The Goddess Inheritance

by Aimee Carter

  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.

  “Hi, baby,” I whispered, kneeling beside Ava. The blade of her rocker sliced through my insubstantial thigh. “Look at you.”

  His eyes were bright, his cheeks pink, and he waved his little hands at me with more enthusiasm than before. He looked like a healthy ten-day-old baby. Whatever Ava was giving him, it was working.

  “Why does he look so much healthier?” I said to Cronus, and he repeated the question.

  Ava, who must not have realized that he was once again speaking for me, shrugged. “Everyone knows that newborns need to be held, and not by a walking void of emotion either. A little love does them wonders.”

  And right now, she was the only one who could give that to him. I bit the inside of my cheek and focused on Milo. He was so beautiful that it hurt to look at him, but I couldn’t tear myself away.

  “Why did you attack those people?” I said to Cronus.

  “For the same reason I attacked Athens,” he said. “To teach the council a lesson.”

  “And what lesson was that supposed to be?” I snapped. “The more you hurt them, the less likely it is they’ll agree to your truce.”

  “We both know that will not happen,” said Cronus, and in the rocker, Ava’s brow furrowed with confusion.

  “Stop it,” she said, her grip on Milo tightening. “She isn’t here.”

  “Tell her that you lied yesterday,” I said. Ava was doing something no one else could or would for Milo right now, and if Cronus said the wrong thing, I couldn’t risk Ava leaving the baby alone again. The last thing he needed was to lose someone else who loved him.

  Cronus sighed and said in an annoyed voice, “My words yesterday were purely my own, not a reflection of what Kate expressed. My sincerest apologies.”

  Ava smirked triumphantly. “I knew it. You’re scum.”

  “So I have been told,” said Cronus with surprising ease. “My dear Kate, the fact remains that we all know a truce will not happen, not while Walter is in charge of the council.”

  “It isn’t in my power to convince them to overthrow Walter, and even if I could, I wouldn’t,” I said.

  “Then you know the consequences,” said Cronus. “The time for inaction is over. I have given the council long enough to surrender, and now that they have chosen not to, I will do what I must to put them in their place.”

  My stomach dropped. “Please,” I said. “Give them a little more time. Give me a little more time.”

  “It will not make a difference. The winter solstice is in less than three months. The council’s bonds will no longer hold me then.”

  “I know.”

  “Then why did you come?” said Cronus. “Do not tell me it was merely to see your son.”

  I would’ve spent eternity locked in a room with Calliope if it meant getting to spend five minutes with Milo. But I didn’t say that, because Cronus was right. He was always right. “You know why I’m here.”

  His footsteps echoed behind me, growing closer until he knelt beside me and snaked his arm around my waist. Ava pulled away from him. I didn’t blame her.

  “Kate?” she said, her voice trembling as she searched the space I was in. I ignored her. Now wasn’t the time.

  “I want to hear it from you,” said Cronus huskily, and despite his lips lingering next to my ear, he no longer had any breath. Not warm, not cold—nothing.

  I tightened my hands into fists and focused on Milo’s blue eyes. Henry would understand. He had to. “I’m here to make a trade.”

  “For real this time?” said Cronus.

  “Yes,” I whispered. “For real.”

  Chapter 11

  Horizon
>
  Cronus gave me seven days with Henry and my mother before he would attack again.

  It wasn’t out of the kindness of his heart. I had no way of reaching the island on my own yet, and I couldn’t ask anyone to go with me. Besides, the more people I involved, the bigger chance it had of getting back to Henry.

  So I had to learn how to get there myself. I could barely travel across the room without Henry’s help; learning how to cross half an ocean in a week seemed impossible, but I had to.

  As my mind returned to Olympus, I grew aware of two things: first, I was crying. And second, Henry lay beside me, his eyes locked on mine.

  “Are you all right?” He brushed his thumb against my cheek, catching a stray tear. The urge to tell him everything overwhelmed me, making it hard to breathe, but I couldn’t. This was for Milo. If one of us had to do it, I was the best choice. Cronus had already issued Calliope an ultimatum not to hurt me or Milo; Henry wouldn’t have the same security, and he was too important, too powerful, too needed to sacrifice himself. I would find a way back as soon as I could. Maybe if I could learn how to travel properly, I would be able to take Milo and escape. It wasn’t much, but it was something, and I couldn’t have Henry risk himself in the meantime.

  “I love you so much,” I said, closing the distance between us and wrapping myself around him. “No matter what happens, no matter how this war turns out—I love you, forever and always.”

  Henry was quiet for a long moment, and I counted the seconds, taking comfort in each breath he took. At last he lowered his lips to mine, kissing me with aching tenderness.

  “You are my life.” Though his words were barely a whisper, they seemed to echo from somewhere deep within him, enveloping my body and infusing me with something unshakable. “There is nothing I would not do to make you happy. Before I met you, my world was a string of days that were gray and empty. I had nothing to look forward to, and I cannot tell you what it was like, facing down eternity alone. Every day I wished for you. Every day I held on in hopes that eventually we would meet. And when I finally found you...”

  He leaned in and kissed me again, as tenderly as before. His hand slid underneath my shirt, splaying across my stomach, but the touch wasn’t sexual. It was as if he were trying to memorize me, just as I was trying to memorize him.

  “I have existed for more eons than I remember. I have seen the sun rise and fall so many times that the days lost all meaning. For so long, they passed me by in a blur. But that night we met by the river—the night you gave up yourself in order to save a virtual stranger—my heart began to beat again.”

  He took my hand and pressed it against his chest, and there it was—thump thump, thump thump, strong and beautiful. I would’ve given anything to keep his heart beating. The black abyss that had become my world in those hours I’d thought he was dead had faded, but it was a scar I would always bear. I couldn’t go back to that. Even if I had Milo, I would never have another Henry.

  “I see the sunrise now,” he said. “Because of you, the days have color. Eternity has meaning once more. You found every broken piece of me and put me back together, even though I hurt you too many times for me to deserve it. You are the glue that holds me together. If I lose you, it will be the end of me.”

  A knot formed in my throat. “You’ll never lose me,” I said, my voice breaking.

  “Promise.” His gaze searched mine as he ran his fingertip up my spine.

  “I promise.” I closed the minuscule gap between us once more, capturing his lips and trying to show him how much I meant it. “I love you. I love our family. I love our life together, and I can’t wait for the day when we’re back home, just the three of us, and this whole war is over. I swear to you that will happen. That will be our future.”

  He cradled the back of my head, his palm searing against my skin. “I have waited an eternity for this love. I’m not going to let anyone, Titan or not, take it from us.”

  “Promise?” I said, and this time it was Henry’s turn to kiss me.

  “I promise.”

  “Then do me a favor.”

  “Anything.”

  I shifted onto my back, rolling him with me. His body pressed against mine in all the right places, and I lifted my head high enough to rest my forehead against his. “Live this love now,” I whispered. “And never stop.”

  * * *

  In those seven days, I spent every moment I could with Henry. Walter ruled that despite him being mostly healed, Henry would remain in Olympus until the last possible moment, to give the council the element of surprise. Though Henry had a tendency to pace around mumbling things about his brother that I was all too willing to agree with, it gave us more time together.

  When we weren’t playing our new brand of tag throughout the sun-drenched palace, we fought our way through the quicksand of my visions to see Milo. Cronus was always there, a silent reminder of the little time I had left with my family, but now Ava had become a permanent fixture, too.

  The happier and healthier Milo became, the thinner and paler Ava grew, as if she was pouring everything she had into him. Maybe she was. Maybe she was the only thing keeping him alive. When I voiced that to Henry after returning to Olympus one day, however, he shook his head. “We are both immortal, and so is Milo.”

  “What?” I stopped in the middle of the abandoned throne room, the only place we could go that didn’t feel stuffy. The sun shone a little brighter here, and the sunset at our feet seemed deeper, more real somehow. “But I thought everyone had to take the tests.”

  “Members of the council do,” said Henry. “Demigods attempting to earn immortality usually have to prove themselves in some way. And royals take the test, as well. If Walter chooses to take another queen, regardless of her mortality, she will have to pass the same tests you did to earn her position. If Milo ever replaced me as King of the Underworld—”

  “Why would he?”

  “Just hypothetically,” said Henry, and his fingers danced down the curve of my back. “If he replaced me, he would have to take the test, too.”

  It wasn’t just hypothetically, though. Was he planning the same thing I was—to sacrifice himself to get Milo back somehow?

  No, he wouldn’t do that to me, not after everything we’d been through, which made doing it to him all the more difficult. I’d find a way back to him though, no matter what it took. I rested my head against his shoulder. The silver scar from Cronus’s first attack poked out from underneath his collar, and I traced it with a featherlight touch.

  “Come,” he murmured. “I want to show you something.”

  Before I could say a word, the now-familiar feeling of disappearing washed over me, and the throne room faded. However, a similar room replaced it, with sky that stretched out endlessly before us.

  There was something different about this, though. Before it had been easy to tell the difference between the ceiling and the floor, but in here they blended together as if it were the real thing. Unless—

  I blinked. It was the real thing.

  “I am not supposed to bring you here, or even be here myself,” admitted Henry. “This is the balcony outside Walter’s private quarters. It’s the pinnacle of his domain, and he is very protective of it. But there is nothing more beautiful in the world, and I wanted you to see it.”

  He led me to a glass railing, and I gazed out across the infinite sky. Caught between day and dusk, the colors swirled as if they were liquid, and flames seemed to dance in the clouds. “This is incredible,” I said, stunned.

  We stood there for a long moment, and at last he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer. “You can tell me anything, you know.”

  “I know,” I said softly.

  “Then tell me what has been bothering you.”

  I focused on the horizon. I couldn’t lie to him. I didn’t want to, and even if I tried, he would know. “We’re in the middle of a war, and we’re both being used as pawns in ways we don’t understand.”

  “
That is not atypical for my brother,” said Henry with a hint of mirth.

  “That’s not what I mean. We’re all on one big chessboard, aren’t we? Cronus is on one side and Walter’s on the other, using everyone like chess pieces. Except I’m not so much as a pawn on Walter’s side.”

  Henry opened his mouth, but I interrupted him before he had the chance to speak.

  “Don’t tell me I’m wrong. We both know I’m not. I’m useless to Walter. I’ve tried to give him information, act as an envoy, learn how to fight so I can help everyone, but he isn’t having it. Cronus though—he’s moving me around like I’m a damn king piece. One step at a time in any direction he wants, but I can never venture too far on my own, because if I do, if he loses me...”

  “He will not lose the war if he loses you, if that is what you are thinking.” Henry turned so he was facing me, and he held my stare. There was something earnest and anxious in his eyes, as if he were desperate to make me understand. “You are not a king piece to him. If you are anything at all, you are a pawn. Something small and inoffensive, easily overlooked, nothing more than fodder. If he gets you where he wants you though—so deep into enemy territory that we don’t even know you’re there—then you will become more to him. But only because of the role you play, not who you are. Despite the illusion of whatever he is offering you, you will be nothing more than another piece of the game to him. Do you understand?”

  I took a deep breath and released it slowly. There was no good solution to any of this. “Cronus wants me. Whatever ungodly reason he has for it, whatever he thinks of me, having me means something to him. I can’t ignore that.”

  “I’m not asking you to,” said Henry. “I’m asking you to think of me, to think of Milo, and realize that you’re no good to either of us if he has you. You cannot trust a Titan.”

  “Now you’re starting to sound like Walter,” I mumbled.

  “He has a point about Cronus. The only person who can stop him from reneging on a deal is Rhea, and she’s already made her position on this war clear. In the meantime, it isn’t worth the risk. Milo is safe. Ava’s taking care of him, and she will not let anything happen to him.”