“Nothing will happen to me.” I rose on my tiptoes, and even though everyone was watching, I kissed him, deepen-ing it for a few seconds before I reluctantly dropped back onto my heels. “I need to do this, and after it’s done, I won’t f ight you on your decision to stay out of the war. You have my word that I’ll sit out, too.”
He still looked unhappy, but at least he nodded. Henry cupped the back of my neck and kissed me again, and I closed my eyes, wishing I didn’t have to go away at all.
All the wishing in the world wouldn’t change the danger we were all in though, and I could either hide away with Henry to protect me, or I could do something about it. Just like I would always choose Henry, I’d already made that choice, as well.
“Love you,” I whispered when he broke away, and for a brief moment, his face crumpled, as if he were about to cry. He quickly smoothed it out again, and the only sign of how he really felt was the red rimming his eyes.
“I love you, too,” he said. “Please come home.”
“I will.”
Giving him one last peck on the cheek, I joined Ava at the other end of the foyer and waved, but only my mother waved back. “Let’s go,” I said to Ava, linking her arm in mine. She wordlessly opened the door, and without looking back, we walked through the garden of jewels toward the portal that would return us to Eden.
The journey up the portal and through the rock was as jarring as it had been when James had f irst led me down. I kept my eyes f irmly shut and held on to Ava as tightly as I dared, but no amount of pretending I was elsewhere would keep the nausea at bay.
At last we stopped moving. I opened my eyes. The foyer of Eden Manor surrounded us, and I let out a sigh of relief.
That wasn’t something I wanted to do often, and avoiding the portal alone might very well have convinced me to stay in the Underworld with Henry.
Outside, it was the dead of winter. Snow fell in thick clumps, clinging to the trees that lined the pathway toward the gate, and I raised my face toward the sky, sticking my tongue out in hopes of catching a f lake.
“I’ve missed the snow,” I said. “Why wasn’t anyone’s idea of the perfect afterlife full of snow? What’s so special about warm weather anyway?”
I’d meant it as a joke, but Ava stopped cold, her grip on my elbow like a vise. “Wait.”
“What?” I said. “Ava, we have to go.”
She shook her head. “No, not yet, we should get Henry or James or—”
I pried her hand off of me. “I know you’re upset about Nicholas, but the sooner we f ind Rhea, the sooner we’ll be able to rescue him. We can’t do that if we keep going back to say goodbye.”
“It isn’t that.” Ava swallowed, but I was already on my way over the hill. “Kate, stop—”
She hurried after me, and I quickened my stride. Whatever was bothering her could wait until we were on a plane to wherever James’s note specif ied.
Ava caught up with me a few feet from the gate, and she grabbed my arm again. “Kate, please, you don’t understand—”
“Hello, Kate.” Calliope stepped into the dirt road that ran parallel to the gate, a devilish smile twisted across her lips.
I froze. It couldn’t be. Icy fear washed over me, erasing everything else I’d felt that morning. I was going to die.
Calliope was going to murder me and string my body across the gates of Eden for Henry to f ind when he came looking for me.
“You can’t,” said Ava desperately. “Calliope, please, you don’t understand—”
“Of course I understand.”
The gate swung open, and Calliope crooked her f inger toward us. I dug my heels into the ground, but an invisible force dragged me toward her, past the boundary of Eden Manor. Ava tugged on my arm, trying in vain to stop me.
“You did well,” said Calliope to Ava. “Your husband will be proud to know his wife is willing to go to such lengths to ensure his safety, and you shall reap the rewards of the loyalty you have shown me.”
My mouth dropped open. Ava’s eyes f illed with tears, and she tried to take my hand, but I pulled it back. “You knew she’d be waiting?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so, so sorry, Kate. I didn’t know.”
“Of course you knew,” said Calliope with a dismissive wave of her hand, and the gate clanged shut. “Don’t pretend you had nothing to do with this, Ava. Lying is very unattractive.”
“Why would you do this to me?” I said to Ava, stunned.
“Why would you do this to Henry and the rest of the council?”
Ava sobbed. “Calliope, you can’t, please. I’ll do anything, just— You can’t. She’s pregnant.” Pregnant. I blinked. Who? Calliope? Both of them looked at me, Ava’s face a mess of guilt and despair and Calliope’s shining with satisfaction, and all the air left my lungs.
Me. Ava meant me.
I struggled against the force that held me down. I needed to go back. Back to safety and the Underworld and Henry, but my feet were rooted to the ground. “Yes, I know,” said Calliope. “You played your part admirably, Ava.” I looked back and forth between them, so dizzy I could hardly see straight. “I don’t understand, how could you possibly— Ava, what did you do? ”
“Nothing,” she cried. “I swear, Kate, I didn’t do anything. She—she wanted me to make you two sleep together, but I didn’t, I promise.”