“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.”
Cronus’s expression grew thoughtful. “I did not realize you cared.”
“I don’t,” I said coolly. “I hate you for what you did to my family. I hate you for not healing Ava. I hate you for being a megalomaniac who can’t see past your own desires. But you saved my son’s life the day he was born, and I will never forget that.” I paused. “I know what it feels like to stare into a black future with no one left in your life, and no one deserves that. So I’m going to come see you. Not every day, but enough to make sure someone’s watching you. Enough to make sure you’re not alone.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And if I do not wish for you to come?”
“Too damn bad. This is how it’s going to be whether you like it or not, so you might as well get used to it.”
A long moment passed, and at last Cronus nodded. “Very well. Until then.”
He disappeared into the fog, and the tendrils drifted backward until the darkness swallowed them completely. I took a shaky breath, trying to calm my racing heart, and Henry placed his hand on my back.
“I love you,” he murmured. Those three words would never lose their magic. “Even if you are frustratingly good sometimes.”
I brushed my fingers against Milo’s cheek, reassuring myself for the hundredth time that he was still there. “Someone on the council needs to be,” I said, and Henry chuckled.
“Yes, I suppose you are right. Now come.” He took my hand, his touch a reminder of everything about this world that I loved. “Let’s go home.”
The black rock around us faded, leaving only lingering remnants of the war and heartache we’d battled. Henry was right—it would get better in time, as all things did. As much as loss had defined us, so did our capacity for hope.
And from here on out, no matter what the future had in store for us, we would face it together. Always.
* * * * *
Acknowledgments
Writing the conclusion to Kate Winters’ story is one of the hardest and most rewarding things I’ve ever done, but it would have never been possible without the enthusiasm and support of readers.
So first and foremost, thank you—yes, you—for reading this series. I could have never done this without you.
In addition, I’d like to acknowledge and thank the following people:
As always, I would be nowhere without my magical agent, Rosemary Stimola, and her endless knowledge and support.
The entire Harlequin TEEN team, especially my incredible editor, Mary-Theresa Hussey, senior editor Natashya Wilson, and PR extraordinaire Lisa Wray. Thank you all for taking a chance on these books.
Caitlin Straw, for putting up with me every step of the way.
The ever-growing community of YA bloggers, especially those who supported this series from the beginning.
All of my writer friends, especially Courtney Allison Moulton, Carrie Harris, Lauren DeStefano, Sarah J. Maas, and Melissa Anelli.
All of the people in my life who have ever listened to me ramble about writing, especially Nick Navarre, Ally Hess, Kendall Basore, and Kristine Kempl.
The mother council, including Karla Olson-Bellfi, Barb Zdan, Mary Sweet, Lisa Rutledge, Mary Robert, and Sue Edwards-Haesler.
But most of all, I want to thank my father, Richard Carter, for all of his sacrifice, support, and corny jokes. You’re the best dad I could ever ask for. Love you most.
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For millennia we’ve caught only glimpses of the lives and loves of the gods and goddesses on Olympus. Now Aimée Carter pulls back the curtain on how they became the powerful, petty, loving and dangerous immortals that Kate Winters knows.
CALLIOPE/HERA represented constancy and yet had a husband who never matched her faithfulness.…
AVA/APHRODITE was the goddess of love and yet commitment was a totally different deal.…
PERSEPHONE was urged to marry one man, yet longed for another.…
JAMES/HERMES loved to make trouble for others—but never knew true loss before....
HENRY/HADES’S solitary existence had grown too wearisome to continue. But meeting Kate Winters gave him a new hope.…
Five original novellas of love, loss and longing and the will to survive throughout the ages.
“Why is it your rightful place and not mine? Because of my sex?” I spat, sounding far more courageous than I felt in the face of my brother’s crackling power. Mine easily rivaled his, but it was quiet, understated, the sort you didn’t know was there until it was too late. I could never display mine in such an intimidating manner.
“Yes,” said Zeus without preamble. “Because you had the misfortune of being made in our mother’s image, and our mother chose to defer to our father. You will be a queen if you wish, Hera, but only second to one of us.”
No one challenged him. No one spoke to support me. And as those eternal seconds passed, hatred unlike anything I had ever felt before burned within me. “I will prove you wrong someday,” I snarled. “And when that day comes, you will be
cast out and fed to the wolves. Do not say I did not warn you.”
* * *
Select Praise for
Aimée Carter’s
The Goddess Test series
“The narrative is well executed, and Kate is a heroine better equipped than most to confront and cope with the inexplicable.”
—Publishers Weekly on The Goddess Test
“Carter’s writing is a delight to read—succinct, clean, descriptive. Goddess Interrupted is definitely a page-turner, one full of suspense, heartbreak, confusion, frustration and yes, romance.”
—YA Reads on Goddess Interrupted
Also by
Aimée Carter
The Goddess Test Novels
in reading order:
THE GODDESS TEST
“The Goddess Hunt” (ebook)
GODDESS INTERRUPTED
THE GODDESS LEGACY
and the upcoming
THE GODDESS INHERITANCE
THE GODDESS LEGACY
AIMÉE CARTER
For Carrie Harris, who is one of a kind,
brilliantly hilarious,
and knows just what to say to vanquish the crazies.
JUICES.
Contents
The Goddess Queen
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
The Lovestruck Goddess
Goddess of the Underworld
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
God of Thieves
God of Darkness
Calliope’s Offer
Defeat
Ingrid
Kate
The Goddess Queen
Part One
In all the years I’d existed, I’d never expected to be free.
I was the daughter of Titans, and as such, I’d always accepted it as fact that they would rule. They were without question the most powerful beings in the universe, after all. They controlled everything and everyone. They were our makers. They were our gods.
But after ten years of rebellion and war in an effort to protect humanity from our father’s twisted games, we were the gods now. Still in our infancy compared to our creators, my siblings and I now ruled over the world and all her inhabitants. And as I stared out across the great expanse that was our domain only minutes after our battle had ended, I felt something I thought would end with the war: I felt fear.
It was unnatural. What did we, the captors of Titans, the new generation of gods, have to be afraid of? But the more I tried to picture the future, the clearer it became to me. We hadn’t inherited just the Titans’ thrones. We’d inherited their responsibilities, as well. And whether or not we were ready for it, the world was waiting for us. Humanity was depending on us to get it right.
Lightning lit up the sky, followed by a symphony of thunder, and I snapped out of my reverie. My youngest brother let out a giant whoop that echoed for miles. “Try to beat that,” said Zeus, elbowing my middle brother, Poseidon.
Poseidon scoffed. “That’s nothing. Watch this.” And with a wave of his hand, the sea below us roared to life, swirling ominously and creating shapes and shadows that danced across the water. Rushing forward, the waves crashed against the cliff we stood on, shaking the very earth.
“Not bad,” said Zeus. “But I’ve seen better.”
Before I could blink, Poseidon tackled him to the ground, and the pair of them proceeded to spend the next several minutes trying to pin each other down. If humanity was depending on us to get it right, they were in for several eons of disappointment.
“Don’t look so sour, Hera,” said Demeter, my sister. She stood beside me, a smile playing on her lips as she watched our brothers wrestle. How she could find amusement in their lack of maturity baffled me.
“Humanity’s going to crumble in a matter of weeks at this point,” I said. “They need guidance. Protection. Order and help in establishing a life without the Titans’ tyranny. Our brothers are not fit to rule.”
“We are,” said Hestia from the other side of Demeter. Both of my sisters watched them with their heads held high, and they looked every inch the queens the world needed. “As is Hades. Zeus and Poseidon will grow up soon enough, I suspect.”
“Never!” cried Zeus, and his booming laughter echoed across the ocean as he managed to gain the upper hand in their wrestling match.
“See?” I gave my sisters a pointed look. “We’re doomed.”
“I wouldn’t go quite that far yet.” Our eldest brother, Hades, stepped beside me, his dark hair whipping across his face in the wind. He offered me a small smile, and his eyes glittered with intelligence. Something our other brothers sorely lacked. “You did well, sister. If it hadn’t been for you, we would’ve never succeeded.”
My cheeks grew warm. “You’re too kind,” I said with false humility. I knew as well as he did that by breaking the bonds of the Titans’ loyalty to one another, I’d cinched our victory. But the war was over now, and the six of us were a unit that not even I could break. United we had proven to be stronger than even our father, and if we were to have any chance of success, we had to remain that way.
“Hardly. I dare say you should be ruling us all,” said Hades.
On the ground, Zeus sat up and shoved Poseidon off him. “Hera, Queen of the Gods?” He chuckled and gave me an enormous wink. “Maybe if she had a king.”
He was lucky I was exhausted and weary after battle, else I would’ve made sure he never had the chance to wink at me or any other girl again. “Are you saying a woman can’t rule?” I said.
“I’m saying it would never work.” Zeus stood again, offering Poseidon a hand. Once they were both on their feet, they shoved each other playfully and made their way over to the rest of us. “Humanity is used to a king, and Rhea never exercised her rights as queen. They need a leader right now, not a mother.”
“I could be a leader,” I snapped, and hot anger filled me. Zeus knew never to bring up our mother. The loss of her presence was still too fresh. “I would make a damn good one.”
Zeus shrugged and raked his fingers through his golden hair. “Maybe so, but I was the one who led us all to victory. We can all be kings and queens in our own rights, and there’s plenty for us to rule over. But as far as a supreme leader goes—”
“Hera won the war for us,” said Hades in that quiet, measured voice of his. How he was able to stay so calm in the face of blatant arrogance baffled me. Zeus might have been responsible for the majority of the brute force against the Titans, but he was no more powerful than the rest of us. And he was the youngest and by far the least ready to handle the responsibilities of leadership.
“We all won the war,” said Demeter. “We will all rule together, as a council. We will all have equal say, and we will all listen to and respect one another. It is the only way we will not fall victim to revolt, as the Titans did.” She squeezed my hand. “Is that acceptable to you, Hera?”
As if I had any real say. But all five of my siblings watched me, waiting for me to yield, and I had little choice. I would not be the one to cut the ties that bound us together.
“As long as it is an equal rule, I can accept that,” I said. At least that way the chances of Zeus and Poseidon wreaking havoc were considerably diminished.
Zeus grinned boyishly. “Then it’s settled. Let’s draw lots for the kingdoms.”
“The kingdoms?” I said. “But there are only three.”
“Yes,” said Zeu
s with mock patience, as if I were a child who had to be spoken to slowly in order to grasp anything. “Like I said, humanity would never follow a queen.”
The edges of my vision turned red, and I clenched my jaw so tightly that I could have shattered diamond between my teeth. But Zeus went on as if he didn’t notice, and three gray pebbles appeared in his hand. “Poseidon,” he said with a grand bow, as if he were doing him a favor, letting him draw first.
Poseidon narrowed his eyes and touched each of the three stones in turn. “I know which domain you want,” he said. “And you know which domain I want. So why don’t you just tell me which one to pick?”
Zeus scoffed. “Where would be the fun in that?” But the middle stone began to glow, and Poseidon snatched it up. As he held it in his palm, a great crash of sea against rock echoed around us, and the stone exploded into a rush of water.
Poseidon grinned. “Perfect.”
“Thought you might like that.” Zeus turned to Hades next and offered him the remaining stones. “Brother.”
Hades eyed him for a long moment, and it wasn’t difficult to see what was going on underneath his mask of neutrality. Allowing Zeus to have the sky domain and ultimate rule over the living was dangerous at best. Zeus wasn’t ready for it, but if this council was truly to be, then perhaps we could all temper him. Then again, forcing Zeus into the Underworld to mingle with the dead would kill the light inside him, the same light that had rallied us even when we thought all was lost. Zeus wasn’t meant to remain among the dead. It simply wasn’t his place in the world, and we all knew it. But that didn’t mean he was ready to rule.