Goddess of the Underworld
Page 12
His wails, so tiny and helpless, filled the room, and my heart crumbled. Every bone in my body demanded that I stand, that I go to him and save him from the life that awaited him with Calliope, but I couldn’t move. The harder I struggled, the more I froze, and the more my body ached.
She looked at me, her eyes bright and full of malice. She was enjoying this. She was reveling in my pain. “That’s not for you to decide, dear Kate.”
On the edge of my vision, I saw Cronus shift. “You will not hurt the child,” he said, his voice low and full of thunder. “That is not a request.”
For a moment, Calliope’s eyes narrowed, and my heart leaped into my throat. She was going to challenge him. Use my son to prove her dominance—that she was the one in control.
But she wasn’t, and she knew it. And for the first time since I’d heard of the King of the Titans, I was grateful for him.
“Fine,” she said in an annoyed voice, as if she were only letting him win because she wanted to. We both knew the truth. “I won’t kill him.”
Relief swept through me like a drug, pushing away the agony of dreading his death, and I released the breath I’d been holding. Because of Cronus, he would live. “Can I—can I hold my son? Please?”
“Your son?” Her arms tightened around the baby, and a mockery of a smile curled across her lips. “You must be mistaken. The only child in this room belongs to me.”
Without another word, she walked through the door in a cloud of victory, leaving me empty and utterly alone.
She wouldn’t take his life—that meant there was still time. But how long would it take before she got tired of obeying Cronus and killed the baby just to watch me bleed?
I had to get to him. I had to save him. Even if Calliope didn’t touch a hair on his head, the thought of him being raised by that monster, twisted into something black and beyond recognition as the innocent child he was now—if my time in the Underworld had taught me anything, that kind of life was infinitely worse than the peace of death.
Desperation clawed at me, tearing me up from the inside out, and I slowly turned to face Cronus.
His queen. My life, my choices, my freedom for my son’s.
“Please,” I said, hiccupping. “I’ll do anything.”
He brushed his cold fingers against my tearstained cheek, and this time I didn’t move away. “Anything?”
The words were like knives on my tongue, but I said them anyway. “Anything,” I whispered. “Save him and—and I’m yours.”
Cronus leaned toward me, stopping when his lips were only inches from mine. “As you wish, my queen.”
I swallowed. Fire spread through my body, leaving burning heat in place of the aches of giving birth as Cronus healed me. It was worth it. Henry would understand, and somehow, someway, I would find a way to unite him with the baby.
I sat up, dizzy with hope, and touched my flat stomach. Somehow Cronus had returned my body to the way it had been before I’d become pregnant, and the missing swell of my belly and chest was disorienting. Why not leave me with the ability to feed the baby? Because he knew it wouldn’t matter? But before I could say a word, the world began to shake.
“What—” I started to say, gripping the edge of the mattress, but something in the corner caught my attention. The sky through my window was bathed in an unnatural golden light, and around us the entire island quaked violently.
“I will return, my dear, and then we shall be together,” said Cronus. He pressed his cold lips to my cheek, and in an instant he was gone, but I didn’t care.
In the distance a black cloud approached, sizzling with lightning. Though Cronus himself couldn’t escape the island, it passed through the barrier the council had created as if it were nothing, and I spotted the silhouette of a man on top of it. Hope swelled within me, and I didn’t have to see his face to know who the dark figure was.
Henry.
You can keep reading Kate and Henry’s story right now!
Don’t miss the final complete Goddess Test novel,
THE GODDESS INHERITANCE
by Aimée Carter.
Only from Harlequin TEEN.
Don’t miss any of the epic and exhilarating action in the GODDESS TEST series by Aimée Carter!
Immortality or love. You can’t have both.
The Goddess Test
The Goddess Hunt (Novella)
Goddess Interrupted
The Goddess Queen (Novella)
The Lovestruck Goddess (Novella)
Goddess of the Underworld (Novella)
God of Thieves (Novella)
God of Darkness (Novella)
The Goddess Inheritance
“A fresh take on the Greek myths adds sparkle to this romantic fable.”
—Cassandra Clare on The Goddess Test
***
Need more action, suspense and conspiracy in your life? Look no further than Aimée Carter’s thrilling and imaginative BLACKCOAT REBELLION novels!
Are you more than the number on the back of your neck?
Pawn
Captive
Queen
“An engaging heroine to root for…a page-turner full of twists and turns.”
—Booklist on Pawn
Connect with us:
HarlequinTEEN.com
Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
Twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN
Instagram.com/HarlequinTEEN
Looking for more epic fantasy, devious intrigue and pulse-pounding adventure? Looking for new worlds to get lost in? You’ll love the BLOOD OF GODS AND ROYALS series by New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman!
Royalty. Magic. Love. Betrayal.
It’s in Their Blood. It’s Their Legacy.
It All Begins with LEGACY OF KINGS.
Alexander, Macedon’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world.
Katerina must navigate the dark secrets of court life while keeping hidden her own mission: kill the queen.
Jacob will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means having to compete with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince.
And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess, seeks the deadly Spirit Eaters to alter her destiny.
Read them all now!
VOICE OF GODS (Novella)
LEGACY OF KINGS (Book 1)
EMPIRE OF DUST (Book 2)
QUEEN OF ASHES (Novella)
REIGN OF SERPENTS (Book 3)
Connect with us:
HarlequinTEEN.com
Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
Twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN
Instagram.com/HarlequinTEEN
Powerful magic. A deadly legacy. A world at the edge of war.
Don’t miss the next must-read epic fantasy
THE BLACK WITCH
by Laurie Forest!
A new Black Witch will rise…her powers vast beyond imagining.
Granted the opportunity to study at the prestigious Verpax University, Elloren Gardner, granddaughter of the last Black Witch, finally has a chance to embrace a destiny of her own, free from the shadow of her grandmother’s legacy.
But the university is a treacherous place for the granddaughter of the Black Witch. As evil looms on the horizon and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, Elloren’s best hope of survival may be among the most unlikely band of misfits…if she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to hate and fear.
Read it now!
Connect with us:
HarlequinTEEN.com
Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
Twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN
Instagram.com/HarlequinTEEN
Don’t miss a moment of heart-pounding fantasy adventure in the EVERLIFE series, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter!
The end is only the beginning. It begins with FIRSTLIFE.
I’ve been told history is written by survivors. But I know that isn’t always tr
ue. My name is Tenley Lockwood, and very soon, I’ll be dead.
FIRSTLIFE (book 1)
LIFEBLOOD (book 2)
Read them now!
***
Looking for more great reads from Gena Showalter? Discover the jaw-dropping, zombie-infested bestselling series, THE WHITE RABBIT CHRONICLES!
Step through the zombie glass, if you dare, with ALICE IN ZOMBIELAND…
She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave.
Forever.
Read the complete series today!
ALICE IN ZOMBIELAND (Book 1)
THROUGH THE ZOMBIE GLASS (Book 2)
THE QUEEN OF ZOMBIE HEARTS (Book 3)
A MAD ZOMBIE PARTY (Book 4)
Connect with us:
HarlequinTEEN.com
Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
Twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN
Instagram.com/HarlequinTEEN
Looking for more epic stories featuring dragons, rebellion and all-out war?
Discover THE TALON SAGA, from New York Times bestselling author Julie Kagawa!
The legions will be unleashed, and no human, rogue or dragonslayer can stand against the coming horde.
TALON (book 1)
ROGUE (book 2)
SOLDIER (book 3)
LEGION (book 4)
***
Want more from New York Times bestselling author Julie Kagawa?
Enter the world of THE IRON FEY!
Destiny awaits. It begins with THE IRON KING.
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…
Something has always felt slightly off in her life—she never quite fit in at school or at home. But everything she’s known is suddenly about to change.
Because Meghan is the daughter of a mythical faery king…and a pawn in a deadly war. And she’s about to discover just how far she’ll go to save someone she cares about, stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dares face…and find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.
“Julie Kagawa is one killer storyteller.”
—MTV’s Hollywood Crush blog
Read them all!
THE IRON KING (book 1)
WINTER’S PASSAGE (novella)
THE IRON DAUGHTER (book 2)
THE IRON QUEEN (book 3)
SUMMER’S CROSSING (novella)
THE IRON KNIGHT (book 4)
IRON’S PROPHECY (novella)
THE LOST PRINCE (book 5)
THE IRON TRAITOR (book 6)
THE IRON WARRIOR (book 7)
Connect with us:
HarlequinTEEN.com
Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
Twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN
Instagram.com/HarlequinTEEN
Discover a dark, irresistible new fantasy from Amanda Foody—
DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY!
Step inside the Gomorrah Festival, a traveling carnival of debauchery that caters to the strangest of dreams and desires.
Sixteen-year-old Sorina has spent most of her life within the smoldering borders of the Gomorrah Festival as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years. This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the festival’s Freak Show.
Despite the fact that her illusions are just that—illusions—and not truly real, one of them is murdered. Desperate to protect her family, Sorina must track down the culprit and determine how they killed a person who doesn’t actually exist.
Read it now!
Connect with us:
HarlequinTEEN.com
Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
Twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN
Instagram.com/HarlequinTEEN
Make Harlequin TEEN your new BFF
Get the latest scoop on bookish news, events and contests with our Harlequin TEEN Newsletter! The hottest titles, exclusive author content and awesome giveaways are just a click away.
Sign up today!
http://bookpages.harlequin.com/teen/
Other ways to connect with us:
HarlequinTEEN.com
Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
Twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN
Instagram.com/HarlequinTEEN
ISBN-13: 9781488080845
GODDESS OF THE UNDERWORLD
First published in THE GODDESS LEGACY anthology by Harlequin TEEN in 2012.
This edition published in 2017.
Copyright © 2012 by Aimée Carter.
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com