“He’s going to destroy the council anyway,” I said. “We don’t have the power to fight him and win. You might be able to drag this war out another ten years, but you’ll lose eventually. Humanity will be destroyed, and Cronus will kill us all. That’s inevitable. So what’s the harm in trying to negotiate? He’s willing to make a deal. Doesn’t that mean something?”

“Not when you are asking us to negotiate with a Titan,” said Walter. “Cronus does not settle. His endgame will always be our destruction, and he will not stop until he has his way. I understand you are new to this, Kate, but that is no excuse for such stubborn ignorance.”

“Walter,” said my mother sharply, “that’s enough. Kate has a point. Perhaps it would be wise of us to at least consider—”

“Father’s right,” said Dylan, rising to his feet. The purple circles under his eyes did nothing to hide the way they sparkled with bone-chilling zeal. “There is no sense in attempting to bargain with Cronus. He will see it only as a weakness, and we cannot allow him to believe we have any holes in our armor that he could exploit for his own gain.”

The way he eyed me as he said it made my skin crawl. “And by that, you mean me,” I said. “You think I’m a liability.”

“You’ve been no use to us so far,” said Dylan. “If anything, you’ve only made things worse. Cronus didn’t touch Athens until you left—”

“She distracted him for us and bought us more time,” snapped James.

“—you seem to delight in distracting the council and insisting we do things we know won’t work—”

“She’s the one who came up with the idea of searching the Parthenon.”

“—and to top it off, you nearly got Henry and your own son killed—”

“He’s the one who decided to go after her without backup—”

“You will both silence yourselves immediately,” said Henry, but it was too late. Dylan might as well have punched me in the stomach.

“I know,” I said in a strangled voice. “I know, all right? I’m trying to make things right. I don’t want seven billion people to die because of my stupidity. I don’t want to lose any one of you. And I’m trying—”

“Then maybe you should try a little less,” said Dylan, and two thrones down from him, Irene rose.

“That’s enough,” she said in a dangerously soft voice that mirrored her father’s. Our father’s. “There is no shame in exploring other avenues. One who jumps into combat purely for the thrill of the fight is a fool, particularly when he risks innocent lives while doing so.”

“Are you calling me a fool, daughter?” said Walter. Irene’s hand twitched at her side, but she didn’t back off. I could have kissed her.

“No, Father. I’m merely pointing out that you have options. We do not even know what Cronus wants or why he wants it. Surely he must have given Kate some kind of hint.”

Every pair of eyes in the room turned toward me once more. Great. I wiped my palms on my pants. “He wants a life,” I said, mustering up as much conviction as I could. They had to believe me. “He’s been stuck in the Underworld for so long that he just wants a chance to live again. He thinks you won’t let him.”

“No, we will not,” said Walter. Irene gave him a look and gestured for me to continue.

“He’s agreed to stop attacking us if you stop attacking him. He won’t hurt anyone else. And—and he’ll turn over Calliope, or at least he won’t stop you from taking her back.”

“In exchange for what?” said Dylan, and though Irene shushed him, he continued. “We let him go? Do you know what it took to contain him in the first place?”

I hesitated. “He won’t go back on his word. He knows the consequences if he does.”

“And what, pray tell, are the consequences for the most powerful being in the universe flexing his muscles?” said Dylan. “What could he possibly want more than total control over everything?”

Silence. My heart—my stupid, useless heart that cared too much about everything and everyone—hammered painfully, and my breathing grew ragged. I wasn’t mortal anymore, but at that moment, I felt more human than I ever had in my life. “He wants me.”

The seconds ticked by. Walter frowned deeply, and Irene looked confused. From behind me, I could sense Henry’s stare, but I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t.

At long last, Dylan snorted. “You? You’re nothing to him.”

I focused on James again, silently pleading with him to explain. He nodded and stood grimly.

“During our trek through the Underworld, Kate had an...encounter with Cronus,” said James carefully. Dylan whistled suggestively, but he stopped when he caught sight of Henry behind me. Whatever look he was giving Dylan, I was glad I couldn’t see it. “She spoke to him and stopped him from attacking us. Ava and I didn’t believe it at first, but he let us go through the Underworld unhindered after that.”

“The encounter in Henry’s palace,” said my mother, her splintered voice damn near breaking my heart. “Calliope left Ava untouched because of what she’d done to Nicholas. But we never did understand why Cronus did not harm Kate.”

Once again, everyone focused on me, waiting for me to speak. It was the silence behind me that was unbearable though, and I reached for Henry. All I touched was air.