The Goddess Inheritance (Goddess Test #3)(26)
Author: Aimee Carter

“What the hell is that?” said James. He and Henry stepped back, and I rose. These hadn’t been here last time either.

On the ground, it was impossible to see them all as they stretched across the Parthenon. Instead I focused on the one nearest my feet: a drawing of fifteen thrones, all consumed by fire. Even though the lines didn’t move, it was easy to see the flicker of the flames.

My pulse raced, and I hurried over to another. A massive figure hovering over a crack in the earth as a dozen tiny figures fought it.

Cronus, escaping from the Underworld.

“It’s his version of history,” I said, stunned. “Not just history, but his plans for the future, too.”

Slowly Henry, James and I walked around the ruins, examining each picture. Some were of a time long before I was born—some before the birth of humanity—and Henry and James quietly explained them to me. But others I recognized. The drawing of a gate in Tartarus made me shiver, and I turned away. Each bar had a bloody handprint on it.

“Kate?” said Henry. “Come see this.”

I moved to his side and slid my hand in the crook of his elbow. “What’s—”

I stopped short. Below my feet, an etching of Cronus stared up at me, and he wasn’t alone. Standing beside him, holding on to him as I held on to Henry now, was a girl wearing a crown.

Not just a girl.

Me.

That girl was me.

Chapter 8

Queen

Silence. I held my breath, waiting for Henry to say something, but he didn’t. He didn’t blink, he didn’t move, he didn’t look away from the image. He just stared, and the same black waves of power that appeared in the airport began to gather.

Terrific. There went any chance I had of stopping Henry from riding his cloud of doom back to Cronus’s island.

James sauntered over and let out a low whistle. “Nice. Cronus really captured your essence. And look at that tiara.”

I elbowed him. “It isn’t me.”

“Who else would it be? I mean, look at her—the nose is a bit off, but other than that, it’s perfect.”

“It isn’t me,” I said stubbornly, giving him a look. We both knew it was a lie, but Henry couldn’t find out about the deal I’d made. “Calliope’s been shifting her appearance, and she looked exactly like an older blond version of me. You can’t tell what color hair this girl has, but that is definitely her nose.”

James held my stare for a long moment, and finally he refocused on the picture. “You’re right,” he said. “It must be Calliope.”

I wanted to hug him for lying and smack him for doing it so badly. Instead I settled on a smile and wrapped my arm around Henry’s waist. “See? It’s Cronus and Calliope. Nothing else makes sense anyway.”

Henry exhaled, as if he’d been holding his breath this entire time. Maybe he had. “Of course,” he murmured. “My mistake.”

Henry wasn’t stupid, but I hadn’t lied—Calliope did look a lot more like me and my mother these days. With luck, that would cover my lies long enough for Henry to recover. And by then, maybe his involvement would be enough for the council to take Calliope down and recapture Cronus, after all.

I couldn’t stomach staring at that image any longer, and I drew Henry and James over to the edge of the Parthenon. Together we gazed down at the devastation once more, but this time Henry’s grip felt like steel. He wasn’t letting go for anything, and neither was I.

I didn’t know how long we stood there. Minutes. Hours. Years. I was lost in forever, waiting for something to happen to remind me that there was still a world out there, a place to fight for even though Athens was gone, and a future beyond the one Cronus wanted for me. It wasn’t hopeless, not yet, and I couldn’t afford to forget that. The ocean grew surlier, whitecaps forming and waves raging against the shore, and something streaked across the sky.

I blinked. “What was that?”

“What was what?” said James, and another spark sped across the purple horizon.

“That,” I said as another followed, and another. “Rescue flares?”

“No,” said Henry. “It is dusk, and Olympus is overhead. The council is attacking the island.”

My blood ran cold. I’d never seen the other members of the council attack in their own realm. Down in the Underworld, their abilities had been muted, but on the surface they must have been giving it their all.

At what cost? Who would be next? My mother was among them. Would it be her?

I swallowed hard, and my vision blurred. The last time I’d spoken to her, I’d been a selfish brat. I hadn’t given her the chance to explain why she’d kept the identity of my father secret. What if those were the last words I ever said to her?

“I should help them,” said James, and he tried to let go of my hand, but I held on.

“Be safe,” I said. “And make sure my mother comes home.”

He kissed my cheek. “Always. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

A few minutes? James started toward the center of the Parthenon, and several feet away, he began to glow. Before I could utter a word of surprise, he, too, turned into a blaze of light, and he took off after them.

“Oh, my god,” I said as I followed his path across the sky. “I had no idea we could do that.”

“They are most powerful when Olympus is nearby,” said Henry. “As James said, the battle will not last long. Come. We must return to where it is safe for you.”

“You, too,” I said firmly. He could pretend he was fine all he wanted, but he wasn’t fooling me. I could see the exhaustion in his eyes. He wouldn’t have a chance if Cronus discovered we were here, if he didn’t know already. “Can we still visit Olympus sometime, once you’re healed?”

Henry gave me a puzzled look. “We are not returning to the Underworld. We are going to Olympus. Cronus and Calliope believe me to be dead, and we must encourage that belief.”

He was wrong; Cronus didn’t think he was dead. He knew we were going to find Rhea, and he had to realize that Rhea wouldn’t refuse to help her son.

Though what if he didn’t? He knew nothing about a parent’s bond to a child. He cared about control and power, not affection and love. If I told him Rhea had refused to help, would he believe me?

“All right,” I said. I would talk to James about it later. Henry was too tired, and he needed rest, not a late night of planning how best to screw with Cronus’s head. He’d be all too willing to do it, too, after that image of me beside Cronus. “I don’t know how to get back to Olympus.”