The Gatekeeper's Promise: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Six (The Gatekeeper's Saga 6) (18 page)

The horse bent over the stream to take a drink. When it did, the person looked up and saw Therese standing at the edge of the grotto. Therese froze. She couldn’t believe she had allowed herself to be seen. Adrenaline surged through her until the person waved an arm and shouted across the canyon.

“Therese!”

Therese’s mouth fell open. She knew that voice.

“Jen?”

The person waved both arms and shouted again, “Therese! It’s me, Jen!”

To Than, Therese said, “How did
she
get here?”

Chapter Fourteen: Death Trap

Therese reached a hand down to Jen and helped her up and over the edge of the grotto. The brown horse continued down the canyon toward Poseidon’s river.

“How did you get here?” Therese asked.

“A giant named Minnoshus, or something. I’ve been scared out of my mind. Can you take me home?” 

Therese glanced over
to where Than lay paralyzed a few feet away.

Jen followed Therese’s gaze. “Oh, no. Is he okay?”

Therese sucked in her lips and tried not to cry. Now that her friend was here to feel sorry for her, the waterworks threatened to pour.

Jen knelt at
Than’s side and leaned over him. “You’re awake.”

“He was paralyzed by a lightning bolt,” Therese explained
, as she knelt on the other side of Than from Jen. “He can’t speak.”

“But this isn’t the first time.” Jen put a hand to Than’s forehead, as though checking for fever. “He was struck last year and recovered.”

“True. I’m hoping he does again.”

“But you seem worried.”

“This was a more direct hit,” Therese said. Then, not wanting to upset him, she added, “But I’m sure he’ll be fine.” She leaned over and kissed her husband’s cheek.

“So why are we here?” Jen asked.

“That’s the million dollar question.”

Just then, they both heard a
faint shout from the canyon below. They looked at each other for a moment.

“Who’s that?” Jen whispered.

Therese shook her head as the shout came again, barely audible through the roar of the falls.

“Sounds like a woman,” Jen whispered.

“Wait here.” Therese got up and peered from behind the falls over the grotto’s edge.

The voice came again—not from below, but across the canyon where the gods had assembled four years ago. A fi
gure—a woman with white and black hair—was scaling the wall and had reached the summit.

It was Hecate.
She bent over, panting, hands on her knees. Apparently she was without her goddess strength, too.

Therese shouted her name.

Twenty minutes later, after climbing back down from the platform, across the canyon, and up the ledge behind the falls, Hecate joined Therese and Jen on the hard ground at Than’s side.

“How did you get here?” Therese asked the goddess.

“I went to collect a soul and found Menoetius and Circe waiting for me.”

“But
why?” Therese asked.

“I heard they mean to trap us all,” Hecate said.

“Us who?” Jen asked.

“The Olympians,” Hecate replied.

“Then why Jen?” Therese asked.

“Lever
age, perhaps,” Hecate guessed.

***

Hypnos was relieved when, a week after his brutal murder,
his body finally called to his soul, and they were one again. But no sooner had this happened then the duties of Death beckoned.

To Hecate, he sent a prayer of sarcasm:
Sorry to relieve you of your favorite post
, but he got nothing in reply. Maybe she didn’t appreciate his sense of humor.

Hecate?

Still no reply.

Mother
, have you seen Hecate?

Not since she took over for Thanatos
a week ago. Why? And have you heard from him yet?

No.

We’ve combed the ends of the earth looking for him and Therese,
his mother said.
We’re running out of ideas. Please help us as soon as you can.

As Hip had this telepath
ic conversation with his mother, he disintegrated and answered the call from souls all over the world. One in particular worried him, because it was calling from the Holts’ place.

Fortunately, he could sense
it wasn’t Jen, but the idea of her family going through another tragedy made him want to wring the necks of all three Fates. As he arrived, he could tell with some relief that the soul was animal, not human.

It was the goat
that was sometimes tied to the front of the house. Its head had been cut clean off and the body left to rot. Who would do such a thing?

As soon as he reached it, a puff of bitter powder accosted him from all directions, and, as he blinked and wiped his eyes, someone grabbed him.

He opened his eyes to find Circe standing before him with that wry grin.

“Hello, Hypnos,” she said.

He struggled against whoever had pinned his arms behind his back.

“That’s
Menoetius,” Circe said. “We thought you’d like to know that we’ve got your little girlfriend.”

Hip flailed
his body against the implacable force that was the Titan. Circe’s black magic must have been at work; otherwise, the struggle would be less one-sided. “Why are you doing this?”

“I saw your dream, young god,” Circe taunted. “As I curled my fingers in your pretty golden hair and put my lips against your tasty mouth, you were dreaming of that mortal girl instead of relishing what was right there with you!”

Hip narrowed his eyes. “Jealous much?” The witch was insane.

Circle cackled. “Don’t flatter yourself.” Then she added, “
But if you want
her
so badly, you can have her.”

“Why are you doing this? What do you want?” As Hip spoke, he found he could not communicate through prayer.

“I want every one of your kind imprisoned,” she replied.

The world opened up, and water rushed at him, sucking him down in a whirlwind of confusion.
He floundered, unable to breathe and unable to keep his head afloat. He hated water! And now it seemed it would be the death of him. He wasn’t ready to return to Tartarus. He fought, struggled, kicked, pulled, and held his breath, but found his strength zapped away.

He stopped kicking and opened his eyes, reminding himself to focus and remain calm. He assessed his surroundings and was at last able to see which way was up and which was down. Flattening his arms to his sides, he allowed himself to sink to
the bottom. Then, once his boots struck ground, he pushed as hard as he could and flung himself to the surface.

For the brief seconds his head emerged, he spotted land. He snatched a gulp of air and then kicked and paddled as best as he could toward the shore. This seemed to take forever, and when he finally felt the smooth hot surface of rock, he pulled himself from the miserable water and kissed the land.

As soon as he noticed the raised platform overlooking the river from which he had just emerged, he squinted in bewilderment. What on earth was he doing in Zeus’s battlefield?

***

Because the sun always shone, even filtered, as it was, by the falls at the opening of the grotto, Thanatos could not tell how many days and nights he had been lying paralyzed with Therese, Jen, and Hecate looking after him. It had been long enough that he knew he was hungry. It had been long enough that Therese’s abdomen had grown to twice the size it had been when he had first opened his eyes. It had been long enough.

He had made
some
progress. He was able to wiggle his toes and fingers, and, although he still could not move his lips, he could clear his throat and make sounds to get the women’s attention. They brought him water when he needed it, which hadn’t been often. Therese had even squeezed a bit of orange juice into his mouth from the stash Jen and Hecate had gathered during one of their excursions into Demeter’s woods. He tried to consume as little as possible, not knowing what he would do if he needed to empty his bladder.

He had to admit he rather liked the feeling of Therese lying beside him the tw
o times she had rested. In addition to the even rise and fall of her breath and the silky smooth warmth of her face nestled against his neck, he’d been able to feel the babies moving and kicking about. While this brought him immeasurable joy, he was afraid they might want to be born while they were still trapped in this insane prison. Although Therese had rested twice, Jen had slept—albeit restlessly—a half a dozen times, which led him to suspect a week or more had passed.

One good thing that had come from this situation was the opportunity for Therese to spend time with Jen. He was reminded of how much the two girls cared about one another. Just now, Jen was telling the other two women about her ideas for a baby shower.
Jen seemed to forget altogether that they were trapped in a prison and not at a week-long sleepover.

“I haven’t even told Carol and Richard yet,” Therese admitted.

This made Than frown, which, in turn made him smile. He was able to move his mouth! Could he speak?

“Why not?” Jen asked.

Than watched Therese carefully as she glanced his way before saying, “I just haven’t had time.”

“Tell me the truth, girlfriend,” Jen said. “
I can tell you’re lying. Hecate, do you know?”

Hecate shrugged. “I can think of a number of reasons.”

“She’s frightened,” Than said.

Therese sprang to her feet and hovered over him. “You can speak!”
She knelt and hugged his waist. “How do you feel?”

“Frustrated. What about you? Are you okay?”

She nodded before covering his mouth with hers. He relished in the ability to finally kiss her back.

Hecate and Jen had knelt beside him, too, and he looked up at them self-consciously before ending his kiss.

“What about the babies?” he asked.

“They’re huge.” She sat up and showed off her beach-ball-sized belly.

“I noticed. I can’t believe it.”

“Do you want anything?” Therese asked. “Food, orange juice, water?”

“No. I’m okay.” Then he added, “Hello, Jen. Hello, Hecate.”

“Hello,” they both replied.

“Do you have any idea why Circe and Menoetius are doing this to us?” Therese asked.

His theory was that Circe planned to overthrow the Olympians, but he didn’t want to upset Therese, so he said, “I’m not sure.”

The women made themselves comfortable on the ground around him, apparently planning on including him now in their talk.

“
Not to change the subject,” Jen started, “but why would Therese be scared to tell her aunt and uncle about the babies? They’ll be thrilled.”

Than explained about the pro
phecy, about the babies being mortal, and about the problem of what to do.

“
Hera and Hestia said I should give them up,” Therese said. “That mortals should be raised by mortals.”

“Maybe your aunt and uncle could adopt them,” Jen suggested. “At least they’d still be
in the family.”

Than looked up at his wife’s face and saw the tears brimming in her eyes.

“We may have no other choice,” Therese admitted.

“There are always other choices,” Hecate said. “In fact, choices are my expertise. You will soon be at a crossroads, Therese. You’ll know the right thing to do.”

Hecate squeezed Therese’s hand.

“There you are!” came a voice at the lip of the grotto.

“Hip!” Jen cried.

As happy as Than was to see his brother all in one piece, the sight of him here, in their prison, weighed heavily on him.

“We just can’t get a break, can we bro’?” Hip said as he moved nearer to Than.

“Hermes must be next,” Hecate said. “That’s how Circe’s doing it. She’s using death to trap us, one at a time.”

***

Jen knew the gods were in some kind of trouble, but she struggled with her feelings of elation. The last time she had seen Hip had been in a dream. He’d told her he wanted to be with her for as long as she lived. Even though he hadn’t been a figment and had said that the dream was true, she waited now for some sign from him that he really had meant what he’d said.

She watched him speak with the other gods, holding herself back from rushing up to him and giving him a hug. She held back, waited, knowing that the gods were trying to figure something out. But while she waited, she felt more and more deflated. Maybe she wasn’t as important to him as she had hoped.

Once Hecate had explained how the witch named Circe was using death to trick the gods, Hip finally looked at Jen and gave her a sort of half-sad, half-glad smile. Her heart bloomed, and her lips stretched up in a massive grin that split her face in half.