Slowly I made my way to the gate. The bars, once carved out of the black rock itself, now glowed with white light. Rhea. I stood up as straight as I could. “Cronus, I want to talk to you.”

For several seconds, nothing happened. Not that I expected him to come running the moment I called, but he didn’t have to make this difficult.

“Please,” I said, the word sour on my tongue. “I won’t wait forever.”

At last an opaque fog slithered across the ground, but it stopped short of the bars. Unlike before, when he’d had enough of a reach to wreak havoc in the Underworld, Cronus was completely trapped now.

The fog solidified into the silhouette of a man, and Cronus stepped toward the gate, as tall and proud as ever. “Kate, my darling, I knew you’d come back for me.”

“I’m not here to release you,” I said. “I’m here to be with you.”

“Oh?” said Cronus, eyebrow raised. He focused on something behind me, and I scowled. He had no right to look at Henry and Milo after everything he’d done. “In what manner?”

“As your friend. And if not that, then to keep you company.” Even if I would’ve rather burned in a lake of fire. “No one should be alone like this for eternity.”

Cronus’s expression grew thoughtful. “I did not realize you cared.”

“I don’t,” I said coolly. “I hate you for what you did to my family. I hate you for not healing Ava. I hate you for being a megalomaniac who can’t see past your own desires. But you saved my son’s life the day he was born, and I will never forget that.” I paused. “I know what it feels like to stare into a black future with no one left in your life, and no one deserves that. So I’m going to come see you. Not every day, but enough to make sure someone’s watching you. Enough to make sure you’re not alone.”

He narrowed his eyes. “And if I do not wish for you to come?”

“Too damn bad. This is how it’s going to be whether you like it or not, so you might as well get used to it.”

A long moment passed, and at last Cronus nodded. “Very well. Until then.”

He disappeared into the fog, and the tendrils drifted backward until the darkness swallowed them completely. I took a shaky breath, trying to calm my racing heart, and Henry placed his hand on my back.

“I love you,” he murmured. Those three words would never lose their magic. “Even if you are frustratingly good sometimes.”

I brushed my fingers against Milo’s cheek, reassuring myself for the hundredth time that he was still there. “Someone on the council needs to be,” I said, and Henry chuckled.

“Yes, I suppose you are right. Now come.” He took my hand, his touch a reminder of everything about this world that I loved. “Let’s go home.”

The black rock around us faded, leaving only lingering remnants of the war and heartache we’d battled. Henry was right—it would get better in time, as all things did. As much as loss had defined us, so did our capacity for hope.

And from here on out, no matter what the future had in store for us, we would face it together. Always.

* * * * *

 

And so the GODDESS TEST series concludes—for now.

But Aimée Carter is about to begin a new series.

Turn the page for a glimpse into a new world where a test decides your future but one girl will take destiny into her own hands.

Available late 2013

1

Unlucky

Risking my life to steal an orange was a stupid thing to do, but today of all days, I didn’t care about the consequences. If I were lucky, the Shields would throw me to the ground and put a bullet in my brain.

Dead at seventeen. It would be a relief.

I touched the back of my neck and tried not to wince as I hurried through the crowded market. That morning, my skin had been pale and smooth, with only a freckle below my hairline. Now that noon had come and the test was over, it was marred with black ink that would never come off and ridges that would never smooth over.

III. At least it wasn’t a II, but that wasn’t much of a bright side.

“Kitty,” called Benjy, my boyfriend. He tucked his long red hair behind his ears as he sauntered toward me, taller than most of the others in the marketplace. Many of the women glanced at him as he passed, and my frown deepened.

I couldn’t tell whether Benjy was oblivious or simply immune to my bad mood, but either way, he gave me a quick kiss. “I have a birthday present for you.”

Guilt washed over me. He didn’t see the orange in my hand or understand I was committing a crime. I should’ve never dragged him into this, but he’d insisted on coming, and I had to do this. I’d had one chance to prove that I could be worthwhile to society, and I’d failed. Now I was condemned to spend the rest of my life as something less than everyone in that market, all because of the tattoo on the back of my neck. Stealing a piece of fruit meant only for the IVs and successful Vs wouldn’t make the rest of my life any easier, but that small gesture of resistance would be worth it, even if they arrested me. Even if they really did kill me, after all.

The orange felt like wax underneath my fingers, and I held it gently, careful not to squeeze it. This was the first and likely last time I would get to taste an orange, and I wasn’t about to turn it into pulp.

Benjy opened his hand and revealed a tiny purple blossom no bigger than my thumbnail nestled in his palm, and for an irrational moment I wondered if he had stolen it, too. Nothing like that was sold in the market. Unlike me, however, Benjy would never take that risk.

“It’s a violet,” he said. “They’re a perennial flower.”

“I don’t know what that means.” I glanced around, and next to a booth selling pictures of the Valentine family was one boasting perfumes. Tiny purple flowers covered the table. They were only decorations, not a good. Not something that could get him killed or arrested and sent Elsewhere, like my orange. The seller must have let him take one.

“Perennial means that once they’re planted, they keep growing year after year.” He placed the flower in my palm and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “They never give up, like someone I happen to know.”

I managed a smile. “Thank you.” I sniffed the violet, but if it had a scent, it was lost in the smells surrounding us.

Despite the cool autumn day, it was sweltering inside the market. People were packed together, creating a stench that mingled with the sizzling meats, fresh fruit and hundreds of other things the vendors tried to sell. I usually didn’t mind, but today it made my stomach turn.

“We need to go,” I said, cupping my fingers around the flower to keep it safe. The orange in my other hand seemed to grow heavier with every second that passed, and it wouldn’t be long before someone noticed us. Benjy stood out in a crowd.

His eyes flickered toward the orange, but he was silent as he followed me toward the exit, slinging his arm around my shoulders. I tensed at his touch, waiting for him to brush my hair away and spot my tattoo. He hadn’t asked yet, but that courtesy wouldn’t last forever.

I’d seen the posters and heard the speeches. Everyone had. We all had our rightful place in society, and it was up to us to decide what that was. Study hard, earn good grades, learn everything we could and prove we were special. And when we turned seventeen and took the test, we would be rewarded with a good job, a nice place to live and satisfaction that we contributed to our society—everything we would ever need to lead a meaningful life.

That was all I’d ever wanted: to prove myself, to prove that I was better than the Extra I really was. I deserved to exist, even though I was a second child, and the Valentines hadn’t made a mistake not sending me Elsewhere.