Page 19 of A Deal For a Kiss

“You act as if demons are not worthy of love, sister,” I say into her mind, not letting my voice carry into the water, either. “All are worthy. All should be loved. Even you.”

I truly believe this. It is the guiding light that takes the most room in my heart. All should be loved. I may disagree about how this mortal or that goddess should be loved, but I know they must have it.

Athena’s voice is cold. “I have love in what I do, who I am, and what I will be, and that is enough.” Her choice not to take a lover is for her own.

“And I love you for that,” I tell her, and the harshness softens in her expression.

“And I love you,” she replies, begrudging sincerity in her tone. I haven’t lied to her, and she knows this. “But you haven’t answered my question. How did the portals to the underworld open?”

“Take it up with Hecate,” I reply rather than admitting I signed the deal with Hades for his demon warrior. It was temporary and I can’t imagine whatever shift Athena feels warrants any energy at all. “She should know and besides, the deal is done and it is over.”

“The keeper of the keys and protector of the crossroads? As if Hecate would allow such things for a single love. She, of all gods, knows the comfort in grief.”

The message underlying Athena’s words is that she has no intention of asking Hecate about the gates and considers it a waste of her time to do so.

Good. Athena does not need to concern herself in matters that have passed.

I take several deep breaths and withdraw my fingers from the water. When I turn to face my sister again, I am holding nothing but love for her in my thoughts. I remind myself that all her contradictions serve a purpose in the parts we must play,and if Athena is to learn patience, it will have to be at her own pace, in her own time.

“Perhaps the old crone has love in her heart after all,” I suggest. Stranger things have happened.

Athena faces me, her expression flat, until I go back to the basin.

As I sink into the water, I cannot help but think of the deal I made with Hades and the darkness in the water returns.

“I cannot help feeling something is off since the realm portals have opened—when they should have been sealed,” Athena warns, and a chill goes down my spine.

That is the deal that allowed the realms to open. If Athena knew the details of the agreement, her eyes would widen, then burn with anger, and I do not know how long our discord would last.

I cannot tell Athena and dismiss the thought from my mind as soon as it comes. I won’t let the idea linger for even a few moments and won’t entertain it as a real possibility.

“I mean the very thought that a demon could enter other realms…even Olympus… Does that not concern you?” she asks, and I swallow.

“Athena, please, do you not have other matters to tend to?” She scoffs at my question, leaving me alone in the room with my thoughts, the shift in the air, and her warning.

Hades would be a fool to come here. There’s no chance he would dare show himself in Olympus.

The realization feels as though it strangles me. I felt him when I saw Persephone just a moment ago. It is him. What have I done?

And with that, I leave my sanctuary, in search of Ares.

EPILOGUE

Carlisle

Time blurs when it is endless. At least it does now that I have her.

Over and over again, she lets it fade into the background, and as the hours become days and the days become weeks, she stops thinking about the life she had without me and remembers those lives we lived together. The darkness and emptiness fade, and slowly we build our heaven together.

I’ve never felt so whole. It took not having her to know what pieces of me she filled. Little by little, the underworld has captivated her as it does me. No longer my hell, now that she is here by my side.

“There you are,” she says one morning. It’s the first thing I hear from her lips after she turns over and sees me lying next to her andsmiles. “You’re still here.”

“Always.”

Her curious mind has found peace here. So many books and stories to be told.

I’ve shown her everything I can that would bring her wonderment. I show her the river with stars beneath it and the mountain ranges that disappear into black clouds and the wide fields that have the darkest soil Ivy’s ever seen. She stands up and closes her eyes, listening silently to the space around us, and finally opens them again.

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