Goddess Interrupted Read Free Page A

leaped into my throat,
and my eyes flew open as I tried to pull away from James, but his arm
wrapped around me like steel. We were surrounded by rock—no, we were inside rock, and we went through it as if it weren’t any more substantial than air.
James’s expression was as calm as ever, as if slicing through stone and
earth and god only knew what else was perfectly normal.
    It seemed to last for ages, but
only a few seconds later my feet landed on solid ground. James loosened his
grip on my shoulders, but my legs trembled so badly that I clung to him even
though all I wanted to do was thwack him upside the head.
    “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he
said cheerfully, and I glared.
    “I will get you for that,” I
snarled. “You won’t see it coming, but when it’s over, you’ll know what it
was for.”
    “I 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