“Do you dare to defy your mother? Are you forgetting who I am?”
I grab tighter, holding until I feel the pulse in her arm. “Who?”
My mother stands a little taller. “I am a goddess.”
I let go of her hand, thrusting it down to her side. “And so am I.”
She stares at me, her mouth opening, but nothing comes out. Around us, the wind from the storm whips through the hole in the roof.
“Mom, do you know what the punishment for killing a phoenix is?”
My mom looks down, picking up the bucket of water by her feet. It’s left a wet ring on the tile and drips when she raises it.
“It’s life in Tartarus, Mom. Did you know that?”
She nods, still looking down.
I think about my visit to Tartarus. My horrible meal with Aeacus, Tantalus, and Pirithous. A meal that might have been my last. “Have you ever been to Tartarus?”
My mom lets out a bark of a laugh, but it’s laced with fear. “Of course not.”
“It’s the most horrible place imaginable. Even worse, in fact. I’ve been there—as Piper. I should send you there myself. But even after everything you’ve done, I will never let you end up there.”
The bucket of water falls, and I realize my mom is crying. I stand there, holding my resolve, but her crying tears at my heart. I try to be strong. I try to stay angry. But when I can’t listen any longer, I move to her and catch her in a hug.
“I only did what I thought best for you, Piper. Best for us.”
She’s shaking under me. “Well, you screwed up, Mom. And now everything’s falling apart.”
She stops crying and pulls back to look at me. “I can get help.” Her eyes are wide as if she believes the statement. “I can get Apate to help. She’ll know what to do.”
I stare at her, trying to keep my eyes impassive. “Mom, you can’t trust the goddess of deceit.”
But she nods her head. “Yes, Piper. I can. She helped me before. With you. I never intended to go through with my end of the bargain. I wasn’t going to lose you again. So we came up with the idea of the box. To hide you from Hades and Ares.”
I throw up my hands. “The box! How could you ever think that was a good idea?” The image of the box flashes in my mind, and I get the overwhelming urge to smash it against the wall.
My mom grabs my hands. “It kept you hidden from the gods for eighteen years. Until you opened it.” Her eyes narrow. “Which you never should have been allowed to do.”
“But I did, Mom. Don’t you see? Apate tricked you. You thought you could tuck away your secrets forever. But she tricked you, and I opened it.”
My mom shakes her head. “No. There must have been some weakness. Apate swore to me it would work. We’ll get her help now. Get away from here. No one will ever know.”
I tear my hands away from hers and meet her wide eyes with a cold stare. “But I know, Mom. And I have no intention of ever being part of your games again.”
My mom walks closer to me, but I don’t want her sympathy. I don’t want anything from her.
“I was just trying to help,” she says. “When Ares came to me with the idea—”
My eyes nearly pop out of my head. “Ares! He came to you?”
My mom nods. “Of course. I never would have known about the power of the phoenix sacrifice if not for him. He was the one I made the bargain with in the first place.”
Something clicks far in the back of my mind, but it’s nearly silent.
“Ares told you about the phoenix?” My heart has started beating like a drum, pounding so hard I’m sure it’ll come out of my chest.
“Ares came up with the idea. We planned it all out. But nobody could be told. Not your father. Not Hades. And certainly not you. Everything had to be just perfect.”
Ares knew about the phoenix. It was his idea.
“What happened?” I’m trying to stay calm, but something is building inside me, trying to come out.
My mom pulls off her gloves and tosses then on a plant stand. “We waited until you were due home. And when Hermes brought you back, we acted. We took you to Phoenicia, to the Well of the Phoenix.”
“I fought you.” I remember this like it was yesterday. Standing by the well. Being forced to drink from the water. And flames. Lots and lots of flames.
My mom nods. “Yes, you fought. But Ares managed to control you. He has this way of calming people. Getting them to do what he wants.”
It settles on me; I know only too well about Reese’s power. It’s the power that overcomes me every time he’s near. “He drugged me.”
My mom shrugs. “Drugs. Power. Call it what you want. We needed your cooperation.”
How my mother could be a part of her own daughter’s abduction and drugging and death is beyond me. “I drank the water. And there was fire.”
“Yes, Piper.”
She moves toward me and reaches out, but I slap her hand away. This is not my mother. She’s a demon in the body of my mother.
My mom lowers her hand. “Ares killed the phoenix, then. It had to be done just right. With flames and a knife made of pure gold. Hephaestus himself crafted it, though he had no idea why.”
“Reese killed the phoenix?” I say.
“Yes. Without him, I never would have been able to do everything. You were still fighting, but as soon as the bird burst into flame, so did you. And then you were reborn to me and free of Hades forever.”
It’s like I’m watching my past life through the eyes of someone else. I cannot fathom how my mother could have done this. “And Reese’s involvement—”
“What? What about my involvement?”
I turn to see the door wide open, and Reese standing there, watching us. Outside, the wind howls, and the air is filled with smoke.
“You’re responsible for everything. Everything.”
His smile only grows.
“Every single thing that’s happened has been your fault. The phoenix. My death. Taking me away from the life I loved.”
Reese spreads his arms, like he thinks I’m going to run over and hug him. “But look at everything you have in your future.” And then his smell hits me hard, and I know it’s a drug.
I cannot let it overcome me. I cannot let go. I back away, putting distance between him and me, but he takes two steps forward for every step I take back.
“Stay away from me!” I scream it at him, fighting to keep the aroma from entering me.
But he still comes. “You promised, Piper. You said you’d give us a chance.” He’s close now, and I’m up against a wall.
I look to my mom. She’s standing there, watching, not seeming to process that I’m being threatened. “Help me, Mom.”
My mom looks at Reese. He’s next to her now on his advance toward me. Behind me, I feel the glass of the wall against my skin. And the thick scent of wine enters my nose. I force it out but know I need to breathe.
My mom shifts, and I think she’s going to do something to stop him. But then she actually presses her lips into a thin smile. “But maybe I was wrong, Piper,” she says. “Maybe being with him will solve all our problems.”
I shake my head. She’s under his spell. “Can’t you see it, Mom? He’s tricking you. You aren’t in control. He is.”
“Half of the assembly backs him,” she says. “And he’s waited so long.”
I look from her to Reese.
He nods. “Thousands of years, Piper. I’ve loved you since the day I first saw you.”
“He’ll let us all stay together. We won’t have to worry about the Underworld,” my mom says. “I can come with you when you need to go away.”
Every word out of her mouth makes me sick. A sudden coldness hits me as reality sinks in. I have no control. I have nothing. Even my own mother has betrayed me.
“I’ve waited for you, Persephone. I’ve waited so long. Forever. It’s been worse than eternity in Tartarus without you. Torture every time I see you.” He takes a step and then another, until I realize he’s only a foot away.