The Gatekeeper's Challenge (25 page)

“You can take us with you,” her father said more gently. “Hades even admitted that there have been rare exceptions to the rule that mortals can’t return from the Underworld. Why can’t we be one of those exceptions? Thanatos loves you, for heaven’s sake! Who better to be granted an exception?”

Therese paused. That was true. If any exception could be made to the rule that mortals could not return, why couldn’t one be made for her parents? If
Than loved her, what stopped him from demanding this favor of Hades?

But this had to be a trap. Ares was trying to get her to look back. She wouldn’t fall for it. “Leave me alone! If you are my parents, leave me alone, and, if it’s possible, I’ll come back for you once I’m a god.”

“We understand,” her mother’s voice cried. “Don’t look at me, but come and give me one last kiss.”

Therese fixed her eyes on the gate and shouted, “Figments, I command you to show yourselves!”

A fluttering of wings sounded behind her, but she dared not turn to see what it was. After a moment, she heard only the sound of the river lapping against the bank.

Up ahead, Charon circled across the Acheron where she could see
Than boarding with two others. They sailed back to the Styx and past Cerberus. The great gate groaned open as the raft came toward her. She waved to Than and called out his name. The look he gave her puzzled her. Here she was at the end of her final challenge, and his expression was more apprehensive than ever. What was wrong?

She watched him sail past her, and then, without thinking, she turned and followed him with her eyes as he sailed into the Underworld.

Her hand flew to her mouth, and she immediately turned back toward the gate, hoping no one had seen, but knowing they must have. Of course they’d seen! She dropped to her knees, begging any god who’d listen to have mercy on her.

Then
Than appeared. “Do you want to do this thing?”

“You mean burn to death?”

“Yes.”

“But the maenads.”
She felt herself losing consciousness.

“Forget the maenads. Will you burn?”

“Yes.”

Chapter Thirty-Three
: Demeter’s Winter Cabin

Than fragmented and flew to Therese, and, with her consent, scooped her in his arms, and traveled to his grandmother’s winter cottage in a heavily wooded area near the base of Mount Kronos. As soon as he arrived, he laid Therese on a bed and left the house so as not to further endanger Therese’s life. Once he was a safe distance away, he hovered above the cabin ready to explode with frustration. Therese had almost succeeded. If only she hadn’t spotted him, she would have left through the gate and become his queen, accepted by the other gods, rather than exiled from Mount Olympus for all eternity. He’d tried to issue her a look of warning, to remind her of Hades’s one command—do not look back—but his expression had only bewildered her into watching him. He bellowed out his frustration, shaking the woods below. Birds darted from their nests, rabbits dashed into holes, and even humans turned their heads up to the sky, looking for thunderclouds. The tears gathering in his eyes fell like rain on a few treetops. He bit his tongue so hard it bled. So close. She had been so close.

Demeter and Persephone arrived moments later, also full of tears, but not for Therese. They flew to where he hovered above the cabin and threw their arms around him.

“They’ll rip you to pieces,” his mother said through thick sobs.

“And not just once,” his grandmother added.
“But every year.”

His mother cupped his face in her hands. “Please don’t do this,
Thanatos. I beg you, as the mother who gave life to you. I beg you with all my heart. Your pain will be unbearable, but so will mine when I hear your cries each year forever.”

“Please,
Thanatos,” his grandmother added. “Heed your mother’s words. Those who love you will suffer for all eternity. Love is fleeting. Punishment for broken oaths is not.”

Thanatos
pulled back from their suffocating embraces. He loved them, but this was hard enough without them reminding him every minute of every day. Having his one thumb ripped from his body had hurt like hell. Multiply that by a thousand. He shuddered. Yes, he knew what they were saying made sense, but he had to have Therese. “You don’t understand. Without her, I have no life. If you don’t want to suffer over my pain, then stop trying to talk me out of this thing. If I don’t do it, I’ll be miserable. With Therese at my side, you may hear my cries once a year; without her, they’ll be constant. If you love me, give it to me now.”

Demeter pulled a vial from the folds of her robe and reluctantly handed it over to
Than. “The more you rub over her, the faster she’ll burn. Use it all to ensure a speedy death.”

“And son, you can’t take her soul from her body. If you do, the process is ruined.”

Than’s mouth dropped open. “But all along I planned to take her before I set fire to her body.”

Demeter lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry. It won’t work if you do.”

“Maybe now you’ll change your mind?”

Than chewed his bottom lip, which, like his tongue, trickled with blood from his own doing. “Therese must decide. Please go and put the question to her.”

Chapter Thirty-Four: Burned Alive

Therese awoke in a strange room, feeling dazed. Her throat was tight and dry, and she was overcome with a desperate thirst.

“Water,” she muttered to anyone who might hear. “I need water.”

Demeter appeared beside her, her long corn-blonde hair in two braids wrapped in buns on each side of her head, a little too high to resemble those of Princess Lea from
Star Wars
. The goddess handed Therese a golden goblet. Therese sat up and drank greedily.

Once satisfied, she looked around the room. The cabin was rustic and quaint, with windows on three sides and a kitchen and table across from her where she sat on the only bed in the room. Two closed doors might have led to other rooms.

Therese took another swallow of the fresh, cold water, and then gave the goblet back to Demeter. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Demeter laid the cup on the table and turned back to Therese. “It seems you have a very important decision to make, young lady.”

“I do?”

Demeter took a seat in a chair at the table across from the bed and narrowed her eyes at Therese. “Yes. The lives of many others will be affected by your choice, so choose wisely.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“As you know, you failed the last challenge set to you by Hades.”

Therese lowered her eyes. She’d been so stupid. After fighting the urge to look at her precious parents, she lost her mind and forgot what she was doing for a split second as she watched Than enter the Underworld. “I can’t believe it.” Tears welled in her eyes and she sniffled. “I’m so sorry. I was so stupid.”

“You were set up to fail.”

Therese lifted her head and searched Demeter’s face. “What? How?”

“When Ares’s plan of luring you with the voices of your parents failed, he sent his sons, Fear and Panic, to arouse your worry over
Than.”

Therese jumped to her feet. “But that’s not fair!”

“Life rarely is.”

Therese stared back, her mouth agape, letting it all sink in. Deflated, she muttered, “But death is,” and sank back down on the bed.

“You know what will happen if Thanatos follows through with his plan to give you immortality.”

Therese had tried so hard. She’d given each challenge her all. She risked her life to spare
Than. The tears of frustration overwhelmed her as she covered her face with her hands. “I did everything I could! I tried so hard! I got past the Hydra, for crying out loud! Can’t I have another chance? Can’t I do something else to show I’m worthy?”

“Hades knows you’re worthy, but, as he would say, ‘A deal is a deal.’ The laws of the challenge are immutable, and now, you must deal with the consequences.”

“Why is it that so many exceptions have been made throughout history and none can be made for me?”

“Even those exceptions required a terrible price. Nothing in life is free.”

Therese absently rubbed her tired legs as she muttered, “I can’t let Than suffer for all time.”

Persephone appeared beside them. “Thank you, dear girl. I’ll take you home when you’re ready.”

“Wait,” Demeter ordered. Looking at Therese, she said, “If you don’t accept Than’s gift of immortality, he may suffer just as horribly as he would if you do. Perhaps more.”

“But,” Persephone objected, “
he may not. Maybe he will for a year or two, and what are they to a god? There’s a good chance he’ll get over Therese and move on with his life and never suffer again.”

Than’s
voice boomed throughout the house: “Can you hear me Therese?”

She climbed to her feet and turned her face toward the ceiling.
“Than? Where are you?”

“I’m close. Listen to me.”

She nodded, shifting her weight nervously from one foot to the other, again and again.

“I love you more than I know how to say, and, more than anything, I want you at my side. But…”

She laughed nervously. “There’s a but?”

“Originally, when I agreed to make you into a god, I thought, since I’m Death, I could take your soul just before I set you aflame, sparing you the pain of burning alive. But my mother and grandmother have just informed me doing so will ruin the transformation. This means that, if I were to go through with this, you would have to endure unimaginable pain. So, my question is, do you still choose to join me under those conditions.”

Therese pulled at her hands, looked briefly at each of the goddesses in the room with her, and then turned her face back up to the ceiling. “Than, I already expected to feel the pain, so that changes nothing for me; what does affect my decision is the cost of my failure to you.”

“Do you promise that is your only hesitation?”

“Yes. Absolutely. Definitely.”

“Leave us!”
Than’s voice boomed. In the next instant, the two goddesses vanished, and she was alone in the cabin with him. He looked into her eyes, cupped her head with his hands, and pressed his lips to hers.

Her knees gave out, and he lifted her in his arms and laid her on the bed.

“I’ll try to make this quick,” he whispered at her ear, his breath warm and sweet.

He tugged off each of her sneakers, letting them drop to the floor. He unrolled her socks, quickly, and tossed them down with her shoes. Then he unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans.

“What are you doing?” she asked weakly, trembling with fear, her entire body erect with goose bumps.

“I have to undress you, in order to anoint you with the ambrosia.”

“Oh.”

He leaned over her and pressed his mouth against her cheek, feverishly working his mouth down her throat as he unbuttoned her shirt. She helped him by pulling her arms from the sleeves, unable to hide her trembling as he tossed her shirt in a heap on the floor with her other things. She lay on the bed in nothing but her bra and underwear.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry for what I’m about to do.”

She felt weak—whether from his presence, so lethal to her, or because of the tremendous fear she felt, she didn’t know. She managed to mutter, “It’s nothing compared to what you’ll have to go through. Oh, please. Let’s just get this over with. I’m thinking of us together.
Forever.” Her teeth began to chatter on that last word, and her body jerked and twitched, as though it were freezing.

He took a vial
from his pocket and opened it. He poured the smooth liquid onto his hands. It reminded Therese of Jergen’s lotion, and she thought of her mother, and then of her aunt Carol. She wondered if she’d ever see her aunt again, and this thought made her cry again.

Than rubbed the ambrosia first on her legs and feet. Therese tried vainly to pretend she was having a body massage, like she and her mother
had done a few times in town, but nothing she thought of could help her body to relax and stop its fretful twitching and jerking and chattering.

Next, he rubbed the ambrosia on her arms and hands. As he did so, he said again and again how much he loved her and how grateful he was to know her. In spite of her fear and weakness, and now a shortness of breath and tightening of throat, Therese actually felt the pleasant pulse of desire and arousal when his hands moved to her shoulders and collarbone. He swept his hands quickly along her stomach, then her face. Then beneath her, along her back, his hands swept in long, gentle strokes. She found herself distracted by a desire for him to touch her in other places, too. She closed her eyes and actually sighed with pleasure when he finally did. She knew he couldn’t linger anywhere because her life was already extinguishing due to his presence, but his soft touch, however rushed, gave her a taste of something to look forward to and something to think about other than burning alive.