The Gatekeeper's Challenge (13 page)

Hades started to say something, but then didn’t. He sat back down in his chair and put his chin in one hand.
Than waited quietly for several seconds and was about to speak again, when his father said, “I have an idea.”

Alecto
moved to her father’s side. “You can’t be seriously considering a way to…”

“This idea will settle your issues as well.”

“I’m listening,” Than said.

“We give her five challenges, as penance for her role in the girl’s death and as a means for proving she’s worthy to become like us. If she succeeds, I’ll use all my power to force Dionysus to make her a god. Then you’ll be spared the maenads.”

“What kind of challenges?” Than’s heart sank. This didn’t sound good.

“They need to prove she has what it takes. We need to know if she’s trustworthy, diplomatic, yet cunning. She has to be strong and brave.”

“So we’re holding her to higher standards than we do the rest of us.”

Hades laughed. “To be sure, though I know you don’t include me among those whom you see lacking.”

“That goes without saying.”

Hades searched
Than’s face for signs of sarcasm, but Than showed none.

“What do you have in mind, Father?”
Alecto asked.

Hades sat silent for a moment, thinking, while his son and daughter waited.
Than stared off into the flames of the Phlegethon, silently begging his father to consider his happiness.

Then Hades stood up, and, pacing with excitement, said, “To prove she’s trustworthy, we’ll have her deliver a black box from
Aphrodite to Persephone containing a beauty charm which Therese is not to open. Aphrodite asked this of Cupid’s Psyche and countless others, and even though the women were already beautiful, they couldn’t resist stealing a little more beauty for themselves. We’ll see if Therese can resist what others could not.”

Than sighed with relief, feeling confident Therese would not falter. She was anything but vain.

“For her second challenge,” Hades said, “to test her skills in diplomacy, she must deliver to Mount Olympus one of Hera’s golden apples, guarded in her orchard by the Hesperides and Ladon, the one-hundred-headed dragon.”

“How do you expect her to get by the dragon?”
Than demanded. “You know it’s impossible.”

“It wasn’t for Hercules.”

“She won’t be long in finding her way here,” Than said. “But not as my bride.”

“You have little faith in the girl you love,”
Alecto sneered.

Than shook his head, his ears thudding with the beat of his heart. His father must not care for him, he thought bitterly. He clenched his jaw and turned away to leave.

“Don’t you want to hear what the other three challenges are?” Hades asked.

“To humor you, Father?”

“Indeed.”

“I’m listening,” he spat angrily.

“The third will test her cunning,” Hades said. “For that I want her to negotiate through the Labyrinth.”

Both the Minotaur and his sister Ariadne were no friends to
Than. If by some miracle Therese made it past the one-hundred-headed dragon, they would kill Therese.

“You are not allowed to intervene,” Hades said, as if reading his thoughts.
“If you want to train her for battle, you may. You may even offer advice. The actual challenges she must endure alone.”

Than glared at his father.

“For strength, she must defeat the Hydra.”

Than
laughed. “This is ridiculous.”

“And for courage, she must descend into the Underworld, find Vicki Stern, and apologize to her.”

“Why such an easy task on the heels of the others?” Than asked. “You know she can’t defeat the dragon, the Minotaur, and the Hydra, so you throw that last one in there for grins?”

“The last is the most difficult of all,” Hades replied.
“Because like Orpheus, she won’t be allowed to look back.”

“She can do that, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve set her up for failure.”

Alecto stepped closer to Than, “Don’t be too quick to give up.”

As much as
Than appreciated his sister’s encouragement, he said, “Never mind, then, Father. I’ll do it without your blessing. I want her alive.”

“Wait, brother,”
Alecto said. “At least give her the choice.”

Chapter Eighteen: The Impossible Dream

After Pete left, Therese went straight through the house and up the stairs to her room, hoping neither her aunt nor her uncle would follow. She wanted to be alone. Except for her pets, she didn’t want company.

She changed into an old pair of sweats she usually wore in the winter, hoping they would help her body stop trembling. She held Jewels against her neck, the shell warm from its heat lamp. Then she wished the tortoise goodnight, turned off the lamp, and crawled beneath her covers. As exhausted as she was, she lay in bed beside Clifford unable to fall asleep.

“Oh, Clifford,” she muttered. “What am I going to do?”

He nudged the palm of her hand with his head, which meant, “Pet me,” so she scratched behind his hears and along his back. He rolled over for a belly scratch. Stroking him released some of the anxiety that had built up inside of her. Her neck and shoulders loosened a little, and she sank further into her pillow. She closed her eyes and continued to pet Clifford until she finally drifted off to sleep.

Therese found herself walking through a neighborhood, lost. It was her grandparents’ neighborhood, in San Antonio. She used to ride a bike around these blocks during visits, but she’d never gotten lost. Why couldn’t she find her way now? She turned a corner and headed up another block. Some of the houses slanted in odd angles to the ground. This is weird, she thought. She’d never seen houses like this before.

She was dreaming.

She kicked off the ground and swam the breast stroke through the air, flying above the treetops. She flipped onto to her back and floated, wondering why her grandparents’ old neighborhood had been in her dream and why she had gotten lost in it. Before long, she felt another presence floating near her.

It was a figment disguised as
Than. She turned to face it, her body stiff with anger. Even though she knew it was just a stupid figment, she couldn’t stop the heat from rising to her skin and the words to her throat. “Get away from me!”

“Therese, please.” The figment moved closer, touching a hand to her cheek.

She looked at him with longing, but the fact that he could be this close and not cause her to grow weak with dying proved he was just a stupid figment. She pressed her palms against his bare chest and pushed. “Get away!” she growled.

“No. Not until you’ve heard me out. If you still want me to go then, I will.”

“Figment, I command you to show yourself!”

Than
moved closer, taking her hand. “I’m not a figment. It’s me.”

She jerked back, eyes wide. “What?” Her heart pounded in her ears. She wasn’t sure whether she was mad or happy.
Maybe a little of both. “What are you doing here? How come I’m not dying?”

He ran a hand through her short hair. “I like your hair this way.”

Her mouth went dry, her palms moist. “Why are you here?”

“My father ordered Hip to trade places with me for the night. I need to talk to you.”

“And you couldn’t manage this months ago?” Her voice came out harsh and bitter. She regretted it as soon as she saw his face.

“I’ve been trying, believe me. Can we please sit down somewhere and talk?”

She folded her arms across her chest, unsure. Seeing him made her knees weak; she could barely maintain herself in the air because her body felt wobbly, her heart unsteady. Yes, she wanted to sit down, but should she talk to him? After what he did to Vicki? The idea of
not
talking to him made her stomach ache. “Okay. Where?”

He took her hand and led her down through the clouds, down through tall granite peaks, down into a ravine where a river flowed, down to the gate of the Underworld.

“I thought I wasn’t allowed to enter,” she said, suddenly terrified. Was he planning to kill her?

“Not through there. I’m taking you around back, to a secret entrance to my rooms. You can only enter through the dream world.”

They ran across a field of poppies. Lying amid the flowers on his back with his eyes closed was Than.

“Wait a minute,” she said. “Is that you?” She pointed to his sleeping form a few feet away from them.

“That’s how I enter the dream world.”

“So this isn’t the real you?” She touched his chest. It felt good to touch him.

He covered her hand and held it against him. “It’s as much the real me as it is the real you. Hard to explain. Just come on.”

He led her inside a dome-shaped cavern with high ceilings and a river of fire. A grouping of instruments hung above the flames on one wall. Across from the river was a fireplace, also alight with flames, and arranged in front of it were two leather club chairs. In the center of the room, a table and two chairs looked like they were carved from gold.

“Welcome to my home,” he said, his cheeks turning red. “Come, sit down.”

Therese looked around in awe, the dome ceiling, curved high above them, reminding her of a cathedral. She took a seat across from him near the fire place in the cozy leather chair. “It’s nice.”

“You really like it?”

“Yes. I do.” She looked up again at the ceiling, where their shadows danced.

Than gave her his adorable smile and leaned toward her, sitting on the edge of his seat. She sat forward, too, so their knees touched, her knees pressed together inside of his. She pressed them together to keep them from shaking. He took one of her hands, holding it on her thigh, hot beneath her sweats.

“I can’t believe you’re really here,” he said. “I’ve fantasized about this for months.”

“Why
am
I here? What’s this all about?” She couldn’t keep the resentment from her tone. He should have come for her months ago.

He told her all about his efforts to make her into a god in spite of the oath he and the Olympians took last summer. He told her about Aphrodite, about the maenads, about Dionysus, and about Ariadne and the Minotaur. As he spoke, the iron glove around her heart melted away. She put a hand to her mouth, taking it all in. He hadn’t been too busy for her; he’d been busy
because
of her. She felt like a fool. She closed her eyes to hold in the tears, but they fell down her cheeks anyway.

He smoothed the tears away with his thumbs. “Don’t cry.”

“I’m so sorry I lost faith in you,” she muttered. “I thought you didn’t love me anymore. I thought once you returned to your duties, you realized you’d made a mistake, that I wasn’t anything special, that you didn’t want me.”

“No.” He stood and pulled her from the chair and into his arms.
“No way.”

She put her cheek against his chest and let him hold her. Even though she knew this was a dream, she also knew it was real, and it felt real. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest with each breath, could hear his heart pumping against her cheek.

He stroked her hair. “You know I had no choice but to take Vicki, right? You understand that?”

She looked into his eyes. “It was my fault, not yours. Besides, Hades makes no exceptions, does he,” she said without inflection. “And you are under his command.”

“Exactly.”

“Have you ever disobeyed your father?”

He shook his head. “But I will if necessary, to be with you.”

“Oh, Than.”

He pulled her hard against him and kissed the top of her head, then cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her face to his. She met his eyes, and her body responded to the longing she recognized in them, the longing she knew her eyes also held. Softly, she whispered, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Believe it,” he said, just before he covered her mouth with his.

She took his lips in hers, licking, sweeping, tasting. She couldn’t resist taking his lower lip between her teeth and gently biting down.

“
Mmm,” he groaned.

He lifted her up in his arms and carried her from the room into another, following the river of fire, past a stalagmite holding a clock and quill to a round bed beneath a golden sword and shield. Next to the bed was a trickling waterfall cascading over a series of shelves carved from stone and displaying a beautiful shell collection. Three green plants, somewhat transparent, grew in pots beside the waterfall, and though Therese was amazed by the room, and able to take in every detail with the slow motion of a dream, she closed her eyes when
Than laid her on his bed and kissed her. He climbed beside her, half on top of her, and cupped her head in his hands, lifting her face to his. The soft, sweeping, gentle kisses became hard and passionate and deep. Therese wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her body against his.