I turned on my heel and started down the aisle, ignoring the pain in my leg. I took three steps, but the sound of Irene’s voice echoed through the hall.
“Wait.”
I stopped and faced them again, my arms crossed tightly.
“I’m not going to let any of you talk me out of it. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want any of you to either, but sitting around here waiting for Cronus to turn us into bar-beque won’t do anything to help that.”
“We weren’t going to stop you,” said Dylan, and Ava shot him a look. His eyes narrowed, and he squared his shoulders, but at least he didn’t say anything else.
Irene cleared her throat. “What my dear brother meant to say is that while we are ineffective in the Underworld, there are things we could do aboveground.”
“Like what?” I said warily, wondering if it included f inding a spot to hide.
“Create a trap,” said Nicholas, the large blond who had acted as my bodyguard in Eden. He rarely spoke, and I had to glance around the circle before I realized who was talking. “There are only so many exits Cronus can use if Henry—” He paused, and I knew what he meant to say.
If Henry didn’t survive. “If Henry isn’t able to keep him in the Underworld,” he amended. “He might tip his hand early on and show us the route he intends to take. We could create a trap for him, something to hold him until we have a plan.”
“He’ll have to open the gate f irst if he wants to reach the surface,” said Dylan. “I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”
I looked at James for an explanation, but he was too busy staring at his hands. “What do you mean?” I said. “Isn’t he already through?”
The other gods looked at me as if I’d asked why one plus one equals two, and my cheeks burned under their stares.
“Cronus is still behind the gate,” said Irene. “While he’s awake, he can reach corners of the Underworld most of us don’t even know exist. Which is why the others kept him asleep all this time. But what you saw earlier was only a very small part of him, and if he were to fully escape, the damage would be catastrophic.”
All of the blood drained from my face. “That—that was only a piece?”
“Like a pinkie,” said Dylan, wiggling his f inger for em-phasis. “Do you get it now, why none of us wants to f ight him?”
I did, and my mouth went dry. “That doesn’t change anything.”
“No, it doesn’t,” said Irene. “We will all work together to create a trap as soon as we discover the nearest possible exit point.”
“You can,” said Dylan with a scowl. “I want nothing to do with this. I love a good f ight, but this is slaughter.”
“Oh, you’ll help,” said Irene. “Even if I have to drag you there by the ears.”
“And how do you think you’ll manage that?” said Dylan.
Her eyes glinted. “Do you really want to f ind out?” His expression hardened, and I could practically see the smoke pouring out of his ears. “Whatever. At least it isn’t as stupid as aimlessly wandering around the Underworld.”
“Yes, I know it’s stupid, thanks,” I snapped. “I’m still going to try, and you acting like an ass isn’t going to stop me.”
I started toward the exit again, and this time no one spoke up. The farther away I got from them, the more light-headed I became. I might never see any of them again.
By the time I found Cronus’s prison, it could be too late—
and that was if I ever found it to begin with. Everyone I knew could die, and I might spend eternity wandering the Underworld searching for something that no longer existed.
As soon as I’d made it into the antechamber, I sank onto the bench and put my head between my knees. This couldn’t be happening. The world was going to end unless someone uncovered a miracle, and it wasn’t going to be me.
Dylan was right—I wasn’t even sure where I was going, let alone what I was going to do when I got there. But what were my other options? Stay with the remaining members of the council and wait to be killed? I’d be useless setting up a trap. I couldn’t even control my visions, let alone any power I might have.
I couldn’t do nothing and let everyone else handle the battle. Maybe it wasn’t entirely my fault, but I’d certainly helped push Calliope past her breaking point, and I wasn’t in the habit of letting others clean up my messes while I stood around and watched. We had no prayer of winning without the six siblings, and since no one else was going after them, that left me.
Would this have happened if I’d shown Calliope a little more compassion, if I hadn’t kept her from seeing Henry for the rest of her existence? Would she still have done this?
Playing what-if was pointless. If one of the other girls had succeeded, Calliope would’ve done the same thing.
There was nothing I could have possibly done to make Calliope like me, not when she hated me from the beginning.
Whatever role I played in pushing her over the edge, she was the one who made the decision to do this.
Even though I knew that, I couldn’t help but feel guilty.
I heard footsteps approaching from the hall, and a moment later the door opened and shut. I didn’t look up. If it was James coming to tell me I was making a mistake, or Ava insisting I couldn’t give up my life for this, I didn’t care.
I was doing this whether they liked it or not.