The Gatekeeper's Daughter (22 page)

Aphrodite and Ares were already seated beside one another at the table on the patio of Café Moulan when
Than and Therese arrived with Alecto on their heels. They had barely sat down when Apollo appeared and joined them beneath the striped umbrella that stood erect through the center of their table.

“Thank you for meeting us,” Than said to the others.

Apollo eyed the snake around Alecto’s neck with disdain, reminding Than how much the gods of Olympus were revolted by members of Than’s family. Only Hip and Persephone seemed immune to the negative bias against which the other members of the Underworld suffered.

“Hermes said you had important news for me.” Ares took a sip from his wine.

“Yes, and I’ve asked Apollo to come since he can recognize a lie when he hears it. I want you to know I speak the truth.”

“And Alecto?”
Aphrodite asked with a forced smile.

Than could see through her attempt to be polite, and his ears became hot with anger.

Alecto licked her lips in a way that resembled the darting tongue of her snake and said, “For moral support.”

“Go on,” Ares said.

Therese jumped into the conversation. “We went to see the Fates.”

“Oh?” Ares asked. “And what did they have to say?”

Than could see the blood rush to Therese’s face. She said, “They see no immortal children in our future.”

“No immortal children?” Aphrodite asked.

Than cleared his throat. “For reasons we don’t yet know, Therese and I have two mortal children. We share this information with you, Ares, hoping this will alleviate your need to sabotage our marriage.”

“Indeed,” the god of war replied. “This is good news.”

Therese narrowed her eyes. “I’m glad you’re satisfied. Now you can leave me alone.”

After a suspicious glance toward Apollo, Ares said, “Yes, I can.”

Aphrodite reached across the table and took Therese’s hands in hers. “I’m so glad we have this chance to talk, Therese, because I’ve wanted to tell you how proud I am of you.”

“Thank you,” Therese
said, her face turning from red to pink.

“Do you know how much of who you are comes from your godly family?”

Therese shook her head.

“Before you became like us, you already possessed gifts. You could fly in your dreams, and that helped you to control them. Your ability to fly with such zest comes from Zeus, whose blood runs in me, to Cupid, and down the line to you.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. I love to fly, especially now that I can do it while I’m awake.” She glanced in Ares’s direction before turning back to the goddess of love. “That is, when I’m not being hunted down and kidnapped.”

Aphrodite smiled politely. “Your talent for swimming comes from my mother, Dione, who’s quite impressed with you, by the way. She will be an advocate of yours for all time.”

Therese frowned. “Have I met her?”

“She’s the silver lady who stopped Ares from following you when you left Poseidon’s palace with the bear,” Than explained.

“Silver lady?” Therese shook her head. “I didn’t see her. I was so focused on finishing the quest, I suppose.”

“I think she arrived after you’d left,” Ares said.

Therese glared at him. Than stifled a giggle. She was so cute when she was angry.

“And your courage comes from Ares,” Aphrodite continued. “Like it or not, his blood runs through you, too.”

Therese averted her eyes.

“Of course, your talent with the bow and arrow comes from Cupid.” Aphrodite took a sip of her wine. “And another of your gifts is your love for others, which is quite profound, is it not, Ares?”

Ares nodded. “Yes. Quite profound, and a thorn in my side, I might add.”

“But, darling, she gets that from me.”

Than and Alecto exchanged amused smiles.

Ares stroked Aphrodite’s long blond hair. “Yes, I know.”

“And it’s her most important quality,” Aphrodite said defensively. “She couldn’t fulfill her purpose as goddess of animal companions without it.”

“Indeed,” Ares said.

“A happy family reunion,” Apollo interrupted. “But I’m afraid I’ve no time for it.” He stood to go.

“Thank you for coming,” Therese said, standing with the god of truth and shaking his hand. “Thank you so very much.”

Apollo gave Than a silent prayer, “I don’t believe you are rid of Ares.”

Than prayed back as he stood and shook Apollo’s hand, “Why?”

“Good bye, all.” Apollo vanished.

Therese and
Than remained standing.

Alecto joined them, “I, too, must get back to my work.” The Fury vanished.

“Are you leaving so soon?” Aphrodite’s question was directed at Therese.

“I have something I have to do,” Therese replied. “A friend of mine needs help.”

“Oh?” Aphrodite looked concerned.

“You remember Pete Holt? The one Cupid shot to make fall in love with me?” Therese turned a scowl in Ares’s direction, and
Than again stifled a smile at how cute she could be.

Aphrodite nodded.

“Well, I shot him with an arrow of hate, hoping to neutralize it, but he looked upon his sister first.”

“That’s terrible! Jen, the one whose father…?”

“Yes,” Therese said. “So I transformed Pete into a dog and shot him with one of my companion arrows, which was great and all, but I thought I would be able to change him back, and I couldn’t. So I’m going to find a way to do that.”

“How?”
Aphrodite asked.

“She’s going on a secret quest,” Than interrupted. The last thing they needed was for Hera to learn of Therese’s plan before it was enacted. “And it’s time sensitive. We need to go. Thanks again for meeting with us.”

Than took Therese’s hand and together they returned to his rooms. He sent a prayer of thanks to his sister before turning to Therese.

“You said too much,” he told her.

“What do you mean? They wouldn’t tell Hera, would they?”

He pushed her hair out of her eyes and gently kissed her cheek.
“Probably not. But it’s best to keep this adventure to ourselves.” He decided not to share Apollo’s warning with her. No need to make her any more anxious than she already was. “I’ll get my sword and shield.”

“And we should hop over to my room and grab my flute.”

He kissed her again. “Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter Thirty-Six: Atlas

After checking on Clifford and Jewels, Therese grabbed her flute case from beneath her bed, opened it, and assembled its three silver pieces.

“Ready?” Than asked.

“Outside the Marjorelle Garden, right?” she asked.

“Right.”

Together they god traveled to Marrakesh, Morocco to pluck two apples from Hera’s garden, but before the pines at the base of the Atlas Mountains came into view, an unexpected embrace pulled Therese away from her destination, and before she could blink, she was standing on a mountain peak on the tallest mountain for miles. More startling than her location was the proximity of the giant standing in front of her, looking down at her with a creepy smile and intense black eyes. The giant wore a white sarong at his hips, golden sandals, and nothing else but his curly black hair and beard. His arms were lifted up to the heavens, as though he were holding a bank of clouds. Then Therese realized who he was.

“Atlas?”

“Ah, you know my name,” he said in a voice that was deep and loud enough to echo throughout the mountains. “Now tell me yours.”

“Therese.” She straightened her back and lifted her chin. “I’m the goddess of animal companions.”

“Have you come to play your flute for me?”

She lifted her flute to study it, having forgotten it was in her hand. “No. I was actually on my way to play it for the Hesperides.”

“My lovely daughters. How nice.” He narrowed his intense black eyes. “But you must have another reason for visiting them. You must hope to pluck an apple.”

Therese wasn’t sure if she should admit this to the father of the Hesperides, so she said nothing, her throat suddenly tight.

“If you play for me on your flute, I’ll get the apples for you,” the Titan offered.

“Really?”
She screwed her face up at him, not at all sure of his trustworthiness. She thought she recalled a story in which Atlas had tricked someone by making a similar offer.

“Yes. Can you imagine how boring it is to stand here day after day with no one to talk to, no music,
no laughter? I receive very few visitors.”

Therese thought it couldn’t hurt to play a brief song, but she would then be on her way. She put the flute to her chin and blew across the hole, fingering a soft ballad she remembered from her sophomore year. Tears flooded the Titan’s eyes and his creepy smile softened into a grateful one.

“That was beautiful,” he said when she had finished.

“Thank you. And thanks for your offer, but I better
be going now.”

“Wait. Didn’t you visit my daughters last summer and deceive them with that very flute?”

Therese’s mouth fell open. She tried to god travel away, but her feet stayed glued to the ground. “Am I your prisoner?”

“Not his. Mine.” Ares appeared beside her.

She dropped her flute and fitted an arrow to her bow, but Ares vanished before she could release it. He appeared again at her other side. She took aim again, but again, he vanished. He came up behind her, his hands pinning her arms to her side. She clutched her bow in one hand and the arrow in the other, but she could not lift her arms, nor could she god travel away.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked through gritted teeth. “You heard what the Fates said.”

“As relieved as I am that you’ll have no immortal children, I can’t help but suspect it’s because of what I’m about to do.”

“Yeah?
And what’s that?”

He used his superior strength to force her to stand beside Atlas. Then he squeezed her wrists until she dropped her bow and arrow, and lifted her arms toward the bank of clouds.

“You’ll be taking Atlas’s place for a while.” He nodded to the giant. “Ready?”

The Titan nodded back and slowly lowered the bank of clouds onto Therese’s hands.

“No! Help! Than! Thanatos!” The clouds were heavier than they looked and she labored beneath them.

Atlas turned his intense eyes to her. “I’m sorry to leave you with this burden. Long ago, I was made to keep Uranus, the Sky, from mating with Gaia, the Earth. Now it’s your turn.”

“Wait! How do you know I won’t drop Uranus and let him and Gaia have at it?” She lowered the clouds to her shoulders, her arms trembling from the weight.

Ares gave her a sardonic smile. “Because the first thing the Titans will do if they overpower the Olympians will be to destroy humankind, and you wouldn’t want that on your back.”

He and the Titan vanished, leaving her alone with the sky in her hands.

“No! Please! I have to help Pete! Please!” Why couldn’t
Than hear her cries, her prayers?

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Garden

Than arrived outside of the Majorelle Garden in Marrakesh, Morocco where, unlike in Colorado where it was seven hours behind, the sun was rising above the Atlas Mountains. But where was Therese? They had just left her room in Colorado moments ago. He disintegrated to go back and look for her, but his other self went on, feeling for the entrance to the garden of the Hesperides, which was invisible to mortal eyes. The scent of pine was soon replaced with that of citrus, and the long rows of fruit trees came into view. With each step he took through the garden,
Than disintegrated, so that by the time he saw the huge sprawling apple tree with its gnarly roots and branches, he was equal in number to Ladon’s hundred heads.

The three daughters of Atlas awoke from where they lay curled between the roots, their beautiful figures so matched in color to the dark gray bark of the tree that they at first appeared to be nothing but gowns billowing in the breeze. Their eyes widened at the army
Than had amassed, and they quickly sprang from the tree and disappeared.

Ladon, who had also been sleeping, opened his two hundred eyes and lifted his one hundred heads from where they’d been dripping from the branches like tree sap.