Henry stilled, and behind me I heard my mother hiss, “Again? Persephone!”

That painful knot in my chest returned. “I know I’m not her and that I never will be, but you know what, Henry? That’s a good thing, because unlike her, I’m not going to betray you. I’m not going to fall in love with someone else and decide you’re not worth it, because you’re it for me. As long as you want me here, I’ll stay, but no matter how much I love you, I will not let you manipulate me like this. It isn’t fair to me, it isn’t fair to this council, and you have to stop it before it destroys us completely. Be as miserable as you’d like. You want to make out with her even though she doesn’t love you? Even though you haven’t so much as kissed me good-night since I arrived? Fine. Avoid me for years—hell, avoid me for eons. But don’t you dare try to stop me from doing what little I can to help prevent the world from crumbling.”

While Henry stared at me, his mouth slightly open, I turned to Walter. Henry didn’t get a say in what I did this time. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to get ready. The sooner we have another Titan on our side, the better chance we have at winning.”

Walter nodded once, and I stepped from the platform and walked through the circle, focusing straight ahead. I wouldn’t let any of them see me break down.

No one followed me through the pillars and into the antechamber. Once I closed the door, I leaned against it and shut my eyes, struggling to calm my racing heart. I’d done the right thing. Henry had left me with no other choice, and even if he pulled away now, at least it would be in earnest and not because he thought I didn’t love him.

The door behind me opened, and I stumbled. Persephone slid into the room and quickly shut the door, and in those few seconds, I heard several members of the council shouting at one another.

“Well, you certainly know how to make an exit,” said Persephone wryly, but her smirk dropped. “I’m sorry for what you saw. I had no idea.”

As if me being oblivious would have made it any better. “It doesn’t matter,” I mumbled, all the fight draining out of me. “I know why you did it.”

“Do you?” She sat on one of the benches and gestured for me to join her. I perched on the other end, as far away from her as I could get. “I know how he feels about me. It’s never been any secret, and no matter how strongly I discouraged him, it kept growing stronger. That was one of the reasons I decided to give up my immortality,” she added. “Because I knew eventually it would get to the point where he wouldn’t be able to take it anymore, and I’d hurt him enough as it was.”

As pretty a story as it was, I didn’t believe her. Persephone was nothing if not selfish. Maybe not as much as I’d initially thought, but I’d seen enough to know that my first impressions weren’t completely wrong.

“You’re doing the right thing,” she said, echoing my self-assurances. “I understand why Henry’s withdrawing from the fight, but he’s doing it for the wrong reasons.”

“You mean trying to keep me alive isn’t a good enough reason?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean,” she said, and I grimaced. There was no point in arguing though. She was right. “Like it or not, you’re just one person. Cronus will rip the entire world apart if he escapes the island.”

“You don’t think I know that?” I snapped. “If I could hand myself over and stop this entire thing, I would, but I can’t, because Calliope wants them all dead now. I don’t need you rubbing my nose in it.”

Persephone sighed. “Sorry. Seems I can’t say anything right, can I?”

That could easily be solved if she stopped treating me like I didn’t know anything. I didn’t, but there was no reason for her to be so offensive about it.

“Anyway,” said Persephone after a few seconds passed in silence. “That’s what I wanted to make sure of—that you knew why I kissed him. I’m sorry.”

I stared at my hands. I would have rather chewed off my thumbs than have this conversation. “I’m not mad at you for kissing him. I’m mad at Henry for wanting it.”

“You knew before it happened that he would,” she said. “So did I. But you know what? He didn’t enjoy it.”

I gave her a wary look. “What do you mean?”

“So you didn’t hear that part after all,” she said with a trace of smugness. “I thought so. You wouldn’t have freaked out if you had.”

I scowled. It was hard enough being civil to her without her acting like this. “Just tell me already, would you?”

She rolled her eyes. “That temper will get you into trouble someday. I asked Henry if it was as good as he’d expected, and he admitted it wasn’t. It took him a while, but I think he understands that what we had was never real.”

I said nothing. Even if I was wrong, that wouldn’t change how he’d treated me the past few months. It wouldn’t change how much he’d wanted to kiss her in the first place.

Persephone tugged on a blond curl, and when she let it go, it sprang back into a perfect spiral. She’d probably never had a bad hair day in her life. “Our whole relationship was my fault for being too young and scared. I wasn’t ready for marriage, and I knew that before I married him. The right thing would’ve been to put it off for a hundred years and get to know him first. If I’d done that, there’s no telling what might have happened. But I didn’t wait, and we both paid the price.”

“Henry more than you,” I mumbled.

“Henry more than me,” she agreed. “I’ve had to carry around that guilt for my entire afterlife. Ever since I left him, I’ve hoped someone would come along and give him another chance. Someone like you,” she said, poking my arm. I shied away from her touch, and she dropped her hand into her lap. “Just because it didn’t work out between us doesn’t mean I don’t love him. Not the way he wants me to, but I still care about what happens to him. I’m glad he found you. I’m glad Mother decided to try again for a daughter she could finally be proud of.”

In that moment, some of my animosity toward Persephone melted, and I tentatively reached out to her. As hard as it was for me to bear the pressure of living up to my mother’s expectations, I’d never considered how difficult it had been for Persephone to go against them in the first place. “She’s proud of you. She said so herself. And—she knows you deserved a chance to be happy. I know that, too,” I added. “I just wish Henry could look at me the way he looks at you.”

Persephone wrapped her fingers around mine. “You should be glad he doesn’t. When he looks at me, he hurts. But when he sees you…” She smiled faintly. “He has hope. I’m not surprised you don’t notice it. It took me a while to read him, too. I spent thousands of years with him though, and I know that look. I saw it the day we got married. You don’t forget the first time someone looks at you like that.”

I bit my lip. I wanted to believe her. Badly. She did know Henry; she gained nothing by lying to me, and if there was any chance she was being honest, I had to take it. “How do I do this? How do I get him to love me?”

“Just be you.” Persephone patted my hand and stood. “It won’t take him long to see what he has. I’m going to go.”

“All right.” I pushed my hair behind my ears. “I’ll probably see you before I leave.”

“You won’t.” She smiled briefly, and in that moment, she looked so much like our mother that I did a double take. “I’m leaving as soon as the meeting’s over. I’ve stayed here long enough, and as fun as it’s been battling Cronus, I miss Adonis. I’ll be back if they need me,” she added. “Until then, I’m going home.”

“Oh.” Relief washed over me, followed immediately by guilt. As terrible as things had been in the beginning and as much as I wanted to hate her for what she’d done with Henry, she was trying. And she was still my sister. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Anytime.” She set her hand on the door, but before she opened it, she hesitated. “You can come visit me, if you want. I’d like that. I’ve never had a real sister before, and it’d be nice to get to know you. As much as I love Adonis, sometimes he can be a little…monotonous.”