The Goddess Hunt Read Online Free PDF Page B

Daddy said Henry’s worried about you.”
    I blinked. Henry was worried? “Why?”
    “Because if there’s one twin to get stuck with, Lux isn’t it. I’m supposed to bring you back to Athens.”
    “Is Henry waiting?” I said, my heart pounding. I’d been certain I wouldn’t see him until September, when I was supposed to return to Eden to take up my duties as his queen. But the thought of spending the summer with Henry, or at least seeing him before then, made my chest ache in the best way possible. After all of the uncertainty between us, the thought of him waiting for me made a delicate bubble of hope inside of me expand. He wanted to be with me, his stupid six months away rule be damned.
    Ava hesitated. “Er, no.”
    And there went that bubble.
    “I mean, I’m sure he’ll come see you,” she said quickly. “Just—you know. He’s not there now is all.”
    “Then where is he?” said Lux. “Where’s my brother?”
    Ava shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t care.”
    “Ava don’t be like that,” I said.
    “What? It’s not like he wants my help anyway.”
    I twisted around to face Lux, but before I could ask, he scowled. “I would rather be forced to eat my own liver every day for the rest of eternity.”
    “See?” said Ava cheerfully. “It’s settled. Let’s go.”
    She reached for my hand, but I yanked it back. She may not have wanted to help Lux, but I was already neck deep in this. I wasn’t about to abandon him when he had no one else. “e ulse. How did you know where we were?”
    “Ella told me, of course.”
    “And how did Ella know where we were?”
    Silence. Ava’s eyes widened innocently, and Lux swore so loudly that a flock of birds exploded from the branches above us. “ You told them,” he roared.
    “Me? How could I have possibly known?” she said, but there was something about her voice that triggered a red flag in my mind. I’d heard her tell enough lies, both big and small, to recognize her attempts at hiding the truth when I heard it.
    “Ava,” I said in a warning tone, “if you want me to go with you, then you need to spit it out. Now.”
    She sighed dramatically. “Oh, fine. Not like it matters anyway. I was going to join you and James. I mean, it’s sort of rotten you invited him to Greece, but not me, you know? So I was following you, waiting for the right moment, and then—”
    “And then James hunted us down and led her right to us,” said Lux. “Bastard.”
    I glared at Ava. “I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose. Unlike you.”
    “Oh, no, he knew I was there,” said Ava in that same singsongy voice. “He always knows.”
    I gritted my teeth. The last thing I needed was for them to shatter my trust in another person. Especially James.. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s just find Casey.”
    Ava’s face fell. “I thought you were coming with me.”
    “Yeah, well, I changed my mind.” I started down the path, but neither of them followed. “Lux, are you coming or what?”
    “Not with her walking behind me.”
    Terrific. Now I was babysitting two children. “It’s not like she can kill you.”
    “No, but she can do—and has done—much worse,” he muttered, and I stopped. Out of all the people on the council, I would’ve expected Ava to have the most compassion for others, especially Casey and Lux.
    “Ava?” I said. “What did you do to them?”
    “Nothing serious,” she said, and I narrowed my eyes.
    “I’ll be the judge of that.”
    Lux started to pace between two trees, careful never to turn his back on Ava. “Casey and I were involved in helping our father pick a husband for our sister, Helen. She —” he glared at Ava “—appeared in our chambers one night and tried to seduce us in exchange for our vote for her favorite candidate.”
    “It wasn’t just that,” said Ava, a note of hurt in her voice. “I also offered you both any girls you wanted, you know.”
    Lux ignored her. “We turned her down. The safety of our sister