for it to matter,” muttered James.
Ava ignored him and looped her arm in mine. “You’re grumpy today.”
“You would be too if you fell through a hole in the floor and wound up in hell,” I said.
My mother took my other arm, and James trailed after us as we headed toward the palace. “Don’t let Henry hear you call this place hell,” she said. “He’s very touchy about that sort of thing. This is the Underworld, not hell. It’s where—”
“—people go after they die,” I said. “I know. He told me that much. Where is he?”
Even as I asked, I had a sick feeling I knew exactly where he was.
“He and a few of the others had a matter to attend to,” said my mother. “They will be back before your coronation ceremony tonight.”
“Does that matter have anything to do with a giant gate and Calliope?”
Ava stopped short, and I tugged on her arm, but her feet remained planted on the ground. “How did you know that?”
I shrugged. “That’s what I was trying to tell you all—I saw it, just now.”
Up on the surface, seeing visions like that would’ve gotten me committed, but my mother didn’t so much as blink. “Yes, sweetie, that will happen from time to time, and eventually you will learn to control it.”
“Great,” I said waspishly. “Could you at least explain what it is?”
“No need to get upset,” said my mother, and my exasperation immediately dissolved. She may not have been dying anymore, but after I’d spent four years watching her teeter on the edge between life and death, I’d all but forgotten how to be upset with her. Six months away wasn’t going to change that.
“I’m sorry,” I said, guilt rushing through me. I glanced at James, who lingered in the background, his hands shoved in his pockets and his mop of blond hair falling in his eyes. But I wanted answers, not more diatribes about how I had a choice. “What’s going on? Why could I see Henry?”
My mother wrapped her arms around my shoulders, and I relaxed against her. “Why don’t we go inside where it’s comfortable, and then we’ll tell you everything?”
Somehow I doubted that I would ever really learn everything that was going on when it came to my new family, but my jeans were damp from the ground, and the sooner we got to the palace, the sooner I would see Henry. And then—
And then what?
James’s offer trickled back into my mind, circling my thoughts until I couldn’t ignore it any longer. He was wrong. He had to be. I’d survived; I’d passed, and Henry loved me. As soon as we saw each other, everything would fall into place, and things would be normal again. And I’d feel like an idiot for ever questioning Henry.
The path was shorter than I’d thought, sloping downward toward a courtyard in front of the palace. Instead of flower beds and trees, the ground was littered with magnificent jewels in a rainbow of colors that glittered in the light. Much in the same way that my mother’s gardens were art, this was a masterpiece, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.
“Persephone designed it,” said Ava as we approached the intimidating doors. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from a rude retort. I’d never considered how much being in the Underworld would remind Henry of Persephone, and after they’d spent millennia together, there was no way I could combat every piece of her that lingered in his life. But I hadn’t been prepared to face it this soon.
I took a deep breath. Everything would be fine. I was jet-lagged, that’s all, and as soon as I got some rest and saw Henry, everything would go back to normal. Getting angry about every little thing wasn’t going to help.
The entranceway was nothing like I’d expected. Unlike the darkness of the world outside the palace, it was cheerful inside, with red walls and mirrors much like the ones that hung in Eden Manor. This room was smaller though, homier somehow. From the gold accents around the mirrors to the brown leather furniture scattered throughout the corridor, everything was warm. The palace was huge, but inside, it didn’t seem the least bit impressed with itself.
I liked it.
“This is where I’ll be living during the winter?” I said, and my mother nodded.
“This is the private wing of the palace, meant for you, Henry and your guests.”
“There are guests?”
Ava skipped beside me, almost wrenching my arm out of its socket. “Like us, silly. The entire council’s here right now to see your coronation.”
“They are?” My mouth went dry. “I thought it was just going to be me and Henry. And you guys.”
“Of course the entire council is here. Henry will be crowning a new Queen of the Underworld tonight,” said my mother, setting her hand on my back to lead me down another hallway. “That doesn’t happen very often.”
She seemed to know exactly where she was going, and trepidation bubbled inside of me. She must’ve spent time here with Persephone, who had been her daughter—my sister—and her familiarity with the palace was one more reminder of how deeply entrenched Persephone had been in Henry’s life. How deeply entrenched her memory still was.
“Your bedroom,” said Ava, pointing toward an elaborately decorated door at the end of the hallway. I wanted to ask her how she’d known that, but as we drew closer and I recognized the intricate wooden carvings, I nearly choked.
It was the exact same door as the one in Eden that led into Persephone’s bedroom. On the top half was a beautiful meadow, and somehow the artist had managed to create sunlight in the wood. Below it stood the Underworld with its pillars of stone and gardens of jewels, and it was all I could do to speak. “Do you think Henry would mind if I did some redecorating?”
Ava and my mother exchanged a confused glance, but James, who had been quiet up until then, stepped forward. I didn’t want his sympathy though. Or his understanding. Henry was busy, not ignoring me, and he couldn’t have possibly known how a simple door would feel like a punch to the gut to me. I didn’t want him to choose between me and his dead wife; I only wanted to be a more important part of his life now. Maybe it would take some time, but that was time I was willing to put in if Henry was, as well.
I shook my head. Of course Henry would want this. He’d been the one to approach me beside the river to begin with. He’d been the one to protect me during my time in Eden. He was the one who’d helped bring me back from the dead. He was the one who’d stayed by my bedside nearly every waking hour after. He cared. He had to.
That was all before I’d been granted immortality by the council though, said a small voice that sounded suspiciously like James’s in the back of my mind. My mother was Henry’s favorite sister. Maybe he was only trying to protect me for her sake.
I forced the thought aside. I was panicking over nothing. Henry would show up soon, and he couldn’t avoid me all winter. Even if he did have some apprehension about this whole thing, we’d be able to talk about it. It wasn’t like I wasn’t nervous, too.
“This is your home too now, and you should do what makes you comfortable,”
