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Dammit Of course the one choice I’dthat could screw up Persephone’s plan

I inched toward the exit If I could f ind it before Calliope saw rid would hideon, and then the three of us could strategize If Persephone could corid, and maybe Calliope wouldn’t be able to hurt her, either They could distract her while I freed the others, and--

A hiss of energy made my hair stand on end, and the boulder I’d hidden behind exploded I instinctively covered h the air, but the pieces glanced offmy body unhar inside of me screamed run I clawed at the rock, and had I still been ertips down to the bone But I couldn’t f ind the way out

Calliope’s wicked laughter reverberated through the cavern, and I stopped struggling It was pointless She’d seen ," she said in a singsong voice

"You really can’t do anything right, can you, Kate? You can’t even rush in to save your precious Henry the way you wanted to"

I clenched my jaw and didn’t say a word That was exactly what Calliope wanted--to piss ive her the satisfaction

"Hera--" said Persephone, but Calliope raised a hand to silence her Persephone glared at s, doesn’t it?" said Calliope cheerfully She beckoned for estured, and an irresistible force pulled round made any difference

I was only a few feet froe of power, and thrown off balance, I collapsed onto the f loor Her foot connected withsuch an idiot," she said "You’re pa-thetic, you know Not even a worthy opponent It’s like picking the wings off a f ly and watching it writhe around"

"I wouldn’t know," I wheezed "I’ain, and this ti, and my head whipped back; if I’d been mortal, I was sure it would have broken my neck But she couldn’t win that easily anymore

"Stop it," said Persephone "All she did was pass a stupid test I know you love Hades, but there are better men out there Trust me"

"Trust you?" Calliope rounded on Persephone "Why would I possibly trust you? You destroyed him You took his love and shoved it back in his face, like Walter did to me You couldn’t possibly understand what that feels like, you heinous--"

"Don’t," I said, struggling to my feet "She wanted to be happy There’s no crime in that"

"There is when you shatter someone else in the process," said Calliope with a snarl "Besides, it’s not about that, not anymore Henry made his choice when he backed up your punishment Do you really think I would have kidnapped hi to kill him because I decided you had to face the consequences for what you did?" I said "Are you serious?"

Calliope grabbed a f istful of my hair and yankedout of here alive If Persephone won’t tell et Henry to do it instead" Across the cavern, in the mouth of the cave where the others lay unconscious, Henry’s body jerked upward His chains rattled and separated froround as he f loated toward us A knot forht of his bloodied body, even worse than it’d been inas Calliope didn’t kno to open the gate, then she wouldn’t kill either of us She couldn’t Henry wouldn’t open it if I were dead

"Wake up," she growled, and Henry opened his eyes

My heart skipped a beat, and for a long moment, we stared at each other His eyes were the saone I searched for any sign that he was in there, any indication that he could f ight, but it was as if he didn’t even see iven up

"Henry?" I whispered, and he blinked "Henry, please--

look atat me, but he didn’t see me, and I didn’t kno to ask for that He wasn’t there Whatever Calliope and Cronus had done to him, he’d retreated so far into hirabbed the loose end of his fog-infused chains and whipped it across his face I gasped and struggled against her, but she held on to ht red pattern blossomed across Henry’s cheek, and at last he shook his head and came to He touched his face and winced, and I exhaled He was in there after all

Instead of looking atbehind me, and his jaent slack "Persephone?"

I would have rather been sliced open by Cronus than experience the gut-wrenching pain that ca her name beforeon aze away from Persephone to focus on me, and the look on his face made my stomach turn "Seems someone doesn’t have a brain in her head, but that’s no surprise, is it? You sure kno to pick them