Free The Goddess Inheritance by Aimée Carter Page A

taking care of my mother on my own didn’t matter. I’d cried myself to sleep countless nights, terrified I’d wake up and be alone in the world, and all this time, not only had my father known about me, but he had known exactly where we were and what we were going through.
    “Then I guess it’s a good thing I never thought I needed a father,” I said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a Titan to find.”
    “Kate,” said my mother, reaching for me, but I yanked my arm away. Her lips parted in surprise, and guilt gripped my heart, more painful than anything Cronus could possibly do to me. But I stood my ground.
    “We need to go.” I slid my hand into the crook of James’s elbow and took a step back, ignoring the way my throat tightened. I wasn’t going to cry. Not over Walter, and especially not in front of him.
    For the first time in our friendship, James kept his mouth shut. Instead he nodded in Walter and my mother’s direction. My parents’ direction, I realized. For the first time in my life, I had parents.
    That should’ve made me giddy with excitement, or at least it should have given me a glimmer of happiness during one of the worst times of my life. Instead it made me nauseous.
    “Goodbye, sweetheart,” my mother whispered. Before I could say goodbye in return, golden light flashed from all directions, and bright spots of color burst in front of me as the sunset floors vanished.
    James and I appeared on a grassy hill, and I blinked. Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park, the exact spot I’d met with my mother every night I’d spent in Eden. We were surrounded by people, but none of them so much as glanced up at our appearance. Could they see us? Or had James done something to make them think we’d been there the whole time?
    “Why are we in New York?” I said. “Is Rhea here now?”
    “Rhea? What would she be doing here?” said James, and he guided me down the hill. “She’s still in Africa.”
    “Then why aren’t we in Africa?” I said, and James smirked. Clearly he was enjoying my ignorance.
    “We’re here because this was where Olympus happened to be.”
    I hesitated. “I thought Mount Olympus was in Greece.”
    “Mount Olympus is, but Olympus, the council’s home, isn’t in a fixed spot. Well, no, it is,” he amended, gesturing to the sunset that stained the New York sky. “It’s caught eternally between day and dusk.”
    Right. Hence the interior decorating. “So why can’t we just...appear there?”
    “Because I miss traveling, and it happens to be what I’m good at.” James took my elbow, his hand warm even through my sweater. “We’re handling things the old-fashioned way and catching the first flight to Zimbabwe. It’ll give us some time to map out our game plan, and I figured stretching your legs would do you some good. Besides, only the six siblings can disappear and reappear in another place. And you now, too, I suppose, once you learn how,” he added. “I bet Walter would teach you once we get back.”
    The mention of Walter turned my stomach. “Why can I do it, too?”
    James raised an eyebrow. “You’re complaining?”
    “Of course not.” I bit my lip. “It can’t be because both of my—my parents—” I could barely force the word out “—are part of the original six. Then Nicholas and Dylan could, too. So why?”
    “Because otherwise you’re not going to be very good at traveling through the Underworld, are you?” James untangled his arm from mine and wrapped it around my shoulders instead. “I’m sorry, Kate. Walter should’ve told you ages ago.”
    A bitter taste filled my mouth. Sorry wasn’t going to fix anything. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t need him.”
    “He is a bit of a womanizer,” agreed James. “Definitely not a good role model for the baby. Thankfully Milo has Henry to look up to.”
    For a moment I was silent. James didn’t know whether or not Henry would ever wake up again. We didn’t even know if he’d still be