The Gatekeeper's Challenge (10 page)

“He’s so cute. He’ll help me keep my mind off of my hamster.”

As they reached Lemon Dam, Pete turned off onto another country road and pulled over. Therese wanted to ask what he was doing, but she already knew.

“There’s something I want to tell you, Therese.”

She couldn’t look at him. She had been so happy to be with him, had felt awesome in his arms, and had been filled with a sincere joy all evening; but now as he was about to say words she already knew, her heart felt gripped with pain and fear. Something wasn’t right. Something wasn’t right about this at all.

Maybe it was that she hadn’t yet told off Than. Maybe she needed to get her feelings off her chest and tell Than where he could go—he was already in hell, anyway—before she could move forward with Pete. Determined that this was the cause of the uneasy feeling, she interrupted Pete and said, “Wait.”

Before she could say more, he leaned in and touched his lips to hers. This was
no quick peck. His mouth felt warm and good, and something eased up in her chest as she sighed. He put his arms around her and pressed her close to him. His hard chest and strong arms made her feel like she was melting. His kisses moved around her mouth, across her chin, down her neck, toward her throat.

“Wait,” she said again, pulling back.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s something I have to do,” she said. “I haven’t officially broken things off with
Than. But this weekend, I’m going to do it. I’m going to tell him I don’t want to see him again. Once I do that, I’ll feel better about this, with you. You know?”

Pete slowly nodded and leaned back. The disappointment was obvious in his face. “I didn’t realize you two were still a couple.”

“We really haven’t been much of one. I just want to be sure. I need closure.”

“I understand.”

He drove her home, and on the way, he kept both hands on the wheel. They rode in silence, barely touching. When they reached her house she said, “I had a really great time tonight. Thanks for bringing me home.”

“My pleasure.”
He didn’t offer her a goodnight kiss, but he gave her a wink to let her know he understood.

She slid from the bench seat and made her way toward her house, shaking like a leaf. She hoped she knew what she was doing.

“Help me, Hermes,” she whispered as she lay in bed next to her dog. “Thanatos has broken my heart. I plan to say goodbye to him forever. I need to go on, right? Tell me what to do.”

She fell asleep saying her prayers.

Chapter Eleven: Ariadne

Than appeared before the palace ruins of Knossos on the island of Crete under which the ancient labyrinth of the Minotaur lay mostly intact. He’d been here many times to collect the souls of the beast’s victims. He had waited till dark so as not to draw attention from tourists as he scoured the ruins for the entrance and its guardian, the beautiful Ariadne and wife of Dionysus. The god of wine agreed to help Than if he could convince Ariadne to return to Mount Kithairon and his side.

No expert when it came to matters of the heart,
Than wasn’t sure he could succeed, but he had to try. Already, Therese’s prayers had become less frequent, and he feared he would lose her heart altogether. In fact, he couldn’t recall hearing her lovely voice since he saw her last at Puffy’s departure. Her voice had been like food to him, and now he was starving.

A subtle glow appeared beneath a fallen pillar. He immediately sensed another godly presence. He traveled through the rock into a cavern, and backed against the wall was a lovely raven-haired goddess he knew must be Ariadne.

“Are you here for a victim of the Minotaur?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“As a favor to Dionysus.”

She dropped her eyes and linked her fingers together. “He wouldn’t come himself?”

“Too many depend on him. The maenads would die, and they’re needed to enforce the oaths.”

“He hasn’t the power of disintegration afforded to you and your brother.”

“Correct. Few of us can be in many places at once.”

She looked up at him again. “I did not know you were beautiful. I’ve seen your brother, and knew of his beauty, but not of yours.”

Than blushed. “Most people avoid me because of my job.”

She stepped closer to him, her eyes taking him in and making him uneasy. “Few know I was married to Dionysus before I left him for Theseus. I couldn’t help myself. Dionysus is beautiful. But Theseus was courageous and honorable. Dionysus cares little for honor.”

“It’s not honorable to steal away with another man’s wife.”

“Theseus was unaware.”

“But you weren’t. You helped him kill the Minotaur and then ran away with him.” This was not the way to win her over, he thought. “You must have had your reasons.”

“Dionysus is always surrounded by women.”

“But none more beautiful than you.
Nor more temperate.” Of course, that was true of any woman. The maenads weren’t hard to beat in temperance.

“What does he want?”

“You by his side. He wants to leave the past in the past. Theseus is in the Underworld now, barely aware of his own history. You have a long life, an immortal one. You could find happiness at Mount Kithairon. Here you’re alone.”

“You forget the Minotaur, who at no fault of his own, has been imprisoned in this labyrinth. He can’t help what his parents did and what he is as a result. Why should he be made to suffer alone, while Dionysus and I drink wine and dance in the woods of Mount
Kithairon?”

“You love the Minotaur?”

“I betrayed him once, as you said. I pity him.”

“More than you love your husband?”

She stepped closer to Than and searched his eyes, her mouth open and moist. He thought she would kiss him. He stepped back.

“Maybe,” she said. “I don’t know.”

“Go back with me to Mount Kithairon and discover the depth of your love for Dionysus. You can always leave again.”

“Why do you care what I do?”

“I love someone.”

She stepped closer, her eyes inches from him.
“Who?”

“A mortal.
I want to make her a god and need your husband’s help. He will only consent if you return to his side.” Than went down on his knees. “So I beg you, beautiful Ariadne, guardian of the labyrinth. Maybe you could do as my mother does and spend half your time down here and the other half in the woods of Mount Kithairon.”

She went down on her knees before him so her eyes were level with his mouth. “Perhaps if you lie with me, I’ll do you this favor.”

Than swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. No one had ever come on to him like this in the history of his existence. It felt good. Tempting. It occurred to him that if things didn’t go right with Therese—no, there could be no one else. Just thinking otherwise broke his heart. “Who wouldn’t be flattered by such a proposition? But my heart belongs to another, and I won’t betray her. I’ll do anything else. Name it.”

Ariadne climbed to her feet, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. “Go down into the labyrinth then and find your way out before the Minotaur rips your heart out and devours it, and only then will I go with you to Mount
Kithairon.”

Chapter Twelve: The NDE Drug

Therese woke up late Sunday morning, unable to recall her dream. She took Clifford out, fed and watered him and Jewels, and then noticed Puffy’s body was not in his cage. She ran downstairs again.

“Where’s Puffy?”

Richard and Carol had already eaten, but a plate of pancakes waited for her.

“He’s right here.” Carol pointed to a floral box on the counter by the kitchen sink. “A scented candle came in that box, and it still smells really nice. I put Puffy in there last night so, so you wouldn’t have to. I would have cleaned his cage and put it away, but I wasn’t sure whether you wanted me to or not.”

“Thanks,” Therese said. “I want to do it myself.”

“I dug a hole,” Richard said from the sofa across the room.
“Out by one of the elms. We could bury him there, if you’d like.”

Therese smiled, her eyes welling, just a little bit. “That would be nice. I’ll go get dressed.”

She threw on some jeans and a t-shirt and came back down.

The three of them went outside in the back of the house beneath one of two giant elm trees and committed Puffy to the earth. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” Therese murmured. Her dad had bought her the hamster four years ago.
Puffy’s death was one more thing separating her from her parents. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand as her throat constricted, and she felt inexplicably angry at Richard and Carol.

Richard covered the hole up with dirt while Therese and Carol watched on. Then he patted the earth down, leaned the shovel against the tree, and said, “There we go.”

The three walked back into the house.

“Did you have fun last night?” Carol asked. She went back to doing something on her laptop.

Therese started on her pancakes. “Yeah, I had fun. We all did.”

As she ate her breakfast at the countertop, Therese told her aunt and uncle she was headed over to the Holts to groom Stormy, and Clifford would be going along, too, if that was okay.

With their blessing, she and Clifford walked down the three-quarter-mile path to Jen’s house along the dirt road separating the mountain homes from Lemon Reservoir. Clifford stopped to pee on nearly every tree, so Therese had to keep saying, “Come on, boy.”

She felt a little nervous about seeing Pete today.

But Pete was as friendly as always and immediately put her at ease. The whole family was already out with the horses. They didn’t offer trail rides on Sundays, so they looked forward to finishing up their chores and taking the afternoon off. Jen asked Therese if she wanted to go shopping with her.

“Maybe.
What are you shopping for?”

“Nothing.
I just want to look at dresses, to get some ideas for prom.”

Therese rolled her eyes. “I guess I can go with you, but you do realize
prom’s like, light-years away from now?”

Jen laughed. “I guess I’m excited, you know?”

Therese stroked Stormy with a soft towel as Jen worked on Sassy. She couldn’t believe how big he was getting. He nuzzled her hand.

The whole week went that way. Carol and Richard were supportive, Pete was easy to talk to, Jen asked her to do things with her, and Therese felt surprisingly okay with
Puffy’s death. She cleaned and put away the cage. She wasn’t ready for a new hamster, but she stored the cage in the basement just in case she felt differently one day.

Thursday, Vicki called to say she had the stuff. They made plans to get together Friday night.

Richard drove Therese to Vicki’s apartment after supper and helped her carry her sleeping bag to the door. After Richard left, Vicki told Mr. Stern they were going to her room to listen to music. Mr. Stern was half asleep in his recliner in front of the blaring television. The girls didn’t have to worry about him interfering in their business.

Vicki injected Therese and then herself using two different sterile needles. There was a slight pinch, and then a little burn, and then nothing. The two girls lay back on Vicki’s bed and waited.

“I’m scared,” Therese said.

“It’s
gonna be awesome,” Vicki reassured her. “But this time, I’m jumping on the raft as soon as possible.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to see each other on the other side?” Therese asked.

“I hope so. If I see you, I’ll grab your hand.”

“Maybe we should hold hands now,” Therese suggested.

“Um, sure, if you want.”

Therese took Vicki’s hand.

“Do you feel anything yet?” Vicki asked.

“I think so.
Just a little. Oh.”

“What?”

“I feel so peaceful.”

“See what I mean? Oh. Now I feel it, too.”

Therese could no longer speak, and she could only vaguely feel Vicki’s hand in hers. She felt herself float up toward the ceiling, and now she looked down and saw her own body lying beside Vicki’s on the bed. This is so weird. Then, right beside her on the ceiling, Vicki appeared holding her hand, but their bodies still lay on the bed. So, so weird, Therese thought again.