The Gatekeeper's House (16 page)

He supposed she first caught his
attention the way she bravely endured the nightmares caused by her
father’s mistreatment of her. Despite the horrors of the night, she
lived her life fully during the day. She worked hard on her
mother’s ranch, knew how to handle a horse, played the French horn
admirably, swam with grace and speed, graduated in the top half of
her high school class, and was a good friend to Therese. She didn’t
let her father’s atrocious behavior stop her from living a normal
teenager’s life.

The most compelling reason he cared for
this mortal was the chemistry between them—and that he couldn’t
explain. When he was around her, he was happiest, and that was all
there was to it.

And now, he would lose her unless he
could keep her from freezing to death. The cold winds must be
taking their toll on her physical body, because her projection
shivered violently in his arms.

Aeolus, that wind bag! Maybe he could
help! Hip prayed to the god of gales.

Hypnos?

I’m in the world of dreams
and am desperate for your help
, Hip
prayed.

You’ll owe me
one.

Obviously,
cousin.

What would you have me
do?

Can you trap the cold winds
of every mountain range for an hour or so?

That’s a mighty big
request, cousin.

I’ll owe you a mighty big
favor.

Next he called on Chione, the snow
nymph and wife of Boreas, the north wind, to allow the snowcapped
mountains to melt. He asked Helios, the sun god, to speed up the
process. All was going according to plan—Hypnos could feel Jen’s
trembling subside and the color return to her projection. This gave
him hope that she’d be saved.

She raised her chin and looked up at
him through her pretty blond lashes. “Why aren’t you kissing
me?”

He gave her a lascivious grin and put
his mouth to hers.

Then, to his dismay, she
disappeared.

***

Jen awoke on the wet, slick
mountainside beneath a cheerful sun. The wind and snow had finally
stopped blowing. She uncurled herself and looked around, both up
toward the top from where she had fallen, and down below toward the
ground she still could not see thousands of miles away.

Suddenly the monster appeared overhead
shrieking with rage. “There you are, you little rodent! Now that
the snow is melting, I can see you more clearly. How is it you’re
still alive?”

Jen didn’t answer, but instead, climbed
to her feet and pressed her back into the wet rock behind her. She
grabbed a handful of loose stones. Her heart felt like it might
explode.

The monster laughed. “What a good idea!
Throw rocks at the goddess of ghosts and slip and break your neck!
That would be perfect!”

“
You promised to let me go!”
Jen shouted. “If you take me, dead or alive, you’ll break your
word. Therese said you swore an oath to set me free.”

“
And that I did!” The
monster said. “Are you not free?”

Jen backed up, seeking foot holds in
the mountainside. “Get away from me!”

The monster swooped in close with a
blood-curdling shriek, startling Jen, making her flinch. She lost
her footing and dropped in a free fall through the chilly
air.

Chapter Thirteen: Free
Fall

Than scoured the mountain ranges of
both the Ozarks of the United States and the Himalayas of the Far
East. He was in constant fear that he would sense the death of
Jen’s soul before he would see her living body. He hoped for his
brother and Therese’s sakes that he would find the mortal in
time.

As he combed every square foot of every
mountain—disintegrating in the hundreds of thousands—he also flew
home to report what had happened to Athena, confirming his father’s
suspicions that both of his brothers were in league against
him.

“
I tried to follow them,”
Than said, “But I lost them, and the waters around Poseidon’s
palace are heavily guarded by sea monsters.”

In his conversation with his father and
the other gods convened there, he paused when hundreds of thousands
of miles away near the peak of Mount Everest, he spotted Jen
falling through the thin air. He raced against time as she
plummeted toward a nearby mountain, and he caught her just before
she hit rock. Aware that her life was in danger the longer he held
her, he took a chance and god traveled with her back to her home in
Colorado, where he sat her on her bed and promised her she’d be
safe. Melinoe the Malevolent had no use for one of the living—at
least he hoped not.

“
But what’s going on?” Jen
asked as he stepped away from her.

“
Therese will explain
everything later. I’ve got to go before my presence kills
you.”

Once Than had discovered Jen, he’d
abandoned his search of the Ozarks to focus on Mount Everest, and
it didn’t take him long to find Therese bound by a powerful spell
at the feet of Sisyphus. Before he could rush in to save her and
Hecate’s familiars, a bolt of lightning shot from the sky and
struck him down. He couldn’t move. All went dark, and he lost
consciousness.

***

Therese watched in horror as Than fell
through the air like a damaged airplane.

“
I’ve got to do something!”
she cried to Cubie and Galin. “Oh my god! That was Zeus’s
thunderbolt!”

“
Zeus?” Galin cried in a
feeble voice.

“
Oh, no,” Cubie said. “Zeus
is behind this madness.”

Sisyphus laughed at them.

Therese wondered if the duties of death
would be transferred to her, as they were the time Than had been
bitten by Ladon while she’d been holding up the sky in place of
Atlas. On the one hand, she hoped so, because then, depending on
the magic that bound her, she might be able to disintegrate and
save herself and her friends from Melinoe. But on the other hand,
she dreaded it, because she couldn’t bear what it might mean for
Than. The fact that he was immortal didn’t assuage her fear of the
injuries and debilitation he might have to endure for the rest of
eternity.

If she were allowed to pray to any god
without breaking her oath, she would. She thought again about
trying to contact Odysseus. Would her argument that he was “No
one,” stand up in court? And even if she did contact him, what
could he do about it? He was just another soul in the Underworld in
the Elysian Fields. He had no memories and no free will. But
maybe…maybe he was capable of taking orders from a god. Oh, she had
to try something. She couldn’t just sit here and do
nothing.

She closed her eyes and reached out to
Odysseus, but before she could make contact, Melinoe the Malevolent
flew into the cave, with Medusa behind her, and screeched, “We’re
moving! Now!”

Zeus’s chariot appeared near the cave
entrance with Hera behind the reins. Therese, Galin, and Cubie were
shoved into the back of it. Melinoe stood beside Hera, and the two
ghosts flew behind as they passed the Himalayas toward the west and
traveled across the Middle East and down toward the Mediterranean
Sea to the island of Crete. Therese huddled beside Cubie and Galin,
exchanging terrified looks as the wind, and in some places rain,
blew against them. The chariot circled the highest mountain peak,
and then Therese’s stomach lurched as the chariot took a nose dive
several thousand feet before coming to an abrupt halt outside of a
dark cave.

“
Keep them in there,” Hera
commanded.

Sisyphus grabbed Therese, Medusa
grabbed Galin, and Melinoe grabbed Cubie. As soon as they were out
of the chariot, Hera commanded her black stallions, and like a
flame of fire, the chariot danced across the sky and
away.

Melinoe and the ghosts carried the
three prisoners into the dark cave. Therese could see perfectly
with her goddess vision. The cave was large and round, and in the
center was a pool of water where two nymphs sat soaking their feet.
A goat stood near them chewing on a stick. As Sisyphus carried
Therese further into the cave, she noticed another figure lying
between the nymphs. One nymph was petting it and “Ooohing” and
“aweing” over it, saying, “So beautiful. So lovely. I had no idea.”
At first, Therese thought it was another animal, but the closer she
got, the more familiar the form appeared. Sisyphus dropped Therese
in a heap across the pool from the nymphs, and once she recovered
and sat up, she recognized the figure. It was Than!

She reached out to him with prayer, but
received no response. He lay there, unmoving, as if
dead.

“
Is he alive?” Therese
asked.

“
She speaks to us?” one
nymph said to the other.

Melinoe slapped Therese across the
face. “Don’t talk to them.”

“
What are you going to do
with him?” Therese asked. “And us?”

“
That’s for me to know and
for you to find out,” Melinoe snapped.

Then she and her two ghosts flew away
leaving Therese and her animal companions, and the still body of
Than, alone with the nymphs and their goat.

***

Hip found himself being sucked from the
Dreamworld as the dying souls around the world called to him. This
could only mean one thing—both Therese and his brother were
incapacitated. That was the only way the duties of the dead would
fall on him. He disintegrated and dispatched to the souls beckoning
him, and he went to his parents as well.

Only Hades, Persephone, Hecate, and
Cybele remained in the chambers where the gods had convened earlier
to discuss the attacks on the Underworld and the abduction of
Athena. Hip’s parents were outraged when Hip notified them of the
transfer of duties and its implications.

“
We have to find Thanatos,”
Hades said. “I’ve asked Apollo and the Furies to solicit aid from
the Old Man of the Sea and his monstrous progeny in an effort to
rescue Athena from Poseidon. But I will order the Furies to abandon
that mission and leave Apollo to it, so your sisters can help you
search for Thanatos.”

“
I can help both Apollo and
the Furies,” Hip suggested.

“
Good idea,” Hades
agreed.

At that moment, Hip heard a prayer from
Jen from her home in Colorado. His heart filled with joy, and he
conveyed the news of her safety to his parents.

“
Does she know anything of
Cubie , Galin, and Therese?” Hecate asked, springing up from her
chair.

Hip promised he would go to Jen and
speak with her, though in his present role, he would not be able to
stay too long lest he kill her. Privately, he couldn’t wait to see
her face again and to see for himself that she was safe.

Chapter Fourteen: Ida’s
Cave

Therese watched in despair as the two
nymphs fondled Than’s motionless body in the dank cave on the
island of Crete. In between kisses and caresses, they cooed, “So
beautiful. So yummy.” Therese felt sick to her stomach. She was
helpless to save him from their abuse. Therese’s anger surged
inside her along with the nausea.

She tried to distract the nymphs with
her questions. “Why are we here? What is this place? Who are
you?”

“
Pay no attention to her,
Ida,” one nymph said to the other. “We aren’t to speak with the
prisoners.”

“
What cave is this?” Therese
asked again, undeterred.

“
It’s a loathsome place,”
Galin joined in.

“
Watch your words!” the one
called Ida said.

“
I agree, Galin,” Therese
said, glad to see something had finally riled the fondlers.
“There’s a stench here. It smells like dead fish and bad
gas.”

“
And bad breath,” Cubie
added, catching on.

“
Mind yourself!” the other
nymph said. “You are speaking of King Zeus’s childhood
home!”

“
That doesn’t make it smell
any nicer!” Therese taunted.

“
Why would the lord of the
gods grow up in a place like this?” Cubie said. “So
unworthy.”

“
His mother gave him to us
when he was a baby,” Ida said.

“
Kronos was going to swallow
him, like he did the rest of his children, to prevent the prophecy
from coming true,” the other nymph added.

“
We saved Zeus’s life and
helped him to grow strong,” Ida said.

“
If it weren’t for us, none
of the Olympians would be alive, much less in power!” the second
declared.

“
So watch what you say to us
and show more respect!”

The goat bleated its
excitement.

As the nymphs scolded Therese and her
animal companions for their irreverence, Therese reached out to
Odysseus, and was utterly amazed when he replied.

***

Before Hip left his parents, another
surprise came to him while he was escorting souls to the Elysian
Fields. Odysseus approached him and said, with a blank look on his
face, “The goddess of animal companions has commanded me to speak
with you.”