The Gatekeeper's Promise: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Six (The Gatekeeper's Saga 6)
Read The Gatekeeper's Promise: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Six (The Gatekeeper's Saga 6) Online
Authors: Eva Pohler
THE GATEKEEPER’S PROMISE:
GATEKEEPER’S SAGA, BOOK SIX
Publis
hed by Green Press for Kindle
Copyright 2014 Eva Pohler
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Chapter One: A Short Honeymoon
Chapter Three: Unexpected Visits
Chapter Seven: The Oldest Castle
Chapter Nine: Tricks and Tribulations
Chapter Ten: Prisoners and Thieves
Chapter Seventeen
: Let the Battle Begin
Chapter Nineteen
: Fallen Angels
Chapter Twenty-Three
: The Gatekeeper’s Promise
The shifting hues of the Aurora Borealis danced above Therese as she lay with Than on a blanket on the frosty summit of Mount Thor—home of the world’s greatest vertical drop. For their honeymoon, Than had brought her to Baffin Island in Northern Canada near the North Pole. The light show lasted several minutes until Helios appeared, bright and early at two in the morning. His golden cup would remain visible for a good twenty hours, which was precisely the reason Than had brought Therese to this spot.
She kissed the side of his face. “Spectacular,” she whispered.
“I thought you’d like it.” He pulled her more closely into him as the rays from Helios enveloped them in the sunrise. “It’s the brightest place on Earth, next to Mount Olympus.”
And t
he opposite of the Underworld in every way. Why did he still think she didn’t love the house of Hades? Not wanting to hurt his feelings, she thanked him again and snuggled closer to him.
He yawned lazily. She rarely saw him so peacefu
l-looking.
They’d ridden polar bears, sang with narwhals,
swam with baby penguins, and sunbathed with walruses. Than had thought of everything she’d enjoy. Therese felt like the luckiest person in the world.
Now it was cuddle time beneath the
fantastic northern lights, which were fading in Helios’s beams.
A movement near her ribs made her flinch.
The babies were waking up.
“He’s up high today,” she said of the boy twin inside her.
“How do you know it’s Hermes and not Hestia?”
“I
sense them.” She lifted his hand toward her swollen belly. “Maybe you can sense them, too.”
He la
id his large hand, with its thick, long fingers, up against her skin and waited. His eyes suddenly widened with surprise.
“Hestia! I can’t explain how I know it’s her!” His face beamed.
And he’d never looked sexier.
“Pretty amazing, huh?” She winked.
“She put her tiny baby hand up to mine,” he said, astounded.
“They aren’t like regular mortal babies, are they,” she said without inflection. “
They’re so advanced.”
“They
are
demigods.”
“I can’t wait to hold them in my arms.”
He frowned.
“I’m sorry.” She clapped her hand to her forehead. “I’m so stupid.”
She kept forgetting how he must feel, knowing he would endanger the lives of their children if he was in their presence once they were born.
“We
should have a plan.” The muscle near his jaw flexed.
She sat up and leaned over him. “
We’ll ask Hip to switch with you, just until the twins become adults—eighteen years tops. That’s nothing to him, right?”
“It’s a l
ot to ask.”
“You could offer to give him breaks
every day.”
Than gave her a half smile.
“But I’d still never see the twins awake.”
“
You could hold them in your arms as they slept.”
“Maybe he’d do it—switch with me.”
“I think he would. He loves you so much. So stop worrying, okay?” She leaned down and kissed him.
She could sense in the way he kissed her back that he was worried. Hermes and Hestia may never have the chance to get to know their father.
“A-hem,” came an unexpected voice nearby.
The newlyweds turned their heads to find Dionysus, in nothing but a loin cloth, standing over them.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “But the Maenads are waiting.”
***
Than was surprised to find that Dionysus had led them to Crete, near the palace ruins of Knosso
s.
“What’s going on?” Therese asked.
“The Maenads have grown fond of the Minotaur and his labyrinth,” Dionysus said.
Ariadne appeared with a scowl. “How many times must I ask you
to call him by his Greek name? Is that so difficult?”
Dionysus turned to see his estranged wife glaring at him. “My apologies. Old habits.”
“Make new ones,” Ariadne said. Then she took Therese by the hands and asked, “How are you holding up?”
Than knew
Therese was trying to be brave for him, as always. This was harder on her than it was on him.
Asterion emerged from the labyrinth
followed by three Maenads and two Curetes.
“What, Curetes, too?” Than asked of the dancing men and their crashing cymbals.
“They heard the Maenads and came down from the mountain,” Dionysus explained.
“They were just leaving,” Asterion added. “Go on, men. Now’s not a good time.”
The Curetes
skipped away in a rush of clangs and hops.
“I don’t like this,” Ariadne said to Dionysus. “I told you I didn’t want this here.”
“Asterion’s never been happier,” the god of the vine objected. “You said so yourself.”
“The company has been good for him, but my nerves can’t
handle what the Maenads are about to do.”
Dionysus wrapped h
is arms around her waist. “If we’re to be together…”
“
It doesn’t matter,” Than interrupted. “Let’s just get it over with. The sooner the better.”
***
Jen stopped outside the master
bedroom door, her heart aching at the sound of her mother’s sobs. She couldn’t take the sorrow anymore. Jen had to tell her.
She
tapped on the door and went in. “Mom?”
Her mother lay
on her bed, hugging her pillow. Her whole body shook, but she stopped as soon as she heard Jen come in.
“Oh, hi there, sweet baby girl. Don’t mind me.” She wiped her swollen eyes with the bed sheet. “I’m such a mess.”
“That’s alright, Mom.” Jen sat on the edge of the bed with one leg curled underneath her. “Maybe if you just got out more. It’s too bad Mr. Stern hasn’t come around in a while.”
More tears poured from Mrs. Holt’s eyes. “I just haven’t been in any kind of shape for company lately.”
“You haven’t come out to help with the horses for three days.”
“I’m not feeling well, baby doll.”
“Remember when Dumbo died?”
“’Course I do.” She wiped her face with the sheet. “Why do you ask?”
“You made Therese come help with the horses the very next day.”
“I wouldn’t say I
made
her.”
Jen picked at the bed covers. “You pressured her enough.”
“Now, listen here, baby girl.” Her mother’s face turned red. “You can’t compare the loss of Dumbo to your brother. And I
was
out there the very next day. We all were. I’m just not well right now.”
“
Mom, I’m just saying…” What
was
she trying to say? Everything seemed to be coming out all wrong. “Never mind. There’s something I want to tell you. Now don’t freak out.”
Her mother sat up on the bed, alarmed. “Oh, no. What?”
“It’s not bad. It’s good. Just promise not to freak out.”
“How can I promise that if I don’t know what it is?”
“You know how Pete used to say Daddy’s ghost talked to him?”
“Pete
was sick. He couldn’t help it.”
“We saw Daddy’
s ghost that one time, too. The night he died. Remember when we were all in your tub ’cause you thought a tornado was coming? Therese convinced us it was a dream.”
“Now wait a minute…” Her mother pulled the covers back and moved to the edge of the bed.
“Just listen. This is gonna sound crazy.” Jen was scared to death she was doing the wrong thing. Her mother would probably think Jen was sick, like Pete. But Jen couldn’t take another day of her mother’s pain. “I’ve been to the other side. Don’t freak out.”
Her mother looked exasperated. “What are you talking about, baby doll?”
“It wasn’t a dream, either.” Jen stood up and walked around to the side of the bed to get closer to her mom. “I went to the other side, and I saw Pete.”
***
Hip
made his way down the deepest path of the Underworld, determined to ask Pete’s advice. The seer was already condemned, so what harm could come from using his gifts? Hip’s heart was hurting, and maybe Pete could tell him what to do.
Wouldn’t it be just Hip’s luck that the moment he knew he was one hundred percent in love, it would be with a mortal, and it would be just at the moment the lord of the gods decreed th
ere would be no more apotheosis? If humans couldn’t become gods, how would he and Jen get their happily ever after?
Before he reached the iron gate of Tartarus, he sensed Pete and Tizzie down in the seers’ pit
, among the asphodel where the Phlegethon did not flow. Tizzie’s wolf lay at her feet. Hip was still several yards from them, and Tizzie and Pete did not seem aware of Hip’s presence.
“How can I not warn them?” Pete asked in a strained, almost tortured voice.
“The visions of seers aren’t guaranteed,” Tizzie replied.
“You don’t believe in me.”
“That’s not it, love. Come here.”
Tizzie’
s dark, slender arms wrapped around Pete’s transparent neck, but fell through. She struggled with the illusion of embracing him. Her long, dark, serpentine curls lay limp without their usual animation.
Tizzie sensed him then
and said in an annoyed tone, “Can we help you, Hip?”
“Let’s ask him what to do,” Pete said.
Hip opened the gate, scratching the iron against the rock, and then closed it behind him. He made his way past the flames of the Phlegethon, turned the dark corner, and went down, down into the deep pit of the seers.
“Hey, sis,” Hip said in the most nonchalant voice he could muster. “What’s up?”
“Everything,” she said without humor. “This
is
the Underworld.”
“Double entendre?” Hip asked playfully. “I mean, everything
is
up above us, and the Underworld
is
a hopping place, am I right?”
“If you’re a frog,” Pete replied.
“Ha, ha, ha. Good one.” Hip snapped both thumbs in the direction of the seer.
“So tell us why you’re here,”
Tizzie demanded, and her wolf gave one sharp bark.
“Well, I was hoping for some
advice, but it sounds like
you
want the same thing from
me
.”