Goddess Interrupted Read Free

After what happened to Persephone—I want to make sure you don’t
have to go through the same thing, all right? That’s all.”
    I wasn’t an idiot. I knew part
of Henry would always be in love with Persephone. After all, he’d lost the
will to continue after she’d given up her immortality to die and spend
eternity with a mortal, and he wouldn’t have felt that way if his entire
existence hadn’t revolved around her. But I could give him the one thing she
never had—requited love.
    “If you really are happy and you
two love each other equally, then great,” said James. “Good luck to you
both. But if you don’t—if you wake up one day and realize you’re forcing
yourself to love him because you think it’s the right thing to do, not
because he makes you happier than you’ve ever been—then I want to make sure
you know you have a choice. And if you ever want to leave, all you have to
do is say the word, and I’ll go with you.”
    I stormed toward the front doors
of the manor, yanking hard. “Great, so if I ever decide that Henry’s life
isn’t worth it, I’ll be sure to let you know. Help me with these, will
you?”
    James didn’t say a word as he
joined me and opened the heavy doors as if they were made of feathers. I
slipped inside and forced a smile, expecting to see Henry waiting for me in
the magnificent entrance hall made of mirrors and marble. But the foyer was
empty.
    “Where is everyone?” I said, my
smile fading.
    “Waiting for you, I suspect.”
James stepped in after me, and the door slammed behind us, echoing through
the hall. “You didn’t think we were going to stay here, did you?”
    “I didn’t know there was
anywhere else to stay.”
    He draped his arm over my
shoulders, but when I shrugged it off, he shoved his hands in his pockets
instead. “Of course there’s someplace else. Follow me.”
    James led me to the center of
the foyer, where a crystal circle shimmered with a rainbow of colors in the
center of the white marble floor. When I tried to continue to the other side
of the hall, he grabbed my hand and stopped me.
    “This is our stop,” he said,
looking down.
    I stared at the crystal beneath
my feet, and finally I saw it. A strange, shimmering aura seemed to emanate
from where we stood, and I jumped out of the circle. “What is that?”
    “Henry didn’t tell you?” said
James, and I shook my head. “It’s a portal between the surface and the
Underworld. Totally safe, I promise. They’re like shortcuts so we don’t have
to take the long way around.”
    “The long way
around?”
    “If you know where to look, you
can find an opening into the Underworld and travel through various caves and
that kind of thing,” he said. “Dark, gloomy, time-consuming, and trouble if
you’re skittish about having millions of pounds of rock pressing down on
you.”
    “There’s nothing underneath the
surface except lava and dirt,” I said, ignoring the thought of being buried
alive. “Every eight-year-old knows that.”
    “We’re gods. We’re excellent at
covering our tracks,” said James with a boyish grin, and this time, when he
offered me his hand, I took it and stepped back into the circle.
    “What else are you good at?” I
grumbled. “Turning water into wine?”
    “That’s Xander’s specialty,” he
said. “I’m surprised he hasn’t turned the Dead Sea into one big keg party by
now. Must be too salty for him. As for me, I can find anything or anyone or
anyplace you want. Didn’t you notice we never got lost in
Greece?”
    “Except that one
time.”
    “We weren’t actually lost then,
either,” he pointed out.
    “Still.” I gave him a look, and
he turned pink. “I just thought you knew the area well.”
    “I did, thousands of years ago.
They’ve made some modifications since then. Close your eyes.”
    A rush of electrifying power
swirled around us, and a roar filled my ears. Without warning, the ground
dropped from under us, and I shrieked.
    My heart