The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga)

THE

GATEKEEPER’S

SECRET

Eva Pohler

Published by Green Press

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, happenings, and dialogue came from the author’s imagination and are not real.

THE GATEKEEPER’S SECRET. Copyright 2014 by Eva Pohler.

All rights reserved.

FIRST EDITION

Book Cover Design by Melinda
VanLone

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication has been applied for

ISBN – 978-0-989990-4-5

About the Author

Eva Pohler writes fiction and teaches writing and literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio where she lives with her husband, three children, two dogs, and two rats. Please look for the other books in the Gatekeeper’s Saga:
The Gatekeeper’s Daughter
(May 1 2013),
The Gatekeeper’s House
(November 1, 2013),
The Gatekeeper’s Secret
(April 1, 2014), and
The Gatekeeper’s Promise
(October 1, 2014). You might also enjoy her young adult contemporary suspense,
The Purgatorium
(December 12, 2013), the first of three in that series (
Gray’s Domain
and
The Calibans
are forthcoming). If you are an adult and enjoy mysteries, you might want to read
The Mystery Box
and
The Mystery Tomb
, the first two books in her Mystery Book Collection. Check her website for details at
http://www.evapohler.com
.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my grandparents, Ro Ann and Luther Ouellette and Joe and Margaret Mokry; my parents, Cathy and Joe Mokry; my in-laws and second parents, Danny and Lois Pohler; my siblings, Lisa Hubacek, Rachel Mokry, and Jody Mokry; my husband, David Pohler; and my three children, Mason, Travis, and Candace Pohler. Without them, this book would not have happened. I would also like to thank my book cover designer, Melinda VanLone, and my editor, Debbie Andreen. Finally, I would like to thank my aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, critique group, and book club for their help and support.

Chapter One: An Unexpected Invitation

Therese leapt into the sky above Mount Ida in the cold snowy air with Ariadne on her heels. Asterion, the Minotaur, hung back, standing beside Thanatos, waiting. The golden disc shot through the clouds, barely missing Helios descending in his cup, before it slowed and spun back toward them.

The disc swung around outside Therese’s reach. She and Ariadne both grumbled and turned in the sky to see if
Asterion had any better luck. Than and Asterion jumped up from the mountain top at the same time, inches apart, both with determined looks on their faces. The tip of Than’s tongue showed between his lips—a habit of his when he was concentrating, which Therese found quite cute. Asterion flew toward the disc with a grunt, but his timing was slightly off, and Than, who’d flown back and to his right, easily caught the disc in one outstretched hand.

“No way!”
Therese shouted. She let an arrow fly, aiming close to his ear.

“Watch it!”
Than laughed, catching the arrow in one hand, before sending it back to her.

She grabbed it in mock frustration. “Ugh!”

Ariadne rolled her eyes at Therese as the two of them returned to the mountain top. “It’s no fun if he always wins.”

“We’ve got to get him, guys,” the Minotaur said. “We need to work together.”

Than laughed again and shook his head, obviously trying not to gloat. Hip would have already paraded around them twice, but that wasn’t Than’s style. And yet Therese would feel better if Than did gloat rather than shrugging and looking at them apologetically as though they were a bunch of morons.

Speaking of morons, Therese thought, there was Pete again, bugging her with his prayers. Oh, she shouldn’t be so mean. Pete was no moron. He was a kind and good person who had great intentions, and his sister was her best friend. She reminded herself it wasn’t that long ago when she’d imagined spending her life with him. Lately, though, his insistence that he relay a message from his father’s ghost was really getting on her nerves.

No good thing ever came from knowing the future. She’d learned that lesson after going to the Fates. What they told her hadn’t stopped Ares from wanting to imprison her, and it had only made her worry about her future children.

Two, but none immortal
.

She fingered the locket at her throat.

Than wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the back of her neck.

“Your turn,” he said. He spun her around to face him and, seeing her frown, asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s Pete again. He won’t let it go.”

“Yeah, I know. He’s been working on me, too. I’ve had to block him.”

“How do you do that?” she asked.

He touched his finger to the tip of her nose.
“Practice, which is what you need with the disc. Now come on.”

Like she had much time for practice.
Usually she was on Stormy’s back flying across the world helping humans and their animal companions. Clifford often went along, and, sometimes, her parents, who lived in the bodies of two immortal red birds, joined her, too. She loved making humans and animals happy and loved spending time with her parents and animal friends, but her duties didn’t leave her vast amounts of time for practicing Frisbee throwing. Asterion complained that she and Than didn’t come play often enough, but the Minotaur was bound to the Labyrinth and had no other duties but to guard it and so couldn’t understand the concept of time management.

“Not all of us can be at many places at once,” she said to
Than with a wry smile.

Than
handed her the disc. Before she could move into position to throw it, Hermes appeared a few feet away. Ariadne and Asterion stepped closer to see what the messenger god had to say.

***

Jen sat up on her bed and threw her pillow in frustration at Pete, who leaned in the doorway of her bedroom. He caught the pillow and threw it back.

“She’ll come if you ask her,” he said. “Tell her you need a friend—which wouldn’t be much of a lie. You barely come out of your room anymore except to do chores.”

“And that’s exactly why you should quit annoying me,” Jen said, throwing her pillow at him again.

He threw it back. “Why won’t anyone take me seriously?”

A horrible thought ran through Jen’s mind. “You didn’t tell Mom or Bobby, did you?”

“Do I look stupid or something?” He sighed. “Of course not. I meant the gods. Than and Therese both ignore me. Hip just sends me sick messages in my dreams. I finally decided to go higher up.”

“Higher up?”

“Zeus. Isn’t he supposed to be the big shot?”

Jen threw her pillow at his face. “You
are
stupid, Pete! Why would you do such a thing?”

“Why is that so bad? I’m worried about Therese.” He tossed the pillow across the room, where it landed on the floor beneath her window. “Why isn’t anyone else?”

“I doubt Therese will appreciate you involving Zeus in her problems—though I don’t know if he cares, to tell you the truth.” She lay back on her pillow-less bed.

“Just ask her to come for a visit,” he said again.

“Fine.”

When Pete left, Jen crossed the room for her pillow and then sank back on her bed. All she wanted to do these days was sleep. While awake, she only thought of her best friend, who wasn’t even human anymore. Or she freaked out over her father’s ghost creeping around their place, telling Pete cryptic messages. But while asleep, she could be with Hip. Even when she couldn’t sleep, all she had to do was to pray for him to come to her, and he would, and she would instantly drift into a wonderful dream.

She nestled into her covers and called to him. “Hip?”

“Hello, sweetheart,” he said in a poor imitation of somebody she recognized but didn’t know the name of—some old, classic, long-dead actor. Hip had a habit of doing that. He seriously needed to update his movie references.

But he was dang cute, no matter what he did.

“Hello,” she said, stifling a yawn. “Miss me?”

“Always.” He sat on her bed.

“When can you come in mortal form so…” she yawned again.

“Soon.”

“You always say that.” She closed her eyes and gave in to sleep.

***

Hypnos cupped Jen’s face in his hands. Even in the Dreamworld, her brown eyes sparkled like those of no other. They were especially sparkly beneath her blond bangs and the full moon and star-filled sky. He and Jen sat beside one another on a moving Ferris wheel. The wind blew his hair into his eyes, so he closed them as he leaned in for a kiss.

She returned his kiss, but pulled away earlier than he wanted.

“When?” she asked.

“When what?”

“When will you visit me as a regular guy again?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Aren’t you listening to me?”

He noticed she was getting better and better at transitioning from the waking world to the one of sleep.

“You can continue a conversation from one world to the next?”

“Don’t change the subject.” She brushed the hair from his eyes.

He didn’t know what to say as he bit the inside of his bottom lip. He had no more leverage to abandon his duties and visit her as a mortal man, and unlike his brother, he wasn’t willing to risk her life to invite her to become immortal. This meant the only way they could be together was in the world of dreams.

***

Thanatos
took Therese’s hand as he scrutinized the face of his cousin Hermes. “You don’t look like you came to play night Frisbee.”

“No. Sorry. Wish I could, though.”

“Then why are you here?” Ariadne asked.

Hermes gave them all a smile. “My father wishes to invite you to a party honoring the bride and groom-to-be.”

Than and Therese exchanged looks of bewilderment as light flakes of snow dropped around them. Than couldn’t help but wonder what Zeus’s real motivation was.

“An engagement party,” Hermes added. “For you,
Than. Therese. Come on, you two.” He lifted his palms in front of him as flakes of snow collected on his curly dark beard. “This news was supposed to make you cheerful. The two of you look like you’ve swallowed a goat.”

“You can’t blame us for being wary of Zeus,” Than said. “Not after what he did to Athena.”

“And Cybele,” Therese muttered.

“Yes, yes, of course.” Hermes waved his hands, as if batting away flies. “But that’s all behind us now.”

Than wondered how his cousin could say such a thing when Cybele was still missing. Why couldn’t Hermes see his father’s flaws and stop pandering to his every whim?

Than grimaced as Therese squeezed his hand.

Ow
, he prayed to her.

Sorry.
She
lightened her grip.
But Hermes acts like attacking the Underworld and kidnapping Athena was nothing. We still don’t know what’s going on with Cybele.
Her grip tightened once more.

I know.
Than pulled his hand loose and shook out the cramp.

“Does Zeus really think he can sweep all that under the rug by throwing us a party?” Therese asked.

“Of course.” Hermes smiled, showing his teeth.

Therese arched a brow, which
Than found sexy. “Will Cybele be there?” she asked.

Hermes’s smile faded. “I doubt it.”

Therese shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. Than put an arm around her, trying to calm her. She wasn’t a volatile person and typically held everything inside, but he worried she might implode one of these days.

“Look, I’m just the messenger,” Hermes said. “The engagement party will be held at the winter solstice on Mount Olympus. It’s going to be huge.”

“But that’s right before Christmas,” Therese objected. “I’m supposed to be in Colorado. My aunt and uncle are expecting me.”

“And it’s only a few days away,” Than added. “We can’t change our plans this late in the game.”

“You can do both,” Hermes said. “Go to Colorado after my father’s party.”

“Are we invited?”
Asterion asked.

“Of course,” Hermes said amiably. “Everyone is.”

“Not everyone,” Therese murmured.

Than saw she was wearing on his cousin.

“It’ll be fun,” Hermes added. “My father will make sure of it.”

Hermes vanished, leaving the four night Frisbee players alone in the snow.

A few hours later,
Than stood before his hearth gazing at the dancing flames. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Zeus’s party was more than an attempt to make nice after his attack on Athena and the Underworld a few months ago. He worried Zeus had somehow gotten wind of Athena’s plan.

Therese came up behind him and leaned against him, wrapping her arms
around his waist. The warmth from her body against him comforted him. Her scent—a mixture of lavender and pine—refreshed him. How had he managed to live for so many centuries without her? He pushed his fingers through hers to link hands, and they stood like that, quietly, for many minutes.

Finally she said,
“We can’t not show up to Zeus’s party when we’re the guests of honor.”

“Exactly,” Than said.
“That’s what troubles me. What better way to make sure we’re there than to make it about us?”

“We’re not being overly paranoid, are we?”

He turned to face her. “There’s no such thing among the gods.” He frowned as he swept her hair from her shoulder and kissed it. “I should have warned you. I didn’t make it very clear to you, did I?”

“What are you talking about?”

“When I asked you to join me, among the immortals. You had no way of knowing how intensely dangerous the lives of the gods can be.”

She smiled up at him. “I kind of like it. It’s exciting.”

He smirked. “And to think how bored I was all those centuries before we met.”

She moved her lips against his. “Not so boring now, is it?”

He shook his head, brushing her lips softly with his. “Not so much.”

The next morning, beneath Larissa Hill, among the ancient water ducts of Lerna, near the Hydra’s lair, Thanatos gathered with a handful of gods from the Underworld—his parents, Meg, and Therese—who were joined by Athena, Hephaestus, Apollo, and Artemis. Although the gods could see clearly in the pitch of darkness, a little light filtered in from the outside, and even some of the sounds from the distant city of Argos carried in through the cracks of the heavily warded rock above them. Along with those daytime city sounds came the consistent drip of water, like a slow bass drum, somewhere behind them. The slow tap was mitigated by the flurry of smacks by the Hydra as she enjoyed her cakes.

The gods crowded together in a circle and prayed, rather than spoke, their plans.