot. And if they wouldn't fix it, then I would.

Shadows danced on the walls of Milo's nursery as it
materialized around me, and Cronus hovered over his cradle. He looked paler than
usual, but his eyes swirled with fog, and a faint aura of power surrounded
him.

“I've been waiting for you.” He set a hand on my lower back,
and I recoiled.

“You're a monster,” I snarled, reaching into the cradle for my
son. “Do you realize how many people you've just—”

As always, my hand met empty air, but this time it was
different. I squinted into the mess of blankets, and I froze. Milo wasn't
there.

“What did you do to him?” I said, and my voice broke. “Where
the hell is my son?”

Cronus gestured behind me, and I spun around. Ava sat in a
rocking chair that hadn't been there the day before, and she cradled Milo.

“She has barely put him down since you last left,” said
Cronus.

I hurried over to her, and Ava glanced up. For one horrible
moment, I thought she could see me, but instead she looked right through me. “It
won't work,” she said to Cronus. “I don't care how many times you try it. Kate
isn't here, and even if she was, you wouldn't be able to see her.”

Still in denial then. For now, it didn't matter; I watched Milo
happily suck away on the tip of her pinkie, and my heart melted. Opening his
eyes, he stared right at me, and I could have sworn he smiled around her
finger.