Henry murmured his agreement, and just like that, it was up to me and Ava’s son to find someone who could take over her role on the council—someone who couldn’t possibly exist.
Then again, Henry must’ve thought the same when he began his search for a new queen. If he could overcome his fears and hesitations, I could do the same. “Okay,” I said softly. “I’ll try.”
“I know you will,” said Walter. “And you will do wonderfully.”
That may have been stretching it, but I would do Ava justice. She deserved that much. Across the circle, James smiled at me, and I managed a small one in return. Even if I wasn’t up to the task, he would be there every step of the way. They would all be.
The council wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot. Dylan would probably never like me. They would always give each other knowing looks I would never understand. Walter and I would probably spend most of forever butting heads, and it would be a long time before he saw me as an equal. But despite the fights, despite the lies, despite the frustration and secrets and eons of history I would never catch up on, they were my family now. And I wasn’t letting them go for anything.
* * *
Henry, Milo and I returned to the Underworld the next morning. Despite the gloominess of the caverns, there was nowhere else I would’ve rather been. We were home.
As we entered our red-and-gold bedroom, I stopped in the doorway and gazed around, swallowing the lump in my throat. Ava had decorated it before I’d arrived the year before. How long would it be before everything stopped reminding me of her?
Never, I hoped. I’d keep my promise to remember her always even if the guilt and pain killed me.
Henry bowed his head until his face was only inches from mine. “It will get easier.”
“Promise?” I said.
“Yes.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “I cannot tell you it will ever go away, but that pain is part of you now. It is part of all of us. And because we know it, because we have had to survive it, we will do what we must to make sure we never have to experience it again.”
I exhaled. “I miss her. I don’t know how Walter expects us to just replace her like that.”
“I never thought I would find a replacement for Persephone either,” he said quietly. “And as it happens, I did not. I found something even better. I found you.”
My hand rested over his heart, and I didn’t speak. Words couldn’t have possibly described how much I loved him in that moment. Burying his nose in my hair, Henry held me as we swayed back and forth to a silent rhythm.
“You will never find someone to replace Ava because that person does not exist,” he murmured. “But you will find someone who understands love as Ava did. Who embodies it. Who has, without question, inherited the passion and devotion that defined her. And one day, perhaps in a few years, perhaps many centuries from now, you will stop in the middle of whatever you are doing and look around, and you will realize that things are okay again. Perhaps never completely whole, because nothing can fill that gap of loss. But the parts around it will grow. You will love. You will be happy. You will laugh again. And that day will be better than today. I promise.”
With the baby between us, I hugged him, burying my nose in the crook of his neck. “I love you,” I whispered. “Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for letting me in.”
“I am the one who should be thanking you.” His lips brushed against my hair, and his fingers tangled in the ends as he splayed his hand across my back. “And I will, for the rest of eternity. You saved my life, Kate. You gave me everything. There is nothing I would rather do than be with you forever.”
“You will be,” I mumbled into his chest. “I’m never letting you go again.”
He pulled away enough to touch his lips to mine. “Good.”
I captured him in another kiss, deeper this time and full of everything I couldn’t say. How much I loved him, how thankful I was not just for him, but for the family we had together—all of it. I may have saved his life, but he’d saved mine, as well. Neither of us would ever have to go through that dark loneliness again.
Between us, Milo made a small sound, and I broke the kiss to gaze down at him. He gurgled and waved his tiny fists. “Yes, all right, a kiss for you, too,” I said, grinning, and I dropped one on his forehead. “Such a demanding little boy.”
“The staff put together a nursery for Milo in the room next to ours,” said Henry. “He has everything he needs.”
“Yes, he does.” I looked up at Henry once more. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Of course,” he said. I hesitated, and a moment later I launched into the most difficult question I’d ever asked him.
To Henry’s credit, he didn’t argue. He didn’t like it, but neither did I. That didn’t change anything. And it was the right thing to do. He took my hand, and slowly the bedroom around us faded, replaced by black rock and a monstrous cavern.
The entrance to Tartarus.
“I sealed off the pathway in the wall,” said Henry. “Only we can reach it now.”
I nodded. No need to take any chances. Wordlessly I kissed Milo again and handed him to Henry. My arms felt empty without him, but he’d been in enough danger to last him an eternal lifetime. He would be safe with Henry no matter what happened.
Slowly I made my way to the gate. The bars, once carved out of the black rock itself, now glowed with white light. Rhea. I stood up as straight as I could. “Cronus, I want to talk to you.”
For several seconds, nothing happened. Not that I expected him to come running the moment I called, but he didn’t have to make this difficult.
“Please,” I said, the word sour on my tongue. “I won’t wait forever.”
At last an opaque fog slithered across the ground, but it stopped short of the bars. Unlike before, when he’d had enough of a reach to wreak havoc in the Underworld, Cronus was completely trapped now.
The fog solidified into the silhouette of a man, and Cronus stepped toward the gate, as tall and proud as ever. “Kate, my darling, I knew you’d come back for me.”
“I’m not here to release you,” I said. “I’m here to be with you.”
“Oh?” said Cronus, eyebrow raised. He focused on something behind me, and I scowled. He had no right to look at Henry and Milo after everything he’d done. “In what manner?”
“As your friend. And if not that, then to keep you company.” Even if I would’ve rather burned in a lake of fire. “No one should be alone like this for eternity.”