The Gatekeeper's Daughter (23 page)

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Than warned, preferring a peaceful relinquishing of the apples to a slaughter. The beast was immortal and would return to his body in a few days, but if there were another way, he’d take it.

In case peace was not an option, he raised his one hundred swords. “I need two apples from the tree.”

Ladon’s heads struck in less time than it took to breathe, but Than spun out of reach and then brought his sword around. He managed to slice off a good third of the heads, but a moment’s hesitation as he realized Therese was not at home in Colorado or at his rooms in the Underworld made him vulnerable. Ladon’s fangs pierced through his trousers. Even though it was one bite, pain seared through all three hundred thousand of him everywhere he was in the world as the hot poison burned through his veins. He managed to slice off another third of the heads before his vision became blurry and he was struck again.

He multiplied himself into the billions, and like insects swarming its prey, he surrounded Ladon and the tree, crawling up the gnarly trunk to the highest branches. Though he could barely see, he climbed and swung, climbed and swung, an explosion of his disintegrated selves, all mercilessly attacking, long after, he soon realized, the dragon lay still.

He integrated into one at the garden, though he continued to carry out his duties for hundreds of thousands of souls. His vision was nearly gone, but he managed, so keen were his other senses and so familiar was his path through the Underworld. The Hesperides screamed from a distance as he looked with the last of his sight over the chopped bits of Ladon and at the blood dripping from the leaves and bark, and pooling on the grass near his feet. His vision became weaker and weaker as he escorted Ladon’s soul to the Underworld. Than felt sorry for the beast, who was only doing his job, but he said nothing as he led him to Charon. The one Than at the garden amid the screams of the Hesperides quickly plucked two golden apples from the tree and returned to the safety of his chambers. Once the apples were well hidden, he asked Alecto to help him hunt for Therese.

Before he could set out on his journey, he found himself blind to the point that he could no longer find the souls calling to him.

In the next instant, he felt the transference of his duties as death to another, and he fell in a heap on his bed, feeling useless and afraid.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Goddess of Sleep

Therese struggled under the weight of the sky as the sun continued to climb over the Atlas Mountains, when suddenly the souls of the dying beckoned to her from all over the world, and she found herself disintegrating and dispatching to aid the dead. This could only mean one thing.

“Than!”

One of her dispatched to the garden of the Hesperides to look for him. Meanwhile, the one on the mountain summit multiplied into the twenties to better distribute the weight of the sky and ease her burden. Then she had the idea of stacking rocks to form pillars to take her place entirely. She disintegrated into thirty workers, each pulling out boulders from the sides of the mountain, cracking them by hitting them together to make flat edges, and stacking them up to equal her height. She built four columns along the peak of the mountain and then carefully lifted the sky from her shoulders and balanced the bank of clouds on the pillars of rock.

Back at Hera’s garden, Therese was mortified by what she saw: Ladon chopped to bits, blood draping from the branches, and the three Hesperides weeping beneath the gnarly apple tree. The three nymphs looked up at her with their sad faces, their tears glinting in the morning sun, and before they could say a word, Therese took up her flute and played them a ballad to comfort them. Doing so wasted no time. She felt it was the least she could do. While she played, she disintegrated and dispatched to the Underworld.

As she neared the Underworld, she sensed
Than in his bedroom and god traveled directly there. Relieved to find him all in one piece, she rushed to his side.

“Than?
What’s happened? Are you okay?” She leaned over where he lay on the bed, placed her hands gently on his chest, and looked into his face. That’s when she noticed his eyes moving around in their sockets, apparently unable to focus on her. “You can’t see!”

“Ladon’s poison.”

She brought her hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp. “How long will this last?”

“I don’t know.
Maybe forever. I need Apollo. But first, tell me. Where have you been? Are you alright?”

Therese shuddered.
Forever? He could be blind forever? So in trying to save Pete, she’d ruined Than’s life. She sank on the bed beside him resting her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands. “I can’t believe this.”

Than sat up on the edge of the bed beside her. “When I arrived in Morocco, you weren’t there.”

“Ares intercepted me and took me to Atlas. He forced me to take the Titan’s place.”

“What? Why? Are you still there now?”

“Yes, but I’m constructing pillars to hold the sky. I’m nearly done. Where can I find Apollo?”

“Damn that Ares! Damn him forever!” Than took a deep breath and blew it out. “First take the apple to Pete.”

She jumped from the bed. “You got an apple?”

“Two.
An extra to offer to Ares, like we planned.” He told her where she could find them.

Therese took one and left the other hidden. “How can I give Pete the apple without killing him?”

“That’s right. He’ll die in your presence. Damn that Ares!” Then he turned his face up to the ceiling. “Hip we need you! It’s urgent!”

“What can he do?” Therese asked, pacing.

“He can switch with you.”

Hip appeared. “Why would I switch with her?”

Therese hadn’t seen him in a while, and she’d forgotten how much he resembled his brother, even though they weren’t identical: same height and build, same strong jaw and dark brows, and same sweet blue eyes, but where Than’s hair was dark brown—nearly black—Hip’s was golden.

“Please help us!” Therese said frantically.
“Than’s blind!”

“Blind?” Hip went to his brother’s side and studied his face.
“How?”

“Ladon’s poison.
Look, can you switch with Therese and be Death one more time so she can save her friend? I’ll owe you another.”

“Are we talking about Pete Holt?”

“How’d you know?” Therese asked.

“His sister, Jen.
We’ve become quite close in her dreams. In fact, she’s my favorite right now.” He gave her his radiant smile and flirtatious wink.

“She’s fragile,
Hip,” Therese said. “Please don’t toy with her.”

“Toy?
I’m in love.”

“Hip,” Than interrupted. “We don’t have time for this. Will you please just switch with her?”

“Will you get me a date with Jen?” he asked.

Therese rolled her eyes. “Are you serious? You want to break my friend’s heart?”

“No. I want her to fall in love with me. Than, you, of all people, should understand. Why can’t I find a partner, too?”

“You can’t be serious,” Than said.
“You’re not the type to settle down.”

“People change.”

“Look, whatever,” Therese said with exasperation. “I’ll get you the date. Now switch with me.”

Hip took her hand and the transference of duty was immediate. Therese continued to disintegrate, but now, instead of guiding the souls of the dead, she was monitoring, and in some cases participating in, the dreams of hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. She disintegrated again and dispatched to the Holt place with the apple.

The Therese that remained behind stood before Hip with her mouth wide open. “This is so…surreal.”

“Tell me about it,” Hip said, laughing. “Now you know why I hate switching.
Than definitely got the worse lot.”

“You can leave now,” Than said.

“Fine.” Hip disappeared.

Therese turned to
Than.  “Tell me how I find Apollo. I can help Pete and look for Apollo at the same time.”

“Hermes is best at finding gods in a
hurry, and my father can summon Hermes in a flash.”

Hades appeared near the stalagmite that held
Than’s clock and quill. “You called?” He took a closer look at Than. “Dear god, what happened to you?”

Than explained what happened in Hera’s garden. In the next instant, Hermes arrived, followed by Persephone, who swooned over
Than in a high-pitched, frantic voice.

“How can this be? How could this happen?”

“We need Apollo,” Hades said. “The longer Ladon’s poison runs through Thanatos’s blood system, the worse are his chances for recovery.”

“Yes, Lord Hades.” Hermes disappeared.

Back at the Holt place, Therese hovered outside Jen’s window to scope out the situation before entering. Jen and the golden retriever lay side by side in Jen’s bed, sound asleep. Therese flew inside, picked up the dog, whose sleep was deepened by her presence, and god traveled to Pete’s room. Then she entered Pete’s dream, a bit frazzled to find him making out with Vicki’s cousin Courtney in the hay in the barn with Stormy and Sassy looking on. It wasn’t really Courtney, of course; it was a figment. Stormy and Sassy were also figments. Therese commanded them to show themselves. They transformed into three scaly eels, which swirled about the barn with hilarious laughter before flying away.

Pete sat up in the hay and looked at Therese, dumbfounded. “Therese?”

“Listen to me, Pete. I need you to eat this golden apple.”

“But I’m not hungry.” He stood up and wiped the hay from the back of his jeans. “I’d rather make out with you.”

“But we’re just friends, remember?”

“Can’t we be friends with benefits?” He took her in his arms.

She held him back at arm’s length, but gave him a smile. “So you’re not in love with me anymore, right?”

“Love? Well, more like a little crush. Now are you gonna kiss me?”

“I’m with
Than, remember?”

He frowned. “So that’s a done deal?
You sure? What do you know about him, anyway?”

“Quite a lot, actually.
Now will you please try a bite of this apple?”

In the dream, she handed it to him, and he took a bite. In the
awake world, Therese fed the apple to the sleeping dog. As soon as a single bite was swallowed, the golden retriever changed back into Pete Holt, the man.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Therese whispered as she tucked Pete into bed. Tears flooded her eyes, and she batted them away with the back of her hands. She kissed Pete on the forehead. In the dream world, she hugged him, too, and told him she was sorry.

“Why are you sorry?” he asked.

“I just am.” She pulled away. “Still friends?”

“Always.” He winked.

Therese snapped her fingers and a figment obediently appeared in the form of Courtney. “I’m glad you two found each other.”

“It’s nothing serious,” Pete said. “I’ve already told her I’m not ready for a relationship. Still too burned by you.” He smiled, to let her know he would be alright.

More relief swept over Therese and, even in the dream world, her eyes filled with tears.

“See ya,” she said, waving.

“See ya.”

Therese decided to enter Jen’s dream, too, to check on her. To her horror, she found a vicious cycle reeling round and round without end of Pete screaming hateful words to Jen, knocking over chairs. Then Pete’s hands were at Jen’s throat. Jen wriggled free, grabbed a gun, shot. Over and over, these same events occurred. Jen was stuck in the hellish cycle.

Therese intervened by appearing in the dream. First, she commanded the figment disguised as Pete to show itself and leave. Then she took the gun from Jen and told her everything was going to be okay.

Without transition, Jen was a little girl, maybe five or six, wearing a short simple dress and a pair of boots and milking a goat tied to the back of the house. Therese looked on from above, no longer in Jen’s view. Mr. Holt, much younger and much handsomer, ambled from the barn.

“Where’s your mama?” he asked her cheerfully.

“Store.”

“And your brothers?”

“Out to pasture.”

“Then why don’t you
come sit on Daddy’s lap and let me tell you a story?”

Little Jen squealed with pleasure. She picked up the bucket of milk and skipped inside the house behind her father. Therese looked on, overcome with anxiety.

“Will you tickle me again?” Jen asked, pulling off her dress.