Breathing heavily, I tried to shove her off me, my fist still wrapped around the handle of the dagger. Something was wrong though—when I tried to pull back, the dagger resisted, and Calliope folded her body around my arm.
Her cries turned to gurgles, and she tore at my elbow with what little strength she had left. The weapon slipped from my grip, and she fell away, clawing at her chest.
I scrambled back. The silver handle stuck out of her chest at a sideways angle, through her sternum and pointing directly to her heart. Blood poured from the wound, and she convulsed, the golden aura around her fading until there was nothing left.
“You—” she managed, but the rest of her words died along with her. Her body stilled and her eyes stared at me, empty and unseeing.
“No,” I whispered. “You did this to yourself.”
All at once, the sky exploded, and white light blasted through the darkness. The din of war gave way to a chorus of the most beautiful voices I’d ever heard, and underneath me, Calliope’s body began to glow again. I hurried back to Ava’s side and took her hand. Nicholas joined us, and despite the fat tears rolling down his cheeks, he was smiling.
The black clouds reformed into a funnel, and it grew smaller and more concentrated until the darkness formed a man. Cronus.
“Rhea!” he boomed, his voice everywhere at once. The white light took form as well, and Rhea descended from the sky. She still wore the form of the little girl she’d been in Africa, but despite her stature, she radiated power.
Moving past Cronus as if he wasn’t even there, Rhea knelt beside Calliope’s empty body. “My daughter,” she whispered. At her touch, the blood disappeared, and the knife fell to the ground, dull and void of Titan power. “What has happened to you?”
I wiped my eyes, smearing blood across my face. The overwhelming weight of what I’d done hit me, and my body sagged under the pressure. I’d killed her child. Everything I’d feared Calliope doing to Milo, I’d done to Rhea. I really was a murderer.
I hadn’t meant to do it though—I’d only been protecting myself. Calliope was the one who hadn’t given up. She was the one who’d gone after me. She was the one who’d started this all.
If I’d had the chance to do it again though, I would have. “I’m sorry,” I said thickly. “I had no choice.”
A silver tear rolled down Rhea’s cheek. “No, I suppose you did not.”
One by one, the other gods joined us on the roof, no longer hindered by Cronus. They didn’t go to Calliope and Rhea, though; instead they appeared in a circle around Ava, Nicholas and me.
Walter arrived first, and he sat on the cracked roof beside me, drawing her head into his lap. He petted her hair, whispering words I couldn’t hear, and Ava smiled weakly. A strange light emanated from his hands, and I knew without asking that somehow he was keeping her alive.
“Please, Mother,” said Walter, his voice choked. I’d never seen him cry before. “You cannot save your daughter, but you can save mine.”
Rhea grew still. “What’s done is done. My daughter chose this path, and so did yours.”
The world around me narrowed until all I could feel was Ava’s hand in mine, growing colder by the second. No. No. It was completely within Rhea’s power to save Ava. She had to.
“You can’t just let her die.” I struggled to stand, but someone set their hands on my shoulders, holding me down. Henry. “All she was trying to do was stop Cronus. She was doing what you wouldn’t.”
Rhea said nothing. Cronus knelt beside her, and though his expression was emotionless, he touched Calliope’s face.
“Please, Cronus,” I begged. “Ava doesn’t have to die.”
He looked at me, and in that moment, I allowed myself to hope. Maybe after all this time, he’d gained an ounce of humanity. Without a word, he gestured toward us, and a wave of pleasant numbness passed through my body. The fire inside me cooled. He’d healed me. He understood, after all.
I clasped Ava’s hand and looked down at her, but instead of stopping, blood flowed from her chest with every weakened beat of her heart. “But...” I looked up, and Walter bowed his head.
“She does not have to die, but she will,” said Cronus. “Consider us even.”
The edges of my vision darkened, and the sunset sky seemed to spin until everything was a blur. “Even?” I whispered, and as if every drop of grief and despair and guilt rushed out of me at the same time, I screamed, “You’re letting her die so we’ll be even?”
I struggled against Henry’s grip, but he wrapped his arms around me so tightly I could barely move. “Kate, calm down,” he said, his breath warm against my ear, but it was pointless.
“He’s killing her!” I shrieked, and James knelt beside Henry. My outrage smothered the relief that came with knowing he was all right. “It’s not my fault—you can’t make this my fault!”
It’s okay, whispered Ava’s voice, and her fingers tightened around mine. You’re right. It isn’t your fault.
I clung to her hand. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It shouldn’t be like this.
But it is. I’m ready.
A loud, hiccupping sob escaped me. We’ll find a way around this, I promise. I’ll find a way to fix you.
A faint smile appeared on Ava’s bloodstained lips. Not this time, Kate. I love you. We all do, even if some of us aren’t very good at showing it sometimes. Her blue eyes, fast draining of life, turned toward Henry. Don’t forget that. Or me, okay? I won’t ever fade completely as long as someone’s here to remember me.