The Gatekeeper's Promise: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Six (The Gatekeeper's Saga 6) (17 page)

She climbed to her feet and limped over to the big rock. She dug around it to loosen it from the earth and then cupped her hands beneath it. It was heavy, like the old television they had before they got their flat screen, but Jen could lift it. Careful to avoid the trap, she returned to the base of her tree
, where the horse was still eating.

She set the rock on the ground beside the horse, talking sweetly the whole while, even though she still wanted to grunt an
d growl over the stinging pain in her knee and hand.

“You’re okay, sweet thing,” she said.

Then she leaned her trunk against the horse’s mane and swung her leg over its back. The horse moved forward and back, as though unused to riders, but it didn’t buck or run.

“Steady, girl,” Jen said. “I’m not gonna hurt ya.”

She wrapped her arms around the horse’s neck, feeling safer already.

“That’s a good girl,” Jen cooed.

Even though light continued to flicker down from the sky, Jen was so sleepy. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath in and out, and relaxed against the mare.

***

When the Furies had squeezed as mu
ch information as they could from their prisoner, Hades summoned Hermes to invite the other gods to conduct their own interrogations. Hermes returned to request that the prisoner be brought to Mount Olympus.

“The others aren’t comfortable here,” the messenger god explained.

Hypnos rolled his transparent eyes. After all the work the Alliance did together in the Underworld, they were still snobby about meeting here?

“But it’s risky to transport Atlas with Menoetius and Circe at large,” Hades objected. “The witch’s black magic is powerful.”

“And they still have the lightning bolts,” Hip added.

“I’ll give them your reply,” Hermes said. “Poseidon may already be on his way. He’s anxious to get his trident.”

“Let me in!” Poseidon’s voice came from above.

Hip had forgotten that only Hermes had the trust of his father. Powerful wards kept the other Olympians from travelling in and out at will.

Hades lifted his hand, and Poseidon appeared before them just as Hermes took his leave.

“Where is it?” the god of the sea asked.

Hades pointed to the table across the room. “It’s protected by ancient runes.” Hades crossed the room and used his sword to scratch out the marks on the table.

“I’m beholden to you, brother,” Poseidon said as he took the trident in his hands.

Hades gave him a nod. Hip had never seen affection exchanged between his father and uncle. He supposed this was as good as it ever got for them.

“We must all work together to defeat our common enemies,” Hades said. “Do you want to question the prisoner?”

“I want to do more than question him!” Poseidon replied. “Let me at him!”

After Poseidon had culled the same information from the Titan as the Furies had, other gods began to arrive, and, one by one, Hades let them in. Apollo came first, followed by his sister. Then came Athena and her mother. Hera and Rhea were next.
The last to arrive was Hephaestus.

Hip
didn’t expect Aphrodite or Hestia to come, but he was disappointed that his mother was not among them. When he prayed to Hermes about it, the messenger god said that Demeter refused to come, and she refused to let her daughter leave her side.

“What about Zeus?” Hades asked out loud. “Is he not coming?”

Hermes shook his head.

“He can’t stand it here,” Hera explained. “He sends his apologies. I’m here in his place.”

“And Ares?” Hades asked.

The other gods glanced silently at one another.

Then Athena said, “He’s under house arrest at the moment because of his role in freeing Atlas.”

The Titan, who’d been quiet on his table of torture, laughed.

Hip decided to leave the main hall. It was too crowded and complicated for his tastes. He’d heard enough, anyway. He decided to go to the seers’ pit. He wanted to question Pete about what he’d seen the day Jen and her family had visited.

On the way, he came across Hecate escorting a soul.

“Are you acting as Death?” Hip asked.

“Yes,” she said. “What’s happened to Thanatos and Therese?”

“Than was hit by one of Atlas’s lightning bolt,” he said. “Therese went to get him. Something must have gone wrong.”

If Hip had had a heart, it would have felt heavy. He was anxious to find out what had happened to his two best friends.

“If I learn anything, I’ll let you know,” Hecate said as she moved on with the mortal soul.

Pete
was speaking with Tiresias when Hip entered the pit where the Phlegethon did not flow. Pete appeared to be recovered from his strange episode during the Holts’ visit.

Pete sensed him immediately and left the other seer’s side.

“Hello, Hypnos,” Pete said.

“You feeling okay?” Hip asked.

“Better.”

They sat down on rocks.

“You want to know what I saw,” Pete said.

“Unless you don’t think you can…”

“It’s okay. I was just telling Tiresias about it. I can’t make sense of it. It was a shock. I’m not sure what it means.”

“What was it?” Hip asked. “What was the vision?”

“Well, Jen gave me her blood wanting me to tell her about her future.”

“So?” Hip shifted nervously on the rock.

“Well, I didn’t see her future. I saw mine.”

“Oh. What did you see?” A tinge of disappointment mixed with relief snaked down the place where Hip’s spine would have been.

“I was standing before my father’s ghost. He was bowing before me, like I was a god, like I was the god of death. I put my hand on his shoulder and led him here, where he was sentenced to Tartarus. I watched as Tizzie and her sisters tormented him. But I watched with my eyes. They had returned to my sockets.”

“Where was my brother?” Hip asked, concerned.

“I don’t know,” Pete said. “He wasn’t in the vision.”

“Why did that freak you out?” Hip asked. “If you are one day able to bring your father here…”

“But that’s all impossible, don’t you see? It makes me think I’ve lost the sight. I’m confusing fantasy now with truth.”

“You don’t know that.”

“How could I ever be, even for a moment, the lord of death?”

Another shiver worked its way down Hip’s transparent back
. Therese had gone to get his brother hours ago. Any prayers he tried to send their way remained unanswered.

What if Than n
ever recovered from the lightning bolt?

***

Thanatos
wished he could lift his arms and wrap them around Therese. She lay beside him, her cheek on his chest. He could smell her clean hair. She’d been quiet for a while, but now she lifted her face to his and asked, “Are you thirsty?”

He actually was. His throat was as dry as the bottom of a cracker barrel. He blinked once.

She climbed to her feet and returned in a moment with her hands cupped together, cold water dripping onto him. Her arms were soaked, and droplets of water clung to her lashes and nose.

As she leaned over him, the cold water trickled down his neck. Very little made it through his lips and down his throat, but it was enough.

He looked up at her with gratitude, willing her to lean closer and put her lips to his. They hadn’t been able to communicate through prayer. He supposed it was because he was paralyzed.

“Do you want some more?”

He didn’t blink. This was his way of saying no.

She understood. “Are you hungry?”

Again, he didn’t blink. He was able to go a long time without food.

“I think I should look around. What do you think?”

No. He couldn’t say it, but he kept his eyes from blinking. He wished he could tell her how much he thought that was a bad idea. Why go looking for trouble? If trouble was out there, they might as well wait for it to come to them.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my belly is a lot bigger.” She stood over him. “See the hump?”

He blinked. Yes, he did see the hump. She looked adorable. He wished he could reach up his hands to her hump and maybe feel one or both of the twins touch him back.

“Whoa!” she cried with a laugh. “They’re really busy in there. They must be wrestling!”

He wished he could laugh. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t move. This was one of the happiest moments of his life. His beautiful wife standing over him talking about their rambunctious babies inside of her couldn’t be more wonderful.

Well, he supposed being able
to embrace them would be nice. And knowing that they were safe would be nicer still. But he’d take what he could get.

He watched as she stood at the edge of the grotto, looking out. He wondered what she could see. He didn’t blame her for wanting to explore. He knew he would if he were the one who could walk. But he hoped she wouldn’t, for the sake of the babies.

“I’m hungry.” She turned to face him, speaking loudly over the falls. “I don’t know if it’s because of the babies, or what, but I’m really hungry.”

He gazed at her back as she continued. “And I didn’t want to tell you this, but…”
She paused.

For heaven’s sake, he wanted to say. How could she do that to him? Spit it out!

“But, well, I don’t know why, but I seem to have lost my ability to fly.”

She turned to him and knelt at his side, her face twisted with worry.

“And I feel weak,” she continued. “Like I’ve lost all of my power. Do you think it’s the pregnancy?”

He didn’
t know. Dear gods, he didn’t know. He’d never felt more helpless. One minute, he was basking in the beauty of his pregnant wife, and now he was watching her go crazy with worry. Talk about mood swings.

She got up and went back to the edge of the grotto. “
I wonder how long we’ll be trapped here. How long before someone rescues us?”

He
squeezed his eyes shut. Even if he could speak, he had no answer. It was highly possible that no one except Circe knew where they were.

***

Therese stared down at the canyon floor, where the light caught the glint of her old shield. She couldn’t believe it was still there. She could vividly recall McAdams scrambling down for what she thought was her shield only to see him clutch the apple core she had discarded from her decoy camp after having eaten several pie
ces of fruit. Trembling and ravenous, like a wild, starved animal, McAdams had eaten the whole thing, stem and all.

And now she stood at the lip of the grotto four years later as though nothing had changed. No, that wasn’t true. A lot had changed. She was more confident, more purposeful, and more sure about what was important to her than s
he’d ever been. Four years ago, she’d been a desperate, frightened, and grieving fifteen-year-old, and now she was a protector of animals, a wife, and mother-to-be, unafraid to fight for what she believed in.

She gazed across the canyon to the platform on the other side, where the gods had watched her battle with McAdams. She shivered as she recalled how upset Hades had been when she had failed to strike the mortal blow.
But even today, she would refuse to kill a helpless person, no matter what heinous acts that person had committed. The difference between today and four years ago was that today she would stand up more firmly for what she believed.

As much as she had grown to love Hades, his refusal to consider changing the ancient laws for Melinoe and Pete—and even poor, old Tiresias—made her that much more
determined to fight him. In her gut, she knew all souls deserved the chance to move on.

After all, the Athena Alliance had been successful in reforming Mount Olympus. If she and the others could convince Zeus to change his ways, then she felt confident she could do the same with Hades.

Hopefully, that wouldn’t require a war.

These thoughts of bravado would come to nothing, however, if she and Than were never rescued. Losing the abilities of prayer and flight on top of losing her strength made her suspect that something more than her pregnancy was the cause. Maybe Circe had enchanted this battlefield in a way that drained those in it of their powers. And what if Than never fully recovered from the direct hit of the lightning bolt?

Four years ago, in the aftermath of her parents’ murder, she might have given up. But today, she knew that more than flight, more than strength, more than all the abilities of a god, hope was the most important thing in the world. She covered her growing belly with her hands and promised her babies that she would never give up hope.

Something moving to her left caught her attention
and brought her from her reverie. She squinted and shielded her eyes from the sun, which remained at high noon despite the passing of time. The moving figure was a horse, but there was someone on its back. Therese held her breath as the horse walked along Aphrodite’s stream in the upper canyon.