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Love or life.
Henry or their child.
The end of her family or The end of the world.
KATE MUST CHOOSE.
During nine months of captivity, Kate Winters has survived a jealous goddess, a vengeful Titan and a pregnancy she never asked for. Now the Queen of the Gods wants her unborn child, and Kate can’t stop her—until Cronus offers a deal.
In exchange for her loyalty and devotion, the King of the Titans will spare humanity and let Kate keep her child. Yet even if Kate agrees, he’ll destroy Henry, her mother and the rest of council. And if she refuses, Cronus will tear the world apart until every last god and mortal is dead.
With the fate of everyone she loves resting on her shoulders, Kate must do the impossible: find a way to defeat the most powerful being in existence, even if it costs her everything.
Even if it costs her eternity.
“It seems the games are about to begin.”
“What games?” I knew the answer before I’d asked the question though. My dream, my vision—it was the autumnal equinox, and finally Henry knew I was missing.
A sharp pain shot from my back to my abdomen, and I gasped. Cronus was at my side in an instant, exactly the way Henry would’ve been if he were here. I turned away.
“Calliope has decided it will happen today,” he murmured, and his voice would have been comforting if it hadn’t come from him.
“Decided what would happen today?” I struggled to stand and make it to the bathroom, but my legs gave out. Cronus’s cool hands were there to steady me, but as soon as I was back on the bed, I jerked away from him.
“That your child would be born.”
* * *
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
“The Goddess Test puts a fresh twist on the YA paranormal genre by infusing it with back-to-the-basics Greek mythology.”
—Renee C. Fountain, New York Journal of Books
“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
The
Goddess
Inheritance
Aimée Carter
www.millsandboon.co.uk
To Sarah Reck, whose patience and insight are true superpowers.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Guide of Gods
Excerpt
Acknowledgments
Goddess Interrupted Excerpt
Prologue
Throughout his eternal life, Walter had witnessed countless summers, but never one as endless as this.
He sat behind his glass desk, his head bowed as he read the petition before him, signed by nearly all of the minor gods and goddesses scattered throughout the world. Each vowed to stand aside and allow Cronus supremacy so long as it meant there would be no war. None of them seemed to understand that they were already in the middle of one.
Why would they? He and the remaining members of the council had done their jobs in shielding the world from Cronus’s destruction, but they would not last much longer. When Cronus finally broke free from his island prison in the Aegean Sea, the petition would be what it was: a meaningless piece of parchment full of names of those who would be the first to die.
“Daddy?”
He exhaled and straightened, prepared to scold whoever dared to disturb him, but he stopped short. His daughter stood in the doorway, her hair golden as the perpetual sunset poured in through the windows behind Walter. She was the one person he would not turn away.
He set the petition aside. “Ava, my darling. I was not expecting you until morning. Is there news?”
The light gave her skin the illusion of color, but her eyes were dull and her face drawn. Watching her deteriorate since the winter solstice had been the most difficult thing Walter had ever done, but he had no choice. It was for the greater good, and for now the greater good trumped all, even his daughter’s health.
“Iris is dead,” she said, and Walter stilled. A great sorrow he had not felt in centuries filled him, and the perpetual sunlight seemed to darken.
“How?” he said, struggling to keep his voice steady. He had known sending his messenger to try to broker a ceasefire with Cronus was dangerous, as had Iris. It was war, and there would be casualties. But she had been willing to take that risk, and he had not imagined Cronus would go to such lengths against an ambassador.
“Nicholas finished the weapon an hour ago,” she said. “Calliope wanted to test it.”
Walter pressed his lips together. He hadn’t thought it possible, but his son’s skills were greater than even he had estimated. “Is there a body?”
“Calliope tossed her into the ocean,” said Ava. “I brought her back for a proper wake.”
Swallowing tightly, he forced himself to nod. “Very well. Thank you, my dear. I know how much of a risk that was for you. And because of that, I must insist you do no such thing in the future.”
Ava hesitated, but after all their planning, after all their gambles, he knew she could not deny him now. Finally she nodded. “I’m sorry.”
Walter opened his arms, and Ava crossed the room to curl up in his lap. He enveloped her, a shell of the daughter he knew, and buried his nose in her hair. “I am the one who is sorry, my darling, but we will do what we must to win. Is there any news of Kate?”
“Calliope says it will happen tomorrow.”
At last, something was going right. “Then our wait is over.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she mumbled into his shoulder. “It’s been too long. She lost hope ages ago.”
Nine months. That was how long Walter had been locked in a game of strategy and deception with the most powerful being on Earth. From the winter solstice to the autumnal equinox, he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders while hiding his burden from the remaining members of the council. With Henry’s defection, they were all aware that their chances of winning against Cronus had gone from slim to none at all. Ava was their last hope of bringing Henry to their side.
“And you, my darling?” He brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. Not even the weariness of the past year could diminish her beauty.
When Ava didn’t answer right away, she confirmed his suspicions. He had seen her wilt before him, but never had she willingly shown her despair. She knew the stakes. She knew why they could not fail.
“I’m going to tell him.”
At first he thought he had misheard her, but as she pulled away, her blue eyes steely, he knew he had not. “You know you mustn’t,” he said with both the gentle admonishment of a father and the command of a king. “We have worked too long to risk everything now.”
“I thought it was just Kate.” Her face became blotchy as it did when she was about to cry, and something tugged inside him. The paternal desire to stop her from hurting. But what could he do when his actions were wholly necessary to prevent pain even worse than what he was causing her? “I would’ve never agreed if I’d known she was pregnant. You know that.”
“Yes, I know.” He ran his fingers through her hair to soothe her, but she let out a choking sob. “I am sorry.”
She pulled away from him and stumbled to her feet. “The moment Kate gives birth, Calliope’s going to kill her—you know that. And you’re going to let it happen anyway.”
“Perhaps not,” he countered. “You yourself have said that Cronus has taken a liking to her. Perhaps that will be enough.”
“Perhaps?” said Ava, half-wild with frustration. “You’re risking everything on a maybe, Daddy. You don’t know for sure what’s going to happen, and that poor baby—”
“We must do everything we can to ensure we win this war, no matter what we each must sacrifice.” No matter how many had to die. “Now is not the time for holding back.”
“It’s not the time for unnecessary risks and careless mistakes either.” She stormed toward the door. “I’m telling Henry everything.”
“Ava.”
His voice reverberated through the walls of the palace, shaking the very foundation of Olympus. Any trace of paternal affection was gone. It was the command of a king.
Ava stopped short. She had no choice, not after eons of obedience, and Walter felt a pang of guilt at speaking to her in such a way after all he had put her through. It was necessary, though. The fate of the world depended on it.
“You will not tell,” he said. “Not until Kate gives birth.”
“What’s the difference between telling him now and telling him tomorrow?” said Ava shakily, but she held her ground. From anyone else, talking back would have only angered Walter, but he was simply glad to see she had some fight left.
“He will not stop until he has Kate back,” said Walter. “But when he does, he will return to the Underworld and protect her with all his might, and he will continue not to involve himself in our war.”
Her eyes widened. “Wait—you’re using the baby as bait?”
“I will do what I must to bring Henry into the war,” said Walter. “One life is not worth losing it all.”
Ava stared at him as if she didn’t recognize him. Though Walter rarely experienced fear, it coursed uncomfortably through him, like sludge in his veins instead of immortal blood. “It’s a baby,” she said. “You can’t just— It’s a child.”
“If Henry does not participate in the war, then millions of children will die,” said Walter. She had to understand; this was not a matter of obedience and pride. “I realize how difficult it is for you, my darling—”
“You do?” The venom in her voice made him fall short. He had never heard her speak to anyone that way before, least of all him, her father. Her protector. Her king. “It’s my fault Kate’s there in the first place. That baby might die because of me.”
“I will do everything I can to ensure that does not happen,” said Walter. “Once this is over—”
“You think this is ever going to be over?” hissed Ava. “When the council finds out we’re risking Henry’s child to get him involved, who are they going to blame, Daddy? Me or you?”
“I will inform the council of my role,” said Walter.
“The only role the council’s going to see is the one I played, and I’m going to fix it before that baby dies and I really do lose everyone I love.”
Walter drew himself up to his full height. He may have looked like an old man, but next to the Titans, he was the most powerful being in the world, and he never let anyone forget it. Even his daughter. “I forbid it.”
Ava laughed, but it was not the laugh of someone who found any joy in life; instead it was full of self-loathing and hopelessness. “Too late.”
Before Walter could say a word, a heart-wrenching scream full of agony ripped from deep within the earth and rang throughout Olympus.
“He knows,” said Ava, and without another word, she slipped through the door and closed it behind her.
Chapter 1
Birth
Henry.
I bolted upright in the darkness. My forehead was damp with sweat as the dream faded, but his scream enveloped me, imprinting itself on my memory.
Another vision, one of dozens I’d had since leaving the Underworld an eternity ago. This time, however, I wasn’t watching Henry go about his life as ruler of the dead as he waited for me to return. I wasn’t standing by helplessly as Ava gave Henry false updates about where in Africa we were supposedly searching for Rhea.
Finally Henry knew what had really happened, and in the minutes before dawn broke through the night, I clung to the hope that it wasn’t too late.
“A nightmare, my dear?”
I shivered, and the candles scattered throughout my prison lit up. Cronus sat beside my bed, in the same chair he’d occupied every night since late December, when I’d woken up with a pounding headache and memories I wished were nightmares.
This wasn’t a nightmare, though. Cronus was here, working side by side with the Queen of the Gods, who would stop at nothing to hurt me as much as she possibly could.
The baby stirred inside me, undoubtedly unhappy about its rude awakening. I didn’t dare speculate over whether it was a boy or a girl. If Calliope had her way, I might never know, and that heartache was already more than I could take. I set a hand on my swollen belly, so big that the simplest movements were difficult now, and mentally tried to soothe it. “You didn’t hear that?” I said hoarsely.
“My son? Of course,” said Cronus, reaching for my stomach. I slapped his hand away, and he chuckled. “It seems the games are about to begin.”
“What games?” I knew the answer before I’d asked the question, though. My dream, my vision—it was the autumnal equinox, and finally Henry knew I was missing.
A sharp pain shot from my back to my abdomen, and I gasped. Cronus was at my side in an instant, exactly the way Henry would’ve been if he were here. I turned away.
“Calliope has decided it will happen today,” he murmured, and his voice would have been comforting if it hadn’t come from him.
“Decided what would happen today?” I struggled to stand and make it to the bathroom, but my legs gave out. Cronus’s cool hands were there to steady me, but as soon as I was back on the bed, I jerked away from him.
“That your child would be born.”
All the air left my lungs, and this time it had nothing to do with physical pain. He was bluffing. They were trying to scare me into labor before Henry rescued me, or—or something.
But as I leaned back, my hand found a wet spot on the mattress, and my damp nightgown clung to the back of my thighs. My water had broken sometime in the night. It was really happening.
Nine months of waiting. Nine months of fear. Nine months of time being the only thing standing between Calliope and the baby I was carrying, and now it was over.
I wasn’t ready to be a mother. Never in a million years had I imagined having kids before I turned thirty, let alone twenty. But Calliope hadn’t given me a choice, and with each day that passed, the sick dread inside me grew thicker until it nearly choked me. Calliope would take the baby from me, and there was nothing I could do about it. In a matter of hours, I would lose my child—Henry’s child—to someone who wanted nothing more than to see me suffer.
But now he knew. Now there was a chance, if only I could hold on a little longer until Henry came.
Cronus must have seen the look on my face, because he chuckled and fluffed a pillow for me. “Do not worry, my dear. Calliope cannot kill you unless I allow her, and I assure you I would never hurt you.”
It wasn’t me I was worried about. “You’re not going to hurt me, but you’re going to let Calliope do it,” I spat. “You’re going to let her take the baby the moment it’s born, and I’m never going to see it again.”
Cronus stared at me blankly. These were the moments I remembered that in spite of his human form, he was anything but. He didn’t understand why I loved the baby so much. Or, when I’d given Calliope too much attitude and she’d hit me in the mouth, why I’d instinctively covered my belly. He didn’t get how badly the thought of being separated from the baby hurt me before I’d even met him or her.
Then again, Cronus was also the monster who’d tried to destroy his own children, so I suspected empathy was too much to hope for.
“If you would like to keep the child, all you need to do is say the word,” he said, as if it were that simple. Maybe to him it was. “I will ensure that Calliope does not get in the way. In return, all I ask is that you rule by my side.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d made that offer, and it wasn’t the first time that, for a single moment, I entertained the possibility. As the baby’s birth loomed, saying no grew more and more difficult.
Cronus had made no secret of the fact that he wanted me as his queen while he ruled over the entire world, destroying everyone who dared to get in his way. I had no idea why—the small bit of compassion I’d shown him in the Underworld, maybe, or because I hadn’t fought him in the first war—but it didn’t matter. I would be safe from the destruction, and so would the baby. Henry, however, would be the first person Cronus ripped apart, and the entire world would follow.
As much as I loved this baby, as much as I would have done anything to keep it safe, I couldn’t stand by Cronus’s side as he wiped out humanity. I couldn’t do nothing as he killed every last person I loved, and if I agreed, he would keep me alive until the end of all things. I wouldn’t have the choice to die like Persephone had, and I couldn’t live with that guilt no matter how happy and safe my baby was.
But time was running out. The game had changed now that the council knew I was gone, and if I could keep Cronus guessing long enough not to hurt anyone, then maybe that would give the council a chance to find Rhea. So I lied.
“Promise not to kill anyone, and I’ll think about it.”
He grinned, showing off a full set of pearly teeth. Cronus had the smile of an airbrushed movie star, and it only made him more unnerving. “Is that so? Very well. Agree and I will leave humanity alone. My quarrels are not with them, and one must have subjects when one rules.”
“I said anyone,” I countered. “Not just humanity. You can’t kill the council either.”
Cronus eyed me, and I held my breath, hoping against hope I was worth this to him. I had to buy the council more time. “Surely you understand why my children must be contained, but I would be willing to...consider it, depending on the nature of our relationship. On how much you are willing to give.” He ran his fingers through my hair, and I suppressed a shudder. “You and I, together for all eternity. Imagine, my dear, the beauty we would create. And of course your child will know your love, and you will never have to say goodbye.”
I closed my eyes and pictured the moment I finally got to hold him or her. The baby would have dark hair, I was sure of it, and light eyes like me and Henry. Pink cheeks, ten fingers, ten toes, and I would love it instantly. I already did.
“You would be a mother,” he murmured, his voice like a siren’s call. “Forever there to love it, to nurture it, to raise it in your image. And I would be a father.”
The spell he had over me shattered, and my eyes flew open. “You are not this baby’s father,” I said as another wave of pain washed over me. This was too fast. Contractions were supposed to come on slow and last for hours—my mother had been in labor for over a day when I was born.
Cronus leaned in until his lips were an inch from mine. I wrinkled my nose even though his breath smelled like a cool autumn breeze. “No, I am not. I am so much more.”
The door burst open, and Calliope stormed inside. She had aged progressively over the past nine months until the angles on her face had become sharper, and she’d grown several inches to tower over me. As Cronus looked like Henry, with his long dark hair and gray eyes that crackled with lightning and fog, Calliope now looked like my mother. Like an older blond version of me. And I hated her even more for it.
“What’s going on?” she said, and I managed a faint smirk. Apparently she’d overheard something she didn’t like.
“Nothing for you to worry yourself about,” said Cronus as he straightened, though his eyes didn’t leave mine.
“Cronus was making me an interesting offer,” I said, sounding braver than I felt. “Turns out he isn’t going to feed me to the fish like you want.”
Her lips twisted into a snarl, but before she could say a word, Ava hurried past her carrying a large basket full of blankets and other things I couldn’t make out in the candlelight. “I’m sorry,” she said, her face flushed.
“It’s about time,” snapped Calliope, and she focused on me again. “I’d be careful if I were you, Kate. I have a new toy, and I’ve been itching to try it out on you.”
“What new toy?” I said through gritted teeth.
Calliope glided to the side of my bed. “Haven’t I told you? Nicholas generously donated his time and expertise to forge a weapon that will let me kill a god. His timing couldn’t be better.”
My blood ran cold. Nicholas, Ava’s husband, had been kidnapped on the winter solstice during battle. Up until now, no one had said a word to me about him.
“That’s impossible,” I blurted. Nothing but Cronus could kill an immortal.
“Is it?” said Calliope with a wicked smile. “Are you willing to bet your sweet little darling’s life on that?”
My heart dropped. She was going to kill my baby? “Ava?” I said, my tongue heavy in my mouth.
Biting her lip, Ava set her basket down at the foot of the bed. “I’m sorry.”
The room spun around me. This was just another game. Calliope was trying to scare me by using the people I loved most against me, and this time my supposed best friend was playing along.
What if it wasn’t a game, though? Calliope had sworn she would take away the thing I loved the most, and at the time I thought she’d meant Henry and the rest of my family. But she’d meant the baby. She was about to get everything she wanted from me—there was no reason for her to lie. And the way Ava couldn’t so much as look at me...
My throat swelled until I could barely breathe. “Get out.”
Ava blinked. “But someone needs to be with you—”
“I’d rather have Calliope here than you, you traitorous bitch,” I spat. “Get out.”
Her eyes watered, and to my satisfaction, she fled, leaving me alone with Cronus and Calliope. Ava deserved this. She’d known what this would mean, that Calliope had every intention of slaughtering my baby. And if Calliope really had forced Nicholas to forge a weapon—if Ava had distracted the council for the past nine months to give him enough time—
I didn’t care how much danger Nicholas was in. He was Calliope’s son, and no matter how terrible a person she was, I couldn’t imagine her killing her own child. But she was going to kill my baby without a second thought, and Ava had known the entire time.
Even if our positions had been reversed, even if Henry was the one Calliope held hostage, I would have never, ever done this to Ava. I would have never betrayed her and allowed Calliope to kill her child.
“That wasn’t very nice,” said Calliope in a singsong voice, and my stomach churned. She couldn’t kill the baby. I wouldn’t let her.
“I need to pee,” I said, pushing myself up.
Calliope made a vague gesture and busied herself with unpacking the basket. Cronus offered me his hand, but I brushed it off.
“I think I can make it to the bathroom on my own,” I said.
Crossing the room hadn’t been easy since August, and my body strained with each step I took, but I made it. My prison wasn’t exactly plush, although it wasn’t a concrete cell with a thin mattress and grungy toilet either. It was a simple bedroom with a bathroom attached, and it was several stories up, making a window escape impossible. I might’ve been immortal, but I didn’t have a clue whether or not the baby was. And if Calliope really did have a weapon that could kill a god, it didn’t matter anyway.