At last Calliope pulled away and touched her swollen lips. “Perhaps we should retire to the bedroom.”
Oh, god. Were they sleeping together? Nausea overwhelmed me. Knowing he’d been with Persephone eons ago was one thing, but this was too much. He was my husband. My Henry, not hers.
“Yes,” said Henry quietly. “Allow me to take care of the baby, and then I will join you.”
With a giggle, Calliope kissed him once more and glided out of the room. For a split second, Henry deflated, his arms tightening around Milo protectively, and he met Ava’s gaze again. Neither spoke. At last Henry turned and left the room, leaving Nicholas bound to the chair.
I closed my eyes. This wasn’t him, and if we had any chance of getting through this without our relationship being irreparably damaged, I had to remember that. Just like I’d offered myself to Cronus in exchange for Milo’s safety, Henry had done the same with Calliope. I had no right to be upset with him. With Calliope and Ava and every single member of the council who’d let him do this, yes. But not Henry.
“Kate,” said Ava once he was gone. I opened my eyes. Nicholas was unconscious again, his chest rising and falling shallowly, and Ava stood beside him. “Now do you understand?”
I understood. It didn’t excuse any of this, and it didn’t fix our friendship. But I understood.
“Henry still loves you, you know. I didn’t take that away from him. I never could.”
She’d made him fall for Calliope, though. Artificial or not, it was still love, and it wouldn’t erase what happened in that bedroom.
I shuddered. I had to stop thinking about that. I’d seen enough. Ava had apologized so many times that the words were meaningless now, and I had to leave before the hurt dug so deeply inside me that I could never get it out.
I was halfway gone when Ava spoke. “Cronus is going to escape on the winter solstice.”
She’d already told the council that though, and she knew I’d been right there with them. I sank deeper into oblivion, already on the edge of ending this vision.
“And,” said Ava, her voice so distant it was little more than a whisper, “the first place he’s going to attack is New York City.”
Chapter 15
Breaking Point
I snapped back to the island so quickly that the room spun around me. Dizzy, I waited for Ava to finish, but an explanation never came. She knelt beside Nicholas again, murmuring words meant only for him, and I turned away.
There was only one reason Cronus would specifically attack New York City when so many others—London, St. Petersburg, even Beijing—had to be closer. And that reason was me.
This time when I faded from Nicholas’s torture chamber, I didn’t reappear in Olympus. Instead, when I opened my eyes, I was in Milo’s nursery again.
Cronus stood in a dark corner, as if he were waiting for me. If I hadn’t been sure of some sort of connection between us before, I was now. He was keeping tabs on me. Watching me the way only a Titan could.
“You bastard.” I shoved him as hard as I could, but of course it didn’t do any good.
He peered down at me, his chin raised and eyes narrowed. “What have I done to deserve such harsh words? Have I not offered you everything, yet endured your lies again and again?”
I gritted my teeth. “You’re going after my home.”
“Your home is in the Underworld, and I assure you I have no intention of removing you from my path the way I will with the rest of the council. You will have eternity to remain there with the billions of souls who will die at my hand. Perhaps if you behave, I will allow you to join me on the surface for a time. Much like the arrangement you currently have with your very much alive husband.”
Cold horror settled over me. “Why are you doing this? I came to you. I was going to hold up my end of the bargain. I didn’t know—”
“You didn’t know what?” said Cronus with that dangerous neutrality that was infinitely more frightening than anger. “That your dear Henry was alive?”
“I didn’t know he followed me,” I said. “I didn’t know he had a plan. I’m sorry.”
Cronus tilted his head. “No, you are not. You are sorry you have lost that which you thought you could keep hidden. You are sorry you were not the one who was allowed to sacrifice yourself for your loved ones. You are sorry you will be forced to remain alive after I have torn apart everyone you have ever cared about. You are sorry that you have lost your son. But you are not sorry you lied.”
An invisible weight rested on my chest. “You’re right,” I said shakily. “I’m not sorry about lying. But I am sorry all of those people are going to die. And if you hadn’t pushed it to this point, I would’ve been sorry for hurting you, too.”
Cronus touched my cheek with the ghost of affection. “I thought you were different, Kate Winters. I thought you understood.”
“I do. More than you’ve ever understood me.” A lump formed in my throat, but no tears came. Begging and pleading wouldn’t do me any good, but there had to be a way to fix this somehow. To make him understand. “You don’t deserve this kind of pain, but then again, neither do I. Neither does the council. And neither do the billions of lives you’re going to destroy. The only difference between us and humans is death. Even now, with you here, there is no difference. Can you imagine it? An ending? A moment when you cease to exist? And the people who love you, what they would go through—”
“Enough,” he said. I searched his face for some flicker of emotion, but I found none. “I have made my decision. I will not show you mercy when you have shown me none. The war will continue, and I will not surrender or agree to a truce. I have tried to extend the hand of peace to the council, and they spit in my face. I confided in the one person I believed understood me, and you turned out to be the greatest liar of them all. We have nothing more to discuss.”
Before I could protest, Cronus disappeared, and my hands touched nothing but air. He was gone, along with any hope I had of preserving my family.
I stared blankly into the empty space. As soon as Cronus escaped on the solstice, this would cease to be a war. It would be a bloodbath.
There had to be something I wasn’t seeing, something I could do to get him to change his mind. But what could I give him now that he didn’t trust me? What words could I possibly say to fix this?
A soft gurgle caught my attention, and I turned in time to see Henry wander into the nursery with Milo in his arms. He’d certainly taken his time getting up here. Had he detoured? He must have. I silently prayed it wasn’t to see Calliope.