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"Then I guess one of us better get a irl"

I would have been better at this if he helped, if he told ination, but I tried anyway Fro about the moments of silence between us, I watched hi me His eyes were distant and his brow furrowed, and I f inally let myself admit that it wasn’t because ofbut me Because withon every time he didn’t touch me, I burned into my memory every time he did His arainst my cheek, even the way he looked atday He didn’t kiss ain But eventually I letin his oay, and that had to be enough for now Because if it wasn’t, ould both be miserable, and he didn’t deserve that Neither did I

As the f inal week before the solstice passed, I waited for the opportunity to do as I’d promised and kiss him properly

But Henry spent s with the other council members, and by the tiood-night

I hadn’t realized he could get tired, but when I asked ot to see her, her ansas succinct

"We don’t grow tired doing nors It’s e use our powers that we drain ourselves" That explained why I didn’t seeh when Henry ith et, and I refused to wake him early or keep him up late no matter how badly I wanted him to kno I felt Noasn’t the time, and it wouldn’t be until after the battle If there was even an after the battle at all

I didn’t let myself think about that part He had to survive; there was no other option If Cronus hadn’t killed him in the cavern, he wouldn’t kill hiods I had to believe that everything would be okay

In the hours before the winter solstice, the council gathered, their thrones forned with the black and white diamond ones for Henry andto do with planning the battle and wasn’t going to participate, but Henry insisted

Before the an, Persephone perched on the arm of our mother’s chair as if she’d done it a thousand tieted when I realized that ed to her when she’d been queen Perfect

"Brothers and sisters, sons and daughters," said Walter

He looked around the roo time to examine each face, and he skipped Calliope’s empty throne as if it wasn’t there "We have spent ht, and f inally it is here"