Goddess Interrupted. Aimee Carter

look forward to it,” he said, and at last I felt steady enough to stand on my own. I bit back my retort as I looked around, and my eyebrows shot up.

      We were in a massive cavern, so big that I couldn’t see the top. The only way I could tell it was under the earth—besides the harrowing journey I’d barely survived—was the lack of sunlight.

      Great. Apparently Henry lived in a cave.

      Instead of the sky, rivers of crystal ran through the rock, providing a glowing light that illuminated the entire cavern. Giant stalagmites and stalactites joined together in rows of columns that couldn’t have possibly been natural, and to my relief, they formed a path to a magnificent palace made of shiny black rock that looked as if it had grown out of the side of the cavern.

      “If I may,” said James. “On behalf of the council, let me be the first to welcome you to the Underworld.”

      I opened my mouth, but before I could say a word, Henry’s enraged cries filled my ears, and I fell to my knees as the world went black.

      CHAPTER TWO

      GIFT

      Henry appeared inches in front of me, his face twisted with such fury that I shrank back. He was in the Underworld, surrounded by the same crystal-infused rock I recognized from my landing, but the cavern wasn’t the same. It was so vast I couldn’t make out the other side, and it was bare except for the massive gate that looked as if it were made of the wall itself.

      Henry raised his trembling hands against a thick fog that seeped between the bars made of rock, his jaw set. His brothers, Walter and Phillip, flanked him on either side, but it was clear that Henry was the general in this battle.

      “It won’t work,” said a girly voice that made my insides turn to ice. Behind Henry stood Calliope, her eyes bright with amusement. “He’s already awake.”

      “Why?” said Henry, his voice strained with effort. “Are you really so far gone that you believe this is the answer?”

      But whatever the question happened to be, I didn’t get the chance to find out. Henry and his brothers vanished, and I opened my eyes and sucked in the cool, damp air of the cavern that held the palace. Somehow I’d wound up on my hands and knees, and James knelt beside me, his brow knit as he rubbed my back. “Are you okay?” he said.

      “What happened?” Catching sight of two approaching figures in the distance, I tensed. It couldn’t be Henry and Calliope. He would never let her anywhere near me.

      “Nothing,” said James uncertainly. “Did you hit your head?”

      I didn’t answer, too busy scrutinizing the two silhouettes. James wasn’t worried, so it couldn’t be Calliope—but had he seen the cavern with the gate? Did he know she was out there, fighting against Henry and his brothers?

      Finally the two figures came into view, and relief flooded through me. “Mom,” I called, standing on shaky legs. James steadied me, and I managed to take a few steps forward.

      My mother, who had spent years battling the cancer that had eventually killed her mortal form, walked toward me looking radiant. I still hadn’t adjusted to the idea that she too was a goddess and had failed to mention that to me for eighteen years, but at that moment all I cared about was filling the hole that had grown inside of me during the six months I’d been gone.

      “Hello, my darling,” she said, embracing me. I breathed in her scent, apples and freesia, and hugged her tightly in return. I’d missed her more than I could have possibly put into words, and as far as I was concerned, no one would ever talk me into leaving her for any length of time again.

      “What was that all about?” said a second voice. Ava. My best girlfriend and the reason I’d met Henry in the first place. Another one who’d lied to me about being mortal. “Kate looked like she was having a fit.”

      “It’s nothing that can’t be controlled with a little practice,” said my mother, touching my cheek. “I see you got plenty of sun. Did Greece treat you well?”

      She let me go, and Ava swooped in for a hug and a squeal. “You look gorgeous! Look at your tan—I’m so jealous. Did you dye your hair? It looks lighter.”

      I searched over her shoulder, but the path that led to the obsidian palace was empty. Henry hadn’t come to greet me after all. My heart sank, and I avoided James’s stare. I didn’t want to see him gloat. “What do you mean, something that can be controlled with a little practice?”

      “Your gift, of course.” My mother’s smile faltered. “Do tell me Henry explained this to you last winter.”

      I gritted my teeth. “From here on out, how about everyone assumes that if Henry was supposed to tell me something, he didn’t. Sound like a plan?”

      “Probably didn’t think you’d survive long enough for it to matter,” muttered James.

      Ava ignored him and looped her arm in mine. “You’re grumpy today.”

      “You would be too if you fell through a hole in the floor and wound up in hell,” I said.

      My mother took my other arm, and James trailed after us as we headed toward the palace. “Don’t let Henry hear you call this place hell,” she said. “He’s very touchy about that sort of thing. This is the Underworld, not hell. It’s where—”

      “—people go after they die,” I said. “I know. He told me that much. Where is he?”

      Even as I asked, I had a sick feeling I knew exactly where he was.

      “He and a few of the others had a matter to attend to,” said my mother. “They will be back before your coronation ceremony tonight.”

      “Does that matter have anything to do with a giant gate and Calliope?”

      Ava stopped short, and I tugged on her arm, but her feet remained planted on the ground. “How did you know that?”

      I shrugged. “That’s what I was trying to tell you all—I saw it, just now.”

      Up on the surface, seeing visions like that would’ve gotten me committed, but my mother didn’t so much as blink. “Yes, sweetie, that will happen from time to time, and eventually you will learn to control it.”

      “Great,” I said waspishly. “Could you at least explain what it is?”

      “No need to get upset,” said my mother, and my exasperation immediately dissolved. She may not have been dying anymore, but after I’d spent four years watching her teeter on the edge between life and death, I’d all but forgotten how to be upset with her. Six months away wasn’t going to change that.

      “I’m sorry,” I said, guilt rushing through me. I glanced at James, who lingered in the background, his hands shoved in his pockets and his mop of blond hair falling in his eyes. But I wanted answers, not more diatribes about how I had a choice. “What’s going on? Why could I see Henry?”

      My mother wrapped her arms around my shoulders, and I relaxed against her. “Why don’t we go inside where it’s comfortable, and then we’ll tell you everything?”

      Somehow I doubted that I would ever really learn everything that was going on when it came to my new family, but my jeans were damp from the ground, and the sooner we got to the palace, the sooner I would see Henry. And then—

      And then what?

      James’s offer trickled back into my mind, circling my thoughts until I couldn’t ignore it any longer. He was wrong. He had to be. I’d survived; I’d passed, and Henry loved me. As soon as we saw each other, everything would fall into place, and things would be normal again. And I’d feel like an idiot for ever questioning Henry.

      The path was shorter than I’d thought, sloping downward toward a courtyard in front of the palace. Instead of flower beds and trees, the ground was