It was exactly what everyone had been trying to tell me since September, but hearing the words come from Henry f inally made me believe them. “I think I’m getting that,” I said thickly. “I don’t want you to be anyone you aren’t.”
“Then trust me when I say there is no one else I would rather be with.” He ran his f ingers through my hair and tickled my neck with the ends. “Not even Persephone. She was my past, and I was never her future. There was a time when I fought for her, but f ighting for someone is meaning-less if they are not happy with you.”
“Am I doing the right thing, then?” I said. “Fighting for you.”
He circled his arms around my waist, and he was so close that I could feel his breath against my cheek. “No,” he said, and the word made my stomach contract. But before I could panic, he continued, his voice smooth and meant only for me. “You never had to f ight for me to begin with. I am yours and have been from the moment I saw you.” Everything I’d worried myself sick about, every awful thought I had, every doubt, deserved or not—Henry could have prevented them all if he’d simply said that in September. Even the way Persephone had kissed him, I could have understood if only I hadn’t been left alone with my fears for so long. Or maybe if we’d talked about it earlier, she would’ve never had to kiss him in the f irst place. I wheezed a sigh of relief. “It would’ve been nice to know that three months ago.”
A ghost of a smile graced his features. “Yes, I suppose it would have been, and I am sorry for how I have acted.
I will do better in the future.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “Please do not go.”
In that moment, the last thing I wanted to do was leave him, and I looped my arms around him. “You know I have to. I can’t stand by and do nothing, and without Rhea, you could all die. It’s worth the risk. You know it is.” Henry sighed. “You are too stubborn for your own good.”
“I hear it runs in the family.” A moment passed, and I said softly, “When I come back…would it be all right with you if I stayed?”
He furrowed his brow. “Why would it not? I would do anything to make you not go, but that does not mean I will not welcome you back when you return.”
“No, I mean—” I hesitated. “Our deal. Do I have to leave every spring, or can I stay down here with you?” He stilled, at last understanding. I held my breath as I waited for his answer, and he pulled away enough to look at me, his eyes searching mine. He wouldn’t f ind the lie he was looking for though. “You want to stay here all year?
With me?”
“With you. As your wife.”
“As my wife,” he echoed, his gaze growing distant. I bit my lip.
“Is that all right? Staying here all year wouldn’t be breaking any rules or anything, would it?”
“I am the one who makes the rules. If you wish to stay, then you may.” He cupped my neck, his palm warm against my bare skin. “I would be very grateful if you did, but I do not want you to unless you are certain it is what you want. You would have the opportunity to visit the surface whenever you wished, but it is dreary down here.” He hesitated, as if he didn’t know if he should bring it up or not. “Persephone used to say that once you have seen the sun, it is impossible to truly be happy without it.”
“I’ll probably go up for a few days every once in a while,” I said, brushing off the twinge of jealousy inside of me at his mention of Persephone. He simply didn’t want to put me in the same situation. I could understand that, and if we were going to have any chance at making this work, I had to. Persephone had been a huge part of his life, and in some ways, she still was. I could either f ight it or accept it, and right then, I would’ve done anything to stop feeling so damn miserable all the time. Including swallow my pride and forgive my sister for what she’d done to Henry, and forgive Henry for still loving her. “But while the surface has the sun, I would much rather be down here with you.” He rested his forehead against mine. “I would be honored.”
We stood like that for a long moment. I noticed the silver scar from Cronus’s f irst attack peeking out from underneath Henry’s collar, and I traced it. He would be safe in the Underworld, and I wouldn’t have to worry about his safety anymore. Everyone else’s, yes, but not Henry’s.
“In the council meeting…” He paused and brushed his thumb against my bottom lip. “You said I have not given you a kiss good-night since you arrived. I know it is not yet noon, but would now be an acceptable time to remedy that?”
I grinned so hard that the muscles in my cheeks strained.
It had been a long time since I’d smiled like that. I’d missed it. “Now would be perfect.”
When his lips touched mine, desire f looded through me, intertwining with delicious triumph. Calliope hadn’t won.
No matter what she did to me or how many Titans she sent to kill me, she would never take Henry away from me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and let my body mold to the contours of his. There was no substitute for the warmth that f illed me, no amount of holding me at night to make up for the lack of this between us. It was perfect.
Henry, with all of his imperfections, and me with mine—
together, we were just right.
He eased me onto the mattress and brushed my piles of clothing aside to make room for both of us. At the foot of the bed, Pogo let out an annoyed squeak and jumped onto the f loor. I would give him a nice, long belly rub later, because right now, short of Cronus appearing in the bedroom, nothing was going to pull me away from Henry.
When he toyed with the hem of my sweater, I tugged it off and tossed it amidst the other clothing. He splayed his hand over my bare stomach and broke away from me, watching me with a baff led look in his eyes.
“What is it?” I said, catching my breath. “Is everything all right?”
It took him a moment to respond. “Are you sure you wish to do this?”
Every doubt I’d had came rushing back, but after a moment of dizzying panic, I remembered what Persephone had told me about her and Henry’s wedding night. This would be the f irst time we’d done this without the inf luence of an aphrodisiac, and if he thought there was a chance I could react like Persephone had, then his hesitation made perfect sense. I forced myself to breathe steadily. “I’m positive.” Henry seemed to accept this, but when he leaned in to kiss me again, another awful possibility popped into my mind, and I turned my head at the last moment so he caught my cheek instead. “Why? Do you not want to? We don’t have to if you’d rather not, it’s all right. I can wait. I want to wait if you do.”