The Goddess Test Boxed Set

by Aimee Carter

  “Do you want to see Milo?” I said as we waited for James to return from the ticket counter.

  “Yes,” said Henry without hesitation, though the exhaustion on his face gave me pause. Rhea had removed every last trace of Cronus from his body, but he still moved as if he were in pain. What would going through that quicksand barrier do to him? Would it make him worse?

  “Once you rest,” I said, gripping his hand. “You can sleep on the plane.”

  His expression flickered with disappointment, but he didn’t argue. If he’d been well enough to see him, he would’ve fought like hell to get me to agree, and uneasy satisfaction settled within me. At least I’d made one right choice today.

  “What happened?” He spoke quietly, but even in the middle of the loud airport, I heard every word. “Why are we going to Athens?”

  I hesitated. There was no easy way to say it and nothing I could do to make it less painful, so I pulled no punches. I told him everything that had happened since Calliope had attacked him. The assault on Athens, my visions, everything Cronus had said and done—everything except for the part where I’d promised myself to him. I couldn’t bring myself to say it, and with the way the muscles in Henry’s jaw twitched as I described how Cronus had held our son, I didn’t want to make things any worse than they already were.

  “I will kill him,” whispered Henry. “If I have to tear the world apart to do it, I will.”

  “And then you’ll be no better than him,” I said. “We’ll figure out how to get Milo back without anyone else dying, I promise.”

  Henry nodded and seemed to relax against the wall. At least I thought he was relaxing until I felt the telltale waves of dark power emanating from him.

  I touched his knee. “Henry, as badly as I want to rip the bastard’s head off, you’re in no condition to get into a pissing match with a Titan. Rest first, and we’ll figure something out later.”

  After a long, tense moment, that resonating power vanished. I looked around nervously, searching for any signs that the people milling around us had noticed anything, but no one seemed any the wiser.

  Twenty feet away, I spotted James talking to a woman wearing a massive backpack. He pointed down the length of the terminal, and she gave him a grateful smile and ran off in that same direction. I frowned.

  “Not exactly the best time to stop and give directions, is it?” I said as he rejoined us. James shrugged.

  “Not exactly the best time to gather enough power to wipe out half of Africa either,” he said, looking pointedly at Henry. They glared at each other. “Besides, giving directions is what I do. Among other things.”

  “Like rob banks,” said Henry.

  “That was once.” James shook his head and produced three tickets. “The airport in Athens isn’t there anymore, but I got us as close as possible. Are you sure you want to do this, Kate?”

  I nodded numbly. As important as reporting to the council was, I had to see the damage. Cronus had left the Parthenon untouched for a reason, and maybe there was a clue there, or something that could help us. Besides, I had no doubt Henry would dive into the war the moment we returned to Olympus, and he needed a break before he went head to head with Cronus. Keeping him away for as long as possible was the only solution I could think of.

  Henry pressed his lips to my temple. “Going to Athens won’t help,” he said quietly. “It won’t change anything.”

  “It could. We might find something. Those people died because of me—”

  “Of course they didn’t.” Henry’s frown deepened. “It has nothing to do with you. Cronus would have attacked humanity eventually, and nothing you could have done would have prevented it.”

  James gave me a look, but I averted my eyes. I couldn’t tell Henry how wrong he was.

  “Come on,” said James, offering Henry a hand. He refused, and James’s arm dropped to his side. “Our flight boards soon. We should arrive with enough time to reach Athens before the next sunset.”

  “Why does that matter?” I said, steadying Henry by the elbow as he stood shakily.

  “Because the closer we are to Cronus, the more danger we’re in,” said James. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to risk it for very long.”

  Part of me didn’t care, the part that had died along with the people of Athens. But the part of me that held Henry’s hand and dreamed of holding Milo cared, and I nodded. The less time we spent in Greece, the better. I had to go, though. I wouldn’t budge on that.

  “Maybe you should go back to Olympus,” I said to Henry. If Cronus discovered Rhea had healed him, Henry would be dead the moment he stepped within reach. How wide was it now? How far could Cronus extend? To Athens? To London? To New York City? How long before he broke out of the island prison the others had managed to construct? He’d broken out of the Underworld on the winter solstice. Would he do the same this December?

  Of course he would. That was why the council was fighting him now.

  “No,” said Henry with gentle firmness, and his fingers tightened around mine. “I will not leave you again.”

  And selfishly I couldn’t ask him to either, even though it might cost us everything.

  Our flight was nearly empty. It was like the reports I’d watched on television hours before a hurricane was supposed to hit a town; the freeways leaving were crowded with more people than they’d ever been designed to handle, but the roads leading into town were deserted.

  That was us. We were alone in first class, a necessity now that Henry was with us and needed space to rest. I sat in the seat beside him, watching him sleep and trying to coax him to eat something once the fancy meals came around, but he didn’t do much more than pick at his chicken and remind me gods didn’t need food.

  “He’ll be fine,” whispered James from the seat in front of me. Though Henry had fallen back asleep, he continued to squeeze my hand. “Should’ve never left Olympus in his condition, the stubborn ass. Once we get back, he’ll recover a lot faster.”

  “You think?” I pursed my lips. “That’s part of the reason I wanted to go to Athens. I figured the minute we get back, he’s going to want to fight with the others. He won’t give himself the time he needs to recuperate. At least this way he’ll get some rest.”

  James eyed him. “You really think he’ll change his mind about fighting?”

  “Of course. They have Milo.” And no matter how stubborn Henry could be, he wouldn’t abandon our son. “Are there any others?”

  “Any other what?”

  “Titans,” I whispered. “There were others in the myths, right?”

  James scowled, the line between his eyebrows deepening. “Yes, there were others, but they won’t be any help. They were buried in Tartarus with Cronus.” He must have seen the look on my face, because he added hastily, “We don’t have to worry about them. Cronus would never allow them to leave, first of all—he wants to be king, and they’d challenge his rule. Second, they were all captured before Cronus was, and the measures the original six took to make sure they’d never see the light of day again...” He winced. “The only reason they didn’t take those measures against Cronus is because Rhea begged them not to. It more or less kills them,” he added. “Or at least as much as a Titan can be killed. And because she’s their mother, they listened.”

  “Is that why they didn’t imprison her?”

  “She didn’t fight in that war either.”

  “Right,” I said. At least she was consistent.
/>   “You should get some sleep,” said James. “Busy day ahead of us.”

  “You, too,” I mumbled, and for the rest of the flight, I tried to follow his advice. But sleep either meant visions and Cronus or nightmares of Titans rising up from the earth, and I couldn’t stomach either right now.

  The plane landed, and I reluctantly woke Henry. Without any checked luggage, it was an easy trek through the airport to catch a cab, and once again we settled in for a drive.

  Athens hadn’t been the only place affected by the aftermath of the tidal wave. Signs of devastation were everywhere: refugees huddled together in large tents on the outskirts of the airport, debris of what had once been Athens was scattered across the coast, and the towns we drove through were practically empty.

  “The earthquakes, they have scared our people away,” said the cabdriver. Once again I recognized that the words he spoke weren’t English, but I understood them anyway. That ability must have developed between my summer in Greece and now. “After what has happened to Athens, many believe we have been cursed.”

  “Earthquakes?” said James and I at the same time, though he spoke in what must have been Greek, while I used English.

  “You have not heard?” said the driver, and for a moment James’s eyes grew distant. I couldn’t hear what he was saying or who he was saying it to, but it was obvious he was communicating with someone.

  “Phillip says there have been dozens of minor earthquakes around the Aegean Sea since the attack on Athens,” said James in a hushed voice. “Two major ones.”

  “He is trying to escape our barriers by going through the earth,” said Henry on my other side.

  “It isn’t working, is it?” I said, and both he and James shook their heads. “Good.”

  I spent the rest of the cab ride in silence. The hours slipped by as we drove through the Greek countryside, heading toward the destruction while everyone else was leaving. I couldn’t bring myself to fall asleep. I sat rigidly beside Henry, whose eyes slipped shut for long periods of time, and not even our driver seemed very chatty once he’d updated us on everything that had happened. James told him which turns to take, and despite looking annoyed at being given directions by a tourist, he didn’t argue.

  At last, after I’d wondered if we would ever reach Athens, the taxi came to a stop on a road that wound up a steep hill. “I cannot go any farther,” said our driver apologetically. “There is nothing left for us to go toward, and I have barely enough fuel to make it back.”

  “That’s fine,” said James, handing the man a wad of bills. “Keep the change.”

  The three of us piled out of the car, and I hugged Henry’s arm as James led us down the road. It slanted upward as it circled the hill, and I didn’t see any sign of the city, but he seemed to know where he was going.

  “You need to prepare yourself,” said James as we rounded the corner. “This won’t be easy.”

  “I didn’t come here for easy,” I muttered. Henry didn’t say a word, but he slid his arm from my grip to wrap around my shoulders instead. Warmth spread through me, and though it wasn’t enough to make me relax, it did help. Just Henry being there did wonders.

  We reached the other side of the bend. I don’t know what I’d been expecting—more green landscape, more trees, more Greece, but the moment I saw what lay before us, I stopped cold.

  The ocean glittered in the distance, churning threateningly as dusk approached. Before it, where Athens had stood, was nothing. Land that had once been covered in buildings and homes and people going about their daily lives was now barren and brown. Rubble stood where skyscrapers once had, and though rescue crews were scattered across the ruins, I would have never guessed that less than a week before, this had been Athens.

  “It’s gone,” whispered James, and I groped around until I found his hand. His fingers were cold. “It’s just—gone.”

  On my other side, Henry met the scene in front of us with stony silence. Pulling myself away from the destruction long enough to gauge his reaction, a wave of nausea swept over me. He didn’t look any different. His expression was impassive and his eyes distant, but there was no horror in his eyes. Only the same sadness that was always there.

  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 ba
ck, 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.”