He grimaced. “Somehow I think not.” And that was all he’d say on the subject.
It was nearly midnight when Henry stood and everyone fell silent. My backside was killing me, and even though I hadn’t taken a step in hours, my feet ached from the heels Calliope had forced me to wear. I was ready for this whole thing to be over, but instead of leading me toward the door, Henry steered us back toward the stage. My legs shook underneath me, and it was a miracle I managed to stay upright.
“This will be easy,” he said quietly. “All you have to do is say yes and accept the seeds.”
Bemused, I followed him up the stairs, nearly falling flat on my face when we reached the top. Luckily he caught me, and I steadied myself, waiting for him to speak.
“Katherine Winters,” said Henry in a booming voice that made me flinch. “Do you agree to stay at Eden Manor for the autumn and winter, to take the tests as given to you by the members of the council, and should you pass, accept the role as Queen of the Underworld?”
Everyone inside the ballroom was silent. No pressure or anything. “Yes.”
A small plate appeared in his hand, with six seeds arranged carefully in the center. I took the first one in between my fingers, looking at Henry for approval. He nodded encouragingly, and I put the seed in my mouth, trying not to make a face. I hated seeds—I didn’t even eat watermelon because of them. Unfortunately mythical seeds didn’t taste any better.
I swallowed them rapidly, trying to ignore the slimy feeling as they slid down my throat. I wanted to gag, but I managed to keep my mouth shut. After the sixth seed was down, the crowd erupted into cheers, but that was nothing compared to the way Henry was looking at me, his expression strangely gentle. Whatever this was, it meant more to him than I understood.
That’s when they finally put me out of my misery. Ella and Calliope were at my side and helping me down the stairs before I realized what was happening. The crowd parted to let us through, and hands I couldn’t trace back to bodies reached through the walls of shoulders and torsos to touch my hair, my dress—even a few managed to touch my face. Eventually my guards joined us, shielding me from them. It was humiliating.
“Oh, Kate, he’s so cute!” said Ava excitedly as she, Ella, Calliope and I made our way back toward my bedroom. “He said his name’s Xander, and he’s gorgeous and smart and funny and cute—”
“You’ve already said that,” I said, but she continued on like I hadn’t said a thing.
“—and he said he’d show me some magic tricks sometime! I mean, I know magic’s this geeky thing, but it’s still sort of cool, you know? In a nerdy sort of way.”
She blabbered on for so long that by the time we reached my room, even Calliope looked less than enthusiastic. Luckily Ella, who I was beginning to like more and more, came to my rescue.
“Kate needs to sleep,” she said, blocking Ava’s way into my room. “You can see her tomorrow.”
Ava narrowed her eyes, and I sensed a fight coming. “Says who?”
“Me,” said Ella, drawing herself up to her full height, which was a good six inches taller than Ava. “She has more important things to worry about than listening to you prattle on about Xander. And Xander has more important things to do than to listen.”
Ella said the last bit a little louder than was strictly necessary, making her voice echo down the hall. I heard an embarrassed cough in the distance, and I managed to suppress a smile.
“I’m sorry, Ava,” I said, torn between wanting to be a good friend and wanting my head to stop pounding. “We can talk about it tomorrow, all right? I really am tired.”
She glared at Ella. “Whatever.”
After Ava stormed off in a huff, Ella and Calliope turned to me expectantly. I sighed. “You, too, guys. I can undress myself, I promise. Learned how to do that years ago.”
Ella snorted. “Good luck with that corset,” she said, walking away without another word. Calliope offered to stay and help, but I shooed her off as well. Worst case, I’d take scissors to the damn thing. Maybe that would stop Ella from trying to force me into one for a while.
Relieved to finally be alone, I shut the door and locked it. Kicking my shoes into a corner, I unlaced my dress, more than ready to be able to breathe properly again. Feeling as if I were about to collapse, I pulled back the curtain on my bed and swallowed a scream.
Someone else was already in it.
CHAPTER 10
THE FIRST TEST
I gasped. Lying off to the side of my massive bed was Henry, dressed in a silk robe and pajama bottoms, a thick novel in his hand. Instead of saying hello or apologizing, he glanced at me like I’d interrupted a good part.
“What—this is my bed!” Since I was still wearing that corset, catching my breath was a problem. “What’re you doing here?”
“Reading,” he said, sitting up. “Would you like help with that?”
It was then that I realized I was practically clawing at my dress in an attempt to free my lungs from their prison. He didn’t give me time to answer. By my side in an instant, his deft hands undid my laces faster than I’d have ever been able to.
“There,” he said once they were finished and I could finally breathe in deeply again. “All done.”
“I need to—I need to change,” I said dumbly, clutching my dress to my front.
“I won’t look.”
He settled back in my bed and opened his book once more, making it clear he wasn’t going to leave anytime soon. I stumbled to the opposite corner of the room, where my dressing screen stood. Making sure to grab the darkest pajamas I could find, I changed quickly, ignoring the ripping sound as I yanked the dress over my hips.
I emerged less than a minute later, wrapped in a thick robe. This was insane—did he think he was going to sleep in here? This wasn’t part of the deal. And if he was going to take that bed, then I’d find another one. I would sleep on the floor if I had to. Either way, I wasn’t staying in here with him.
“What’re you doing here? For real, I mean,” I said, approaching the bed cautiously. “Not just reading. I know you’re reading. I mean, I can see that, and—” I stopped. “Why are you here?”
Henry bookmarked his page and turned his full attention on me. It was still as unnerving as it’d been the day before in the garden, but this time I was too upset and exhausted to care.
“I am here because the council has decided I am to spend time with you each evening—as much as you allow. If you wish for me to leave, then I shall. Otherwise, if you do not ask, I will stay.”
I stared at him, my stomach twisting into knots. “Stay the night? The whole night?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I am certain that tonight you will ask me to leave long before that becomes a possibility.”
“What about other nights?” I squeaked. “Do you—am I supposed to—do that?”
I’d never done that before with anyone. I hadn’t had time to date while my mother was sick, let alone get serious, and I had no intention of starting now. If he thought making me eat a few dumb seeds meant he controlled me now, he had another thing coming.
He chuckled, and I flushed. The least he could do was not treat me like an idiot. “No, that is not a requirement, nor will it ever be.”
I had to stop myself from sighing with relief. He was beyond attractive, but no amount of good looks was going to make me compromise on that. “Then why are you here?”
“I am here because I wish to know you better.” He eyed me. “You intrigue me, and if you succeed in passing the tests the council puts before you, you will one day be my wife.”
I opened and closed my mouth, trying to come up with something to say. “But—you said I wouldn’t have to marry you.”
“No,” he said patiently. “I said I was not proposing marriage to you. I am still not. There is no need unless you pass. If you do, then yes, you will be my wife six months of the year.”
I fidgeted. “What if I don’t want to be your wife?”
He stilled, his smile disappearing. “Then it would be a simple enough thing for you to purposely fail.”
The hollowness in his voice immediately made me feel guilty. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“Do not apologize.” His tone was still void of emotion, and it only made me feel worse. “This is your choice. If at any time I ask too much of you, then you may leave.”
And my mother would die.
I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into my palms, and it was several moments before I managed to come up with something to say—a peace offering, if nothing else. Maybe if I pretended that marrying him was a possibility, he wouldn’t look so empty.
“What about then?” I said. “If we get—married—will I have to—you know?”
“No.” Henry thawed slightly as he focused on me again. I was sure he could see right through me. “You will be my wife in name and title only, and I would not ask it of you if it were not necessary for the Underworld to recognize you as its ruler as it recognized Persephone. I do not expect you to love me, Kate. I do not dare hope that you would think of me in any way other than as a friend, and I know I must earn even that much. I understand that this is not your ideal life, and I do not wish to make it more difficult for you than it already is. My only desire is to help you pass these tests.”
And to stop whoever it was from killing me. I cautiously perched on the edge of my bed. There was still enough distance between us that I felt safe, but even the air that separated us seemed to crackle. “What about love? Don’t you—you know, want someone? Want a family and stuff?”
“I have a family,” he said, but before I could correct myself, he continued. “If you mean children, then no, I have never believed that to be in my future.”
“But is that what you want?”
He smiled faintly. “I have been alone for a very long time. To expect anything else in the years to come would be foolish.”
Despite the fact that he looked only a few years older than me, I couldn’t imagine how old Henry might actually be—wasn’t sure I wanted to know, really. But how could someone live for so long and be alone? I could barely handle the few nights I’d spent at home without my mother. Multiply that by eternity…I couldn’t fathom it.
“Henry?”
“Yes?”
“What happens to you if I don’t pass?”
He was silent for a long moment, his fingers idly running across the silk lining of his robe. “I will fade,” he said quietly. “Someone else will take over my realm, and therefore I will have no reason to exist any longer.”
“So you die.” The gravity of the situation hit me hard, and I stared off to the side, unable to look at him. It wasn’t just my mother’s life that was riding on my ability to pass these tests.
“I fade,” he corrected. “The living die, and their souls remain in the Underworld for eternity. However, my kind do not have souls. We cease to exist completely, without a shred of our former selves remaining. One cannot die if one was never alive to begin with.”
I clenched my fist around the blanket. It was even worse than dying then. “Who?”
He gave me a puzzled look. “Who what?”
“Who gets your job if you give it up?”
“Ah.” He smiled sadly. “My nephew.”
“Who is he? What’s his name? Is he on the council?”
“Yes, he is on the council,” said Henry, “but I am afraid I cannot tell you his name.”
“Why not?” It seemed no one was willing to trust me with the truth in this place, and while I could understand Calliope not giving me the whole story, Henry knew. Henry should’ve told me.
He cleared his throat and at least had the decency to look me in the eye. “Because I fear it would upset you, and you are unhappy enough as it is. I do not wish to make it any worse.”
I fell silent as I tried to think of who it could possibly be that would upset me. No one came to mind. “I don’t understand.”
“You will.”
There was nothing I could say to that, and he must’ve known it, because instead of looking at me expectantly, he returned to his book. I watched him, searching for any sign that he wasn’t human. The angles of his face were too symmetrical to be normal, his smooth skin devoid of even a hint of stubble, the thick, jet-black hair that hung an inch above his shoulders, and the unnerving color of his eyes—it was his eyes that did it, swirling pools of silver that seemed to constantly be moving. In the low light, they almost glowed.
It wasn’t until he cleared his throat that I realized I was staring. Even though I was still annoyed that he wouldn’t trust me with the truth, I wanted to break the tension, so I said the first thing that came to mind. “What do you do during the day? When you’re not here, I mean. Or are you always here?”
“I’m not always here.” He slid a bookmark between the pages again and set his novel aside. “My brothers and sisters and I all have duties we attend to. I rule the dead, so most of my time is spent in the Underworld, overseeing decisions and making sure everything runs smoothly. It’s far more complicated than that, of course, but if you pass, you will learn the ins and outs of what I do.”
“Oh.” I bit my lip. “What’s the Underworld like?”
“All in good time,” he said, reaching over to briefly set his hand over mine. His palm was warm, and I fought the urge to shiver at his touch. “What about you? What do you enjoy doing with your time?”
I shrugged. “I like reading. And drawing, though I’m not very good at it. Mom and I used to garden together, and she taught me how to play cards.” I eyed him. “Do you know how to play?”
“I’m adequate at a few games, though I do not know if they are still popular.”
“Maybe we could play something sometime,” I said. “If you’re going to be in here every night, I mean.”
He nodded. “That would be pleasant.”
We fell into silence again. He looked comfortable, lounging on the bed as if he’d done it a hundred times before. For all I knew, he had, but I didn’t want to think about that. I wasn’t the first, but I would be the last. Rejecting him wouldn’t do either of us any good—my heart thudded loudly in protest at the thought—and since I was stuck here for six months, I had no intention of getting on his bad side. I was, however, exhausted.
I grappled with myself for several seconds, going back and forth between what was right and what I wanted. I should’ve talked to him, asked him more questions, gotten to know him, but all I wanted to do was to sleep—which I would never get to do if he stayed, even if he didn’t make a sound. No matter what he said about duties and expectations, that kind of anxiety wasn’t going to go away overnight.
“Henry,” I said softly. He’d gone back to reading his book, but in an instant his eyes were on me. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m really tired.”
He stood, taking his book with him. Instead of looking angry or hurt, however, his expression was as neutral as always. “It has been a long day for both of us.”
“Thanks.” I gave him a grateful smile, hoping that’d smooth over any wrinkles I wasn’t sensing.
“Of course.” He walked to the door. “Good night, Kate.”
It was such a small thing, but the hint of affection in his voice made my cheeks warm. “’Night,” I said, hoping he couldn’t see my blush from across the room.
“So you like him.” It wasn’t a question, and I glared at my grinning mother as we sat on a bench, watching joggers and people walking their dogs pass.
“I didn’t say that,” I said, slouching. Beside me my mother sat poised, as if she were dining with royalty instead of spending the morning in Central Park. “I just—don’t want him to die, that’s all. No one else should have to die because of me.”
“No one has died because of you,” she said, running her fingers through my hair and brushing it out of my eyes. “Even if you don’t pass, it won’t be your fault. As long as you do your best, everything will be a
ll right.”
“But how can I do my best when I don’t even know what the tests are?” I shoved my hands between my knees. “How am I supposed to do this?”
She wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Everyone believes in you except for you, Kate,” she said gently. “Maybe that should tell you something.”
Even if everyone believed in me, that didn’t mean they were right, and it didn’t mean I would succeed. All it meant was that on top of everything else, I had to worry about disappointing them, too. Or in Henry’s case, forcing him into early retirement from his entire existence.
“But you do like him, don’t you?” said my mother after several minutes passed. I craned my neck to look up at her, surprised to see real concern on her face.
“He’s nice,” I said warily, wondering where she was going with this. “I think we could be friends.”
“Do you think he’s cute?”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s a god, Mom. Of course he’s cute.”
A wry smile spread across her face. “It’s about time you admitted that he’s a god.”
I shrugged and looked away. “Kind of hard to pretend otherwise now. But he’s nice, so I guess as long as he doesn’t try to turn me into a pile of ash, I could get used to it.”
“Good.” She hugged me and gave me a kiss on the temple. “I’m glad you like him. He could be good for you, and you shouldn’t be alone.”
I sighed inwardly, not bothering to correct her. If it made her happy to think I liked Henry like that, then so be it. She deserved a little happiness before I became such a disappointment.
I expected the days in Eden Manor to drag, but instead their repetition made them go by quickly. Calliope and Ella helped me get ready in the morning; Ava always sat on the edge of my bed, talking animatedly about her latest conquest. After a few short weeks of dating the guard, Xander, she’d moved on.
“His name’s Theo,” she said, so excited that she could hardly sit still. “He’s gorgeous and tall and smart, and he says I have the prettiest eyes he’s ever seen.”