there.”
“Like what?” I said, rinsing the washcloth out. The water turned pink as it swirled down the drain.
“Nothing you ought to be concerned about.”
Terrific. Apparently while I’d been getting a tan in Greece, he’d reverted back to the same Henry I’d met a year ago instead of the one I’d married. I glared at him. “Really? That’s all you’re going to tell me? You promised you’d never lie to me.”
“I am not lying—”
“You said you wouldn’t keep secrets from me anymore,” I countered. “So which is it? Are you going to treat me like a fragile little girl you need to protect at all costs, or are you going to treat me like your partner? Because in a few hours, I’m going to be queen of this place, and I’m never going to be able to help you rule properly if you always hold everything in. I have a right to know.”
Silence. I sighed.
“Does this have anything to do with Calliope?”
Henry tensed. “How much did your mother tell you?”
My mother knew about this? “Nothing,” I said, and when I realized I’d have to tell him about what had happened sooner or later, I grimaced. “I had a vision, I guess. I don’t know what else to call it. When James brought me down here, I suddenly saw you and Walter and Phillip fighting—something. I don’t know what it was, but you were in front of this gate, and Calliope showed up behind you and told you that it was pointless, because he was already awake.”
The silence seemed to stretch on forever. It wasn’t until I picked up the washcloth again that he replied, and when he did, he spoke with an eerie calm.
“So that is your gift, then. I had wondered.”
“Gift?” My mother had mentioned the same thing, but she’d never gotten around to explaining it.
“Along with immortality comes certain talents,” said Henry. “It varies from individual to individual, and oftentimes it coincides with what we represent. For instance, healing is not Theo’s only talent. As the god of music and poetry, he also has perfect pitch.”
He was trying to make me laugh. That had to be a good sign. I managed a small smile as some of the anxiety drained from my body. “I’m sure that comes in handy all the time.”
“It does make the entertainment during family get-togethers more bearable.”
Another moment passed in silence. That must have been what James meant by never getting lost. My mother’s ability to coax life from even the most neglected patch of land, Henry’s ability to travel great distances in the blink of an eye—how else could he have traveled through the Underworld?
“Why can I see things that are happening in other places?” I said. “What’s the use in that? Is that supposed to make me better at deciding people’s fates?”
“Yes, and it will have other uses, as well. Once you are crowned, you will begin to develop other powers,” said Henry. “I will help you as much as I am able, and over time you will learn to control them.”
So on top of learning everything else about the Underworld, I’d have to deal with uncontrollable abilities, as well. Not that the thought of being able to do godlike things wasn’t exciting, but I didn’t like the idea of having visions without warning. Not when they gave me a pounding headache after. “What are my abilities going to be?”
“I am not certain. The things Persephone could do will not necessarily transfer to you.”
My heart sank. At the rate this was going, I would never escape Persephone’s shadow. “What could she do?” I said, even though she was the last thing I wanted to talk about. “Could she see things?”
“Yes. Her other abilities were much the same as mine.” The hint of a smile appeared on his face, and I tried to convince myself that it was because the blood was nearly gone. Not because he was thinking about her. “She could travel. She also had a talent for telling a truth from a lie, and she could create, like all of us can.”
“Create?”
He held out his hand, and a moment later, a flower made of jewels appeared in his empty palm. Exactly like the ones in the garden outside. “For you.”
I took it and examined the delicate petals made of pink quartz. Nestled between them were tiny cream pearls, and the stem was made of metal that was as light as air. I touched the blossom to my nose, but smelled nothing. As stunning as it was, it wasn’t the real thing.
“My brothers and sisters and I are much more powerful than our descendants,” he said. “With each generation, the gifts grow less potent.”
My stomach churned. Our descendants, not their. Then again, Henry always grouped them together as if they were one single entity instead of six individual beings. “Do you—have kids?” I said timidly.
It was humiliating, realizing that I knew so little about him. After studying long and hard last year, I knew what the myths had taught me and what he himself had told me, but myths weren’t always accurate, and Henry had been less than forthcoming about himself. Calliope had once told me it was widely believed Henry had never slept with anyone before me, not even Persephone, but Calliope had turned out to be less than reliable.
“No, I do not,” said Henry, and I nearly choked sucking back my sigh of relief.
“Do you—” I stopped, but Henry nodded encouragingly. “Do you want to someday? A few decades or centuries from now?”
He gave me a wan smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “We will see how you feel then. I do not wish to saddle you with another responsibility you did not ask for. Now come, we must get you ready.”
I frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Did he think I didn’t want this, to be married to him and everything that came along with it?
James’s words floated back to me. This was the choice he’d been talking about, wasn’t it? He knew Henry was having doubts. He knew Henry thought he was a burden to me, or that I was going to pull a Persephone and leave him. Worse, James had tried to talk me into it.
“You know I want this, right?” I said. “No matter what anyone else has said—”
“No one else has said a word about this to me,” said Henry. “Even your mother has respected my boundaries. For once,” he added under his breath. “But this is the beginning of our rule together. We do not need to make these decisions right away.”
Our rule together, not our life together. Another distinction, but this time it wasn’t a slip of the tongue. My throat tightened. “Not when you think I might back out of it anyway, right?”
He hesitated. “I am not your captor. If you wish to leave, you may.”
“No, you’re not my captor. You’re supposed to be my husband,” I snapped. “Do you want me to leave? Do you want to rule alone or—or fade or whatever will happen to you if I go?”
I wanted him to yell at me. I wanted him to be livid. I wanted to make him feel the overpowering emotions he triggered in me
