Page 77 (1/1)

Wordlessly I kissed hi every bit of hope and happiness and love inside of ht dimmed as he loweredtiht

Whencaling to fold and stuff everything I thought I ht need into ed to pack s for me in a matter of seconds I pretended not to be jealous, but in-wardly I hoped that Ava kne to do the sa to close that sucker and s to focus on

We uest wing shortly after Henry and I walked side by side, his ar to let go He’d barely spoken a word since I’d closed the zipper on aveto prove he wasn’t upset with uilt whenever I thought about the possibility that I ht not come home

Ava looked like hell Her eyes were red and puffy, and for the f irst time since I’d met her, her hair wasn’t brushed

Her clothes were loose and the sort I wore to bed, not the tight, revealing tops and skirts she usually wore She stared at the ground with her hands shoved in her pockets, and she didn’t so much as blink when her father moved past her to join ed my suitcase behind him, and Walter set his hand on Ava’s shoulder "My dear, would you be so kind?" Ava f inally raised her eyes from the f loor, and a moment later, my suitcase disappeared "It’s safe," she said when I opened et there"

"Where exactly are we going anyway?" I said, and James handed me an envelope made of heavy parcho

"Rhea moves around a lot," he said "She’s stayed in the saet lucky and f ind her before she et there and you can’t f ind her, Ava kno to contact lanced at Ava Was she even up for this? She shuff led her feet and refused to meet anyone’s stare, and she certainly didn’t look like she was about to go on a ind trip to f ind a Titan As h, she had every right to act this way Nicholas was gone, and for all I knew, she would never see hiain

James seeing open like he was about to say so, and then he paused "Maybe I should come, too," he said "To make sure you f ind her"

"No," said Walter "The feho participate in the planning, the less likely we are to win" I offered Jaet ahold of you, but I don’t think it’s a good idea, either You’re obviously needed here"

While I wasn’t lying,to do hether or not Walter needed him James was the f irst person Persephone had been with behind Henry’s back, and even though Henry knehim a reason to question it Unfortunately for now, James would only becoh of those lately

Henry let go of h to letI had that this wasn’t the last ti like Cronus, there was no telling what could happen, and whether I wanted to or not, I had to prepare myself for the worst

"Take care of yourself, sweetheart," murmured my mother, and she brushed a lock of hair out of rearm "I love you"

"I love you, too, sweetheart"

She relinquishedpat on the shoulder "Stay safe If you ever get lost, don’t hesitate to have Ava contact me"

"I won’t" I paused and leaned in closer to hiet back, I’ with him all year I’ll still be your friend, but Henry’s my husband, and I love hinize passed over Ja as it’s your decision, I’ll respect it," he said, and even though I suspected that would change thethe sort of husband James believed he should be, for now I didn’t press the issue

"Thank you," I said, and Jaoodbye to me and an eternity of could-have-beens

And then it was Henry’s turn, and he gatheredhis nose in my hair For a ht he wouldn’t let go, but eventually he did I took his hands

"I’ll be back as soon as I can, I proht not be able to keep

"Just reht?"

"Please do not go," he said quietly "I will do whatever you ask ofhappened to you"