The Gatekeeper's House (27 page)

Honestly, he didn’t know which was
better of the two, but he did know that he loved Therese because of
her compassion.

As he was about to integrate and leave
his position above the slithering serpents, a school of fish swam
in the direction of the tube. To his horror, the fish that brushed
against the tube were illuminated by a brief blaze of fire and a
jolt of rapid vibrations before lying dead in the sea. Than
disintegrated to take the souls of the fish, and when he neared the
tube, he recognized that what he mistook for serpents were in fact
giant electric eels. He now understood that the tube containing
Athena was guarded by a powerful current of electricity created by
the slithering eels against the metal chains. Any who dared to
touch the tube would be instantly electrocuted to death.

Before he left with the souls of the
fish, he looked once more at the forlorn goddess suspended ten feet
away and was suddenly thrilled when she returned his gaze. Her face
lit up with hope, and he, too, felt joyful that he had given it to
her. He smiled and gave her a gesture he’d often see Pete Holt give
to Therese. He put a thumb in the air and gave her a wink. Then he
pounded his fist against his chest to express his devotion to her.
He formed words with his mouth, though he knew she could not hear
him, “I will save you. I will be back.”

She gave him a nod of understanding.
Then he left with the souls of the fish and took them directly to
the Elysian Fields, where he placed them into the streams of the
Lethe, for the souls of animals were not judged by Minos,
Rhadamanthys, and Aiakos.

***

Hades wore his helm of invisibility and
manned his chariot, and all who rode inside were hidden by the
helm. Therese was surprised to be among them, with Than to her
right and Alecto and Tizzie to her left, sure that she would remain
on Mount Ida to protect Hip from the birds, but the lord of the
Underworld, who stood between Persephone and Demeter on one side of
him and the Olympian twins on the other, wanted as much power on
their team as possible. Since the feeding time for the vultures on
Mount Ida had passed until the next time Helios prepared to descend
in his golden cup, she had been ordered to accompany the others on
this mission to rescue Athena. Hades wanted to be prepared in case
Zeus and the other Olympians were waiting for them.

Only Hecate had remained behind with
her familiars and the lesser deities to defend the Underworld
against any surprise attacks during the rescue mission—though,
since he could be at many places at once, Than would be there with
her. And Meg, though in Tartarus keeping watch over Melinoe, was
close at hand.

Therese had learned from Hades that
Hecate was a descendant of Phoebe, the moon Titan. Hecate’s mother
was the sister of Leto, mother to Apollo and Artemis. Powerful in
her own right, even though she served Persephone, Hecate was the
protector of entryways and crossroads and had special gifts for
warding off intruders when she wasn’t taken off guard.

Therese hoped Hecate wouldn’t be forced
to prove her strength tonight.

Thanatos stood in the chariot beside
Therese, squeezing her hand. She worried more about him than she
did Hecate, because Than would be the one exposing himself as he
pretended to collect souls behind the enemy lines of sharks and
jellyfish, and who knew what else.

But as they approached Poseidon’s
palace, she and the other gods in the chariot beside her were
surprised to find nothing as Than had described. No line of sharks
awaited them, no nest of jellyfish prepared to sting them, and
worst of all, no tube chained to the ocean floor protected by giant
electric eels held the goddess of wisdom. Poseidon’s palace yawned
open before them, as though they were expected guests.

Conjure
swords
, Hades commanded.

Apollo and I will flank the
right,
Artemis informed them.

We Furies have the
left
, Alecto said.

Therese and I will go
deep
, Than offered.

That left Hades, Persephone and Demeter
to take the center. They were the first to leap from the chariot
toward the palace.

With her blade held out, Therese prayed
to all the gods in her company to give her strength. Her heart
pounded as adrenaline coursed through her, and, along with the
fear, she felt an unexpected thrill. She was a god, and she could
do this.

Thanatos kissed the side of
her face and prayed,
Be strong.

At that moment, the earth shuddered and
stirred the sea while making a loud beating sound. Poseidon, Earth
Shaker, appeared before them in all his glory, bright as the sun,
brandishing his trident. Harpoons shot out from Poseidon’s trident,
and one caught Therese in the thigh. Therese fought to maintain her
balance as everything around her swirled and swayed, and she could
no longer tell what was up and what was down. Artemis grabbed her,
and the barbed hook tore the flesh from Therese’s thigh as it left
her to return to the trident. Her thigh gaped open, and red blood
stained the sea. She cried out to Apollo, but he was above her,
shooting his silver arrows toward Poseidon.

A few feet in front of her, Hades
lifted his arms above his head, causing the rocks from the very
depths of the sea to rise up like rockets toward Poseidon and his
palace. Many of the rocks shot past Earth Shaker and did damage to
his castle, but many others ricocheted off the force from the
trident and flew back toward them. Persephone blocked most of
these, and Demeter spun with her arms out like a bird, and created
a whirlpool around them until Poseidon used his trident to still
the sea. Artemis and Apollo got off several arrows, some which
found their target and injured Poseidon and the entourage of sharks
that had appeared beside him.

Back to the
chariot
, Hades commanded.

The team of gods had barely assembled
behind Swift and Sure when an enormous golden net a half-mile wide
dropped over the chariot. The Furies shrieked and together charged
the net with their swords. More chaos ensued as miniature torpedoes
were fired on them, exploding like fireworks all around them as the
chariot swung this way and that by Hades’s command in attempt to
dodge the explosions.

Another projectile from the harpoon
shot toward Therese and missed. She grabbed hold of it and wrapped
it through the netting, so that, as the hook returned to the
trident, the golden net was dragged with it. Therese sawed the taut
line of the net with her sword, and, together, hook and sword tore
the golden threads. Soon there was a hole large enough for Swift
and Sure to pull the chariot through to freedom, but Therese lost
her balance when her sword cut through. She fell forward, out of
the chariot, which was now speeding away from her with the rest of
her company.

Below her was a pod of dolphins
swimming up toward the surface, and among them, she recognized
Arion. She took an arrow from her quiver and sent it with her bow
toward the dolphin, this time more practiced at shooting
underwater. She was able to account for the current, and her arrow
met its target.

“
Arion, help me!” she
cried.

The dolphin left his pod and swam to
her side. She grabbed onto his dorsal fin and said, “Follow Hades’s
chariot!”

Although Swift and Sure were fast,
Arion was superior to them when it came to moving through the
water. Approaching the speed of light, he sailed with her up toward
the back of the chariot. Than had already disintegrated and was
searching the sea for her. When he saw her on Arion’s back, he
reached his hand toward her and hauled her into the chariot beside
him.

Poseidon’s laughter thundered through
the sea. “What a sorry lot you all are! How easily you fell for our
trick!”

To the Underworld!
Hades commanded.

Zeus and the others await us
there
, Thanatos warned.
And they’ve captured Cybele.

***

Back at the Underworld, Than and Hecate
had placed powerful wards around the domain, but they were not
powerful enough to keep out the lord of the gods. Zeus struck
through the wards with a series of thunderbolts that rained down on
them like rounds from a machine gun. Rocks the size of golf balls
darted from the point of attack, spouting like a fountain onto the
furniture. When the thunderbolts ceased, the room became quiet, and
Than, Hecate, and the other deities stood very still. Then Zeus
god-traveled directly into the midst of them, laughing as though
someone had just told a good joke. Hera and Hermes followed. Ares
arrived moments later, holding the arms of Cybele pinned behind her
back.

As Ares arrived with his prisoner,
Hermes reached across the room and grabbed Hecate by the arm. He
and Hecate had been good friends for centuries and seeing them like
this saddened Than on top of all the other feelings built up inside
of him. But Than did not have time to ponder this long, for Zeus
grabbed him by the throat and pitched him against his breast. Than
disintegrated into fifty and managed to pry Zeus’s grip open, but
the god of thunder only laughed at Than and reached for his throat
with his other hand, starting the whole process over again. Just as
Than wriggled free for the second time, Poseidon appeared with
Athena in tow.

Than was about to ask a question of
Athena when his father and the others burst into the room, his
father raging mad, like a lunatic.

“
How dare you!” Hades roared
to his brothers.

“
Calm down, Hades,” Zeus
commanded, releasing Thanatos. “The time for war is over. I have
what I want. And so shall you. I’m releasing Athena.”

Than and Therese exchanged looks of
surprise.

“
I explained to her why I
did what I did, and she has forgiven me,” Zeus said. “She agrees
that the restoration of peace among us gods is paramount. So I will
take as my prisoner the one who deceived me. And although it was
also my wish to condemn Melinoe to Tartarus for all eternity, I
will let you decide what to do with her, Hades. I have no use for
her, and if you want to offer her some chance for redemption, well,
that’s up to you.”

Than looked at the terrified face of
Cybele. This wasn’t fair. He wanted to shout it out loud, but knew
what his father would say. He would say, “Life isn’t
fair.”

But Death was fair, and Thanatos would
not stand by and allow this. Zeus may have Cybele for now, but Than
would find a way to rescue her, and he said as much through prayer
to her.

Cybele briefly glanced his way, but
there was no hope in her eyes.

“
Once I am gone with my
prisoner back to Mount Olympus, I will free Hypnos from Mount Ida,”
Zeus declared. “Although I am disappointed by the choices some of
you made, I do understand you were motivated by your love and
devotion to Athena. For that reason, I will forgive your
insurrection. But know this: If anyone dares to retrieve Cybele
from me, there will be no mercy.”

Zeus disappeared before anyone could
protest, and he was shortly followed by Hera, Hermes, and Ares,
along with his prisoner, Cybele.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The
Last Straw

Therese leaned against Than, her leg
gaping and bleeding. Than held her up in his arms, and as soon as
Zeus and his allies had gone with Cybele, Apollo was fast at
Therese’s side with a medicinal wrap for her wound. In no time, the
flesh stopped stinging and was healed.

Therese smiled up at Apollo and said,
“Thank you.”

Before the god of music and medicine
could make his reply, they were startled by a sudden movement in
the room. It was Athena. She rushed around the dome-like chambers
and marked the stone walls with her sword at the four cardinal
points. Therese and the other gods were bewildered until Athena
finished, returned to the center of the room, and told them her
thoughts.

“
I have not forgiven my
father,” she confessed, her gray eyes fierce.

“
What do you mean to do?”
Hades asked.

Athena glanced around at each person in
the room, her armor gleaming in the light of the Phlegethon.
“Before I say, who among you will swear an oath to keep my plan
from my father? And more to the point, who among you swears to
help?”

“
Does your plan involve
saving Cybele?” Than asked.

“
Most definitely,” Athena
said.

“
Then you have my word.”
Therese was the first to step forward.

“
And mine,” Than said,
putting an arm around Therese.

Therese and Than exchanged proud
smiles.

“
I am at your service, Lady
Athena,” Hephaestus declared. He pounded his fist against his
heart—the same sign Than had used to show Athena his loyalty when
she was trapped in the tube before Poseidon’s palace.

“
Now hold on,” Hades said.
“I say we hear Athena’s plan before we swear our allegiance to it.
We can give our word not to spill the beans to anyone outside this
room, but we should wait to hear the plan before we agree to
act.”