The Goddess Inheritance (16 page)

“Apparently my own father doesn’t,” I mumbled, and Henry sighed.

“Yes, well. It’s easy to chalk this whole mess up to Walter. He is the one who never gave Calliope the respect and love she deserved, after all.”

“You’d think he would’ve learned from that.”

“You would think.” He sat down on the bed, and I didn’t move away. “I want to get our son back as badly as you do, but this is not the way.”

My eyes welled up again. When would I stop being on the verge of tears? When I finally held Milo? When Calliope was defeated? When Cronus was back in his own personal corner of hell? “I don’t know how to be me without him,” I said. “Everything I do, it’s like—it’s like this need is pulling me in one direction, and I can’t function without going toward it. And when I’m not, I’m empty. He needs me. He needs us, and we’re not doing anything to get him back. We’ve practically abandoned him.”

Henry lay down on his side so he was facing me. “Do you really believe that?” he said, sandwiching my hand in his. “I am certain Milo does not. You said so yourself that you believe he knows when you are there.”

I rubbed my eyes with my free hand. “I want him back, Henry. I want us to be a family.”

“We are a family.” He kissed my forehead, my cheek, and finally brushed his lips against mine. “We cannot pretend it has been easy, but we love each other unconditionally, and that is what matters. We will get him back. I swear it.”

My chin trembled. “How?”

“I do not know yet, but I will find a way. We will find a way together.”

I kissed him back, not caring if he could taste my tears. “How am I supposed to help you when everyone thinks I’m worthless and won’t teach me how to use my abilities?”

“I do not think you are worthless,” he said, his breath warm on my cheek. “Far from it, I assure you. I will teach you anything you desire.”

“Really?” I said, and he nodded.

“Really.”

I hugged him, burying my face in the crook of his neck, and let out a soft sob. That was all I allowed myself, though; one sob, and now it was time to get to work. Now it was time to prove I deserved my place on the council.

I only had to do one thing first. “Do you want to see him?”

“Do you really have to ask?”

I managed a watery smile. “Make sure Cronus can’t see you.”

“I will.”

Once again I sank into my vision, pulling Henry along with me, and this time no one interrupted us. Together we fought through the quicksand until the bedroom dissolved around us and we surfaced on the other side.

Milo lay in his crib, his eyes shut. It had to be well past midnight on the island. Cronus stood in the corner closest to the door, his arms crossed as if he was waiting for me, but I ignored him. I didn’t know how to tell him that Walter had turned him down. If he didn’t know already.

Henry and I leaned over Milo’s crib like I thought we had a dozen times before, but this time it was really him. The three of us were together, or at least as together as we could be for now.

“He’s beautiful,” whispered Henry. I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t, not with Cronus hovering nearby. I smiled, careful to keep my eyes on Milo, and Henry touched my back. He understood.

“My darling,” said Cronus, appearing on my other side and taking my hand. “Have you news of the truce?”

I couldn’t tell him the truth, not yet. I had no idea what he would do to prove his dominance—kill another million people? Destroy all of Greece? Even if everything else stemmed from the way Walter had treated Calliope, this was on me. And I had to stall.

“They haven’t reached a decision yet,” I said, my stare not wavering from Milo. “They need time.”

Out of the corner of my eye, Henry gave me a searching look. I ignored it.

“Very well. I hope they do not take too long.” He began to knead my shoulder, and I winced. “Why are you so tense, my dear?”

Because Henry was alive and standing two inches from my elbow. Because the council—or at least certain members—blamed me for everything. Because if I made one wrong move, all of this would be over. “Do you really have to ask?” I said, echoing Henry.

“No, I suppose I do not,” said Cronus, and he moved behind me to massage both of my shoulders. Henry scowled and stepped away.

“Please don’t do that,” I said softly, but Cronus continued anyway. Henry moved to the other side of the crib so he could look me straight in the eye, and I pressed my lips together. Did he understand that I didn’t want this?

“Soon you will be my queen,” said Cronus, his lips tickling my ear. The look on Henry’s face was murderous. “You have not changed your mind, have you, my dear?”

My eyes locked on Henry. He had to understand it was all an act. “No,” I said. “I haven’t changed my mind.”

“Good girl,” murmured Cronus, and Henry straightened, his hands balled into fists as if he were seconds away from decking Cronus.

“I’m going to find Calliope,” said Henry. “You stay here.”

My eyes widened, but despite my silent protest, Henry leaned across the cradle to kiss my cheek. At least he understood.

As he left the room, Cronus ran his hands down my back before returning to my shoulders. “When you and I are together, you will never know tears,” he murmured. “You will never know pain. You will only know joy and happiness. Everyone will bow to you. Everyone will know that you, Kate Winters, are my queen. And they will all love and fear you for it.”

I didn’t want to be feared. I didn’t want anyone to bow to me, but Cronus would never understand what it meant to be happy without absolute power. He would never understand why I would always love Henry and never love him. But at least Henry wasn’t here to hear this.

“What are you doing?”

Cronus’s hands stilled. I tried to turn, but he blocked my way. Not that it mattered. I would’ve known that voice anywhere.

Ava set a load of blankets down on the dresser and moved toward us, her eyes focused on Cronus. She couldn’t see me. “Who are you talking to?”

“The baby,” said Cronus smoothly. “Someone must ensure his education.”

“No, you weren’t,” said Ava, advancing on him. Her hands trembled. She was as afraid of Cronus as everyone else. “You said Kate’s name.”

“So I spoke of his mother.” Cronus straightened and dropped his hands. Apparently he’d realized that massaging an invisible person’s shoulders didn’t do much to support his argument. “What of it?”

Ava eyed him. “Kate’s here, isn’t she?”

“Perhaps,” he allowed. “Perhaps not.”

My stomach twisted into knots. She was so close that I could reach out and touch her if I wanted to.

“I want to talk to her,” said Ava. “I know you two communicate. I know you can hear her and she can hear you, and—and I want you to tell her something.”

How could she possibly know that? Cronus hadn’t mentioned it to her, else she wouldn’t have sounded so determined to be right. Who else knew? The council, but none of them had been in contact with Ava. Unless there was another traitor.

No, impossible. I trusted the council with my life. Except for Dylan, but he wouldn’t have done anything to risk losing a battle, especially feed information to the enemy. Unless it was all a ruse and he really was reporting to Cronus, after all.

I bit my lip. I couldn’t think like that, not unless I had proof. With how much he seemed to hate me, it was easy to suspect Dylan of being a snake, but that kind of thinking and suspicion would tear us apart. The last thing the council needed was someone else backing down. Dylan and I might not have liked each other much, or at all, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t work together toward a common goal. As long as he wasn’t doing what he’d accused me of and telling his girlfriend secrets behind the council’s back.

“If you would like to speak to her, then speak,” said Cronus, and the false note of warmth he used with me evaporated. “She is perfectly capable of hearing you.”

Ava took another tentative step forward, focusing somewhere over my right shoulder. “Kate—Kate, I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t know what Calliope was doing. I would’ve never risked your baby’s life if I had.”

I shifted protectively in front of Milo’s crib. Fat lot of good that would do, but it made me feel better, at least. “It’s too late for apologies,” I said, and to my surprise, Cronus opened his mouth and spoke those same words, exactly as I’d said them.

Ava’s expression grew stricken. “Please. I’ll do anything.”

“Come back to Olympus,” I said, and once again Cronus repeated me. “Leave Calliope.”

“I can’t,” she said. “You don’t understand—she has Nicholas, and if I don’t cooperate, she’s going to kill him like she killed Iris and Henry.”

The moment she said those words, a cold silence settled over the room, and she blinked several times.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, and I could hear the sob bubbling up inside her. “I’m so, so sorry, Kate. I can’t tell you...”

“Then don’t,” I said. “If you’re really sorry, then do something to prove it. I don’t care what. But stop acting like a helpless victim and stand up for what you believe in before you have nothing left at all.”

Tears flowed down her cheeks, and she didn’t try to stop them. “I just want things to be okay again. Please, Kate—you have to understand. You would’ve done the same thing for Henry, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes,” I said softly. “But I would have hated myself every moment for it, and the instant I realized you were pregnant, I would’ve fought Calliope to the death to protect you. I would’ve never let her destroy you like she’s trying to destroy me.”

Silence settled over the room once Cronus finished repeating me. Ava sank to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest, and I pressed my lips together. As hurt as I was, mine wasn’t the only life Calliope was trying to destroy.

“You have my understanding,” I said quietly. “Do the right thing, and one day you will have my forgiveness. But you won’t have anything if you don’t start acting like the Ava I know and stand up to Calliope.”

Ava was sobbing now, her entire body shaking. “I can’t. I
can’t.
She’ll kill him. Please, Kate. You’re my best friend. You’re the only one who understood before. Please try to understand now—Callum, he’s safe with her, she won’t hurt him—”

Something ugly uncoiled inside me, something vicious and dark where every terrible thought I’d ever had lay dormant, waiting to come out again. “She hurts
Milo
every second she keeps him from me and Henry, and you’re the one who let her take him in the first place. You didn’t raise a finger to stop her, and because of you, he’s here, and he will never be safe with her. Ever. If you can’t see that—if you’re so blind to your own actions that you can’t take responsibility for them—then as far as I’m concerned, we were never friends at all. And we never will be again.”

Her eyes flew open. Instead of the anguish I expected, they filled with magenta fire, as surely as Henry’s glinted with moonlight and Cronus’s swirled with fog. She unfolded her legs and stood, and a pale aura glowed around her.

“You’re a liar.” Her words echoed throughout the nursery, and Milo let out a startled cry. She ignored him and went toe to toe with Cronus, unaware I was less than a foot away. “Kate would never say those things to me, and your pitiful attempts to sever my loyalty won’t work. Even if Kate did say those awful things, she doesn’t really mean them. Calliope’s using her powers to make her hate me, isn’t she?”

Calliope didn’t have to cut the strings of our friendship. Ava was already fraying them beyond repair. But no matter how much I understood why she was doing this, no matter how much I wanted to forgive her, I’d never had such conflicting feelings for someone in my life. I constantly wavered between irresistible fury and the deep desire to understand, as if those two parts of me were at war with each other. And while I’d been on the island, close enough for Calliope to get to me whenever she wanted, forgiving Ava had never crossed my mind.

Maybe Calliope was behind this, after all. I took a deep breath. Acknowledging it didn’t make the tension in the pit of my stomach lessen, but I would force myself past Calliope’s influences if Ava did the right thing.

“Is that so?” said Cronus with eerie calm, pulling me back into the present. “What makes you so certain? You are already on our side. I have no reason to lie.”

“You have every reason to lie,” said Ava. “I’ve told Calliope, and now I’ll tell you. I am not your bitch. I’m here for my husband, and I’m here for Kate’s baby. I won’t let you or Calliope poison him.”

A shadow moved in the doorway, and Henry appeared. He was safe. Wordlessly he crossed the room and took my hand.

“You can tell me as many awful things as you want. I won’t believe you.” Ava’s voice trembled, but power radiated from her. “She’s my best friend, and I love her. Not that you would understand the first thing about love.”

She reached into Milo’s cradle and picked him up, and his cries grew louder. His arms flailed toward me, and I held my hand over his forehead. “It’s all right,” I whispered. “I’m here.”

As the words left my mouth, however, Ava stormed toward the door, and it was only Henry’s tight grip on my hand that kept me from going after her.

“Where are you taking him?” said Cronus without any hint of anger. If anything, he sounded amused.

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.