“Why are we in New York?” I said. “Is Rhea here now?”
“Rhea? What would she be doing here?” said James, and he guided me down the hill. “She’s still in Africa.”
“Then why aren’t we in Africa?” I said, and James smirked. Clearly he was enjoying my ignorance.
“We’re here because this was where Olympus happened to be.”
I hesitated. “I thought Mount Olympus was in Greece.”
“Mount Olympus is, but Olympus, the council’s home, isn’t in a fixed spot. Well, no, it is,” he amended, gesturing to the sunset that stained the New York sky. “It’s caught eternally between day and dusk.”
Right. Hence the interior decorating. “So why can’t we just...appear there?”
“Because I miss traveling, and it happens to be what I’m good at.” James took my elbow, his hand warm even through my sweater. “We’re handling things the old-fashioned way and catching the first flight to Zimbabwe. It’ll give us some time to map out our game plan, and I figured stretching your legs would do you some good. Besides, only the six siblings can disappear and reappear in another place. And you now, too, I suppose, once you learn how,” he added. “I bet Walter would teach you once we get back.”
The mention of Walter turned my stomach. “Why can I do it, too?”
James raised an eyebrow. “You’re complaining?”
“Of course not.” I bit my lip. “It can’t be because both of my—my parents—” I could barely force the word out “—are part of the original six. Then Nicholas and Dylan could, too. So why?”
“Because otherwise you’re not going to be very good at traveling through the Underworld, are you?” James untangled his arm from mine and wrapped it around my shoulders instead. “I’m sorry, Kate. Walter should’ve told you ages ago.”
A bitter taste filled my mouth. Sorry wasn’t going to fix anything. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t need him.”
“He is a bit of a womanizer,” agreed James. “Definitely not a good role model for the baby. Thankfully Milo has Henry to look up to.”
For a moment I was silent. James didn’t know whether or not Henry would ever wake up again. We didn’t even know if he’d still be alive by the time we got back. “Your optimism continues to defy reality,” I mumbled.
“I was right about your mother,” he said, and I shook my head.
“No, you weren’t. She died. Her mortal form, anyway, and you had no idea I was going to pass the tests. You didn’t know if I’d ever see her again.”
James waved off my objections. “Either way, this isn’t optimism. This is fact. Henry’s going to make it.”
He was baiting me, the jerk, but no matter how badly I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had me hooked, I couldn’t resist. “Fine, I give. How can you possibly be so sure?”
Grinning, James leaned toward me, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “Because,” he whispered, “Rhea can heal him.”
Chapter 5
Underneath
“Did you know?”
I stood beside Milo’s crib, gazing down at his sleeping form as Henry stood across from me. He looked different—more distant somehow, as if he was somewhere else, as well. He barely looked at me, and he stared unblinkingly down at the baby.
“Did I know what?” he said after a long moment. Was he even listening?
“Did you know that Rhea could heal you?” I said, keeping a stranglehold on my temper. Everything that had happened wasn’t Henry’s fault, of course, but still. Had he known this whole time? Was Walter aware? Was my mother?
“I...suspected,” said Henry, and his eyes glazed over again. Wherever he was, I sure as hell hoped it was more important than his own life. “I did not want to give you false hope.”
“Bullshit,” I said. “You didn’t want to give me any hope at all.”
Several seconds passed, and finally his gaze met mine. “Are you going to try?”
“Try what? You’re her son, aren’t you?” I said.
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Then why would she say no?”
“She does not like to bother herself with our affairs,” said Henry.
“I’m sure she won’t mind pulling herself away from whatever it is she does in order to heal you,” I said. Why was he being so difficult?
Kate?
I froze at the sound of James’s voice, but Henry didn’t so much as frown.
Kate, come back, said James, the words no more than a whisper. It’s important.
It was always important. I sighed inwardly and leaned over the cradle to give Henry a kiss on the cheek. “I have to go. I’ll be back soon.”
“Of course,” he said distractedly, once again staring down into the crib. His gaze wasn’t focused on Milo’s face, though; it was as if he was looking through him. What was going on?
The nursery faded, replaced by the interior of an airplane. Despite the ample room first class provided, my arm ached from the way I leaned against the window, and I winced. These were the only tickets we could get, and James had insisted Henry would pay him back. During my first summer away, I had been reluctant to spend Henry’s money and forced James to fly coach. This time, I didn’t argue. I’d learned my lesson about spending twelve hours crammed between a screaming baby and a snoring passenger who treated my shoulder like a pillow.
“There you are,” said James. “Hungry?” He sat beside me, and on the tray table in front of him sat two actual plates of cheeseburgers and fries. Fancy. James hadn’t bothered with one of them, undoubtedly meant for me, but on the other he’d stacked the fries into a teetering structure.
“Depends,” I said, stretching my legs. “Did you pull me away from Henry just to ask for my fries?”
“’Course not,” said James cheerfully, and he pulled a plastic bottle of ketchup from his backpack. “If I wanted them, I’d steal them. Ketchup?”
“You really brought a bottle of ketchup on the plane? How did you get it through security?”
He grinned. “My secret.”
I moved my plate onto my tray table. Unlike coach, it came out of my armrest, and on the back of the seat in front of me was a wide screen playing a movie I didn’t recognize. “You’re crazy.”