For a moment, he looked bewildered, but he quickly masked it with a neutral expression. “Before I met you, I was ready to fade. If something were to happen to you, my wishes have not changed.”
At f irst I thought I’d heard him wrong. He’d manipulated me before—the entire council had—but he’d never used his life against me. That was a line I thought he wouldn’t dare cross. Apparently I’d been wrong.
“Forgive me for not being worried,” I said, my words dripping with sarcasm as every small step we’d taken in the past few weeks crumbled. “Now that Persephone’s back in your life, I’d imagine you’ll want to stick around as long as there’s a chance she’ll kiss you again.” Henry stilled, and behind me I heard my mother hiss,
“Again? Persephone! ”
That painful knot in my chest returned. “I know I’m not her and that I never will be, but you know what, Henry?
That’s a good thing, because unlike her, I’m not going to betray you. I’m not going to fall in love with someone else and decide you’re not worth it, because you’re it for me.
As long as you want me here, I’ll stay, but no matter how much I love you, I will not let you manipulate me like this.
It isn’t fair to me, it isn’t fair to this council, and you have to stop it before it destroys us completely. Be as miserable as you’d like. You want to make out with her even though she doesn’t love you? Even though you haven’t so much as kissed me good-night since I arrived? Fine. Avoid me for years—hell, avoid me for eons. But don’t you dare try to stop me from doing what little I can to help prevent the world from crumbling.”
While Henry stared at me, his mouth slightly open, I turned to Walter. Henry didn’t get a say in what I did this time. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to get ready. The sooner we have another Titan on our side, the better chance we have at winning.”
Walter nodded once, and I stepped from the platform and walked through the circle, focusing straight ahead. I wouldn’t let any of them see me break down.
No one followed me through the pillars and into the antechamber. Once I closed the door, I leaned against it and shut my eyes, struggling to calm my racing heart. I’d done the right thing. Henry had left me with no other choice, and even if he pulled away now, at least it would be in earnest and not because he thought I didn’t love him.
The door behind me opened, and I stumbled. Persephone slid into the room and quickly shut the door, and in those few seconds, I heard several members of the council shout-ing at one another.
“Well, you certainly know how to make an exit,” said Persephone wryly, but her smirk dropped. “I’m sorry for what you saw. I had no idea.”
As if me being oblivious would have made it any better.
“It doesn’t matter,” I mumbled, all the f ight draining out of me. “I know why you did it.”
“Do you?” She sat on one of the benches and gestured for me to join her. I perched on the other end, as far away from her as I could get. “I know how he feels about me.
It’s never been any secret, and no matter how strongly I discouraged him, it kept growing stronger. That was one of the reasons I decided to give up my immortality,” she added. “Because I knew eventually it would get to the point where he wouldn’t be able to take it anymore, and I’d hurt him enough as it was.”
As pretty a story as it was, I didn’t believe her. Persephone was nothing if not self ish. Maybe not as much as I’d initially thought, but I’d seen enough to know that my f irst impres-sions weren’t completely wrong.
“You’re doing the right thing,” she said, echoing my self-assurances. “I understand why Henry’s withdrawing from the f ight, but he’s doing it for the wrong reasons.”
“You mean trying to keep me alive isn’t a good enough reason?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean,” she said, and I grimaced. There was no point in arguing though. She was right. “Like it or not, you’re just one person. Cronus will rip the entire world apart if he escapes the island.”
“You don’t think I know that?” I snapped. “If I could hand myself over and stop this entire thing, I would, but I can’t, because Calliope wants them all dead now. I don’t need you rubbing my nose in it.”
Persephone sighed. “Sorry. Seems I can’t say anything right, can I?”
That could easily be solved if she stopped treating me like I didn’t know anything. I didn’t, but there was no reason for her to be so offensive about it.
“Anyway,” said Persephone after a few seconds passed in silence. “That’s what I wanted to make sure of—that you knew why I kissed him. I’m sorry.”
I stared at my hands. I would have rather chewed off my thumbs than have this conversation. “I’m not mad at you for kissing him. I’m mad at Henry for wanting it.”
“You knew before it happened that he would,” she said.
“So did I. But you know what? He didn’t enjoy it.” I gave her a wary look. “What do you mean?”
“So you didn’t hear that part after all,” she said with a trace of smugness. “I thought so. You wouldn’t have freaked out if you had.”
I scowled. It was hard enough being civil to her without her acting like this. “Just tell me already, would you?” She rolled her eyes. “That temper will get you into trouble someday. I asked Henry if it was as good as he’d expected, and he admitted it wasn’t. It took him a while, but I think he understands that what we had was never real.” I said nothing. Even if I was wrong, that wouldn’t change how he’d treated me the past few months. It wouldn’t change how much he’d wanted to kiss her in the f irst place.