The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) (12 page)

Are they asking her about Cybele?
Therese asked Than.

They must be
, he replied.
Let’s wait and see what she says.

Therese was as anxious as
Than to know what was going on. Had Melinoe revealed the location of Cybele’s prison?

“This could be your chance to redeem yourself,” Persephone said in a strained voice. Therese could tell she’d been crying. “If you know anything, please tell us now. Give us a sign that you want to rejoin this family.”

Melinoe spat toward the other gods, but the spittle landed ineffectually on the cold stone ground. “Zeus is my family!”

“I’m your mother!” Persephone insisted.

“Go away from me!” Melinoe growled. “I hate you!”

Therese could only imagine what it must be like for Persephone to hear her daughter speak to her like that.

Persephone covered her face and wept.

“Your mother doesn’t deserve to be treated this way!” Hades bellowed. “She did nothing but love you!”

Good for Hades for defending his wife, Therese thought. Talk some sense into the Malevolent.

“Is that what you call this?”
Melinoe screeched. “Love?”

Meg’s voice roared and echoed throughout the pit when she said, “Think on your crimes against humanity!”

Therese shuddered, reminded of the awesome power of the Furies to intimidate and punish.

Hecate took a step daringly close to the prisoner. “Don’t you realize no one can lie before Apollo? Did you not hear that your
father
intended to blame you for the attack on Hades and leave you to suffer for all eternity here in this god-forsaken pit?”

“Good!” she screamed. “Leave me and let me suffer in peace!”

What was wrong with this goddess, Therese wondered, that she would prefer to suffer for all eternity than to help her own family?

“There will be no peace for you!” Meg roared.

Her falcon dipped toward Melinoe and plucked out one of her eyes.

Melinoe
screamed in agony.

A shiver snaked down Therese’s back, and she turned away from the horrible sight. Gertrude, one of the rats she’d befriended in the Underworld, squealed with fear from some crevice and ran up Therese’s leg to perch, quivering, on her shoulder.

Don’t be alarmed. You’re safe,
Therese told Gertrude.

Persephone covered her face and fled from the pit. Hecate followed her mistress.

That’s when Melinoe noticed Therese and said, “You!”

Everyone turned and looked at Therese. She had no idea what to say and stood there, speechless, holding Gertrude in both hands.

“This is your fault!” Melinoe shouted. “If you hadn’t gotten involved, I’d be Queen of the Underworld!”

How dare the Malevolent blame Therese! The goddess of ghouls needed to learn to take responsibility for her own choices. Anger surged through Therese, but she took control of it and said in a reasonable voice, “You brought this on yourself, and you’re being given a chance to get out of it. You should take it.”

Therese turned and walked away, so pissed she couldn’t bear to look at the Malevolent for another minute.

Then to Gertrude, she whispered, “
It’s okay, dearie. There’s no danger for you.”

“Why should I trust them?”
Melinoe called after her. “How do I know they won’t…” The Malevolent’s voice trailed off.

Therese stopped in her tracks and turned back to face the prisoner. So that’s what was keeping her from cooperating.
Melinoe had no reason to believe anything anyone told her, because she had trusted her father, and he had betrayed her. She probably still believed that Persephone and Hades had intentionally deceived her about her conception. With no allies, no one to trust, no one to believe in, Melinoe was in despair and lacked the motivation to cooperate. In fact, she was probably terrified that something worse than her imprisonment here might befall her if she betrayed Zeus.

Therese took several steps toward
Melinoe, whose one eye glared at her with suspicion and—Therese thought—hope.

Therese’s heart rate increased as a new idea struck her. It might be the stupidest thing she’d ever do, but she wanted to do it. She did, didn’t she? The other gods seemed transfixed by the glare the two goddesses held on one another—the goddess of ghouls bound to the stone wall and the goddess of animal companions bound to something pulling at her heart, where she clutched Gertrude protectively.

“I swear,” Therese began.

Than interrupted,
What are you doing? What are you about to swear? I have a right to know.

It’s a safe bet
, she replied.
Trust me.

Aloud, Therese said, “I swear on the River Styx that if any one of these gods before you treats you with injustice, I will join you here, in Tartarus, forever.”

Than laid a hand on her shoulder and prayed,
How can you swear such a thing?

Do you doubt these gods?
she asked.

Than
did not reply.

She looked from
Melinoe to Hades and saw a hint of a smile on the god of the Underworld, but suddenly she wasn’t quite so sure if it was the same smile of endearment he’d given her before. Had she just made a colossal mistake?

Melinoe
spat at her, and this time the spittle hit its mark. Therese flinched.

“Oath breaker!”
Melinoe shrieked. “Why should I believe an oath breaker!”

“She never broke an oath,” Hades said smoothly.

“She speaks the truth,” Apollo added.

“Get away from me!”
Melinoe screamed. “All of you! Get away! I want my father! He’s coming for me! Just you wait and see! Father! Father, where are you!”

Than
took Therese’s elbow and led her away from the horrible sight further into the deep pit of Tartarus. Therese pet Gertrude once more before setting her loose on the wall to find her way back to her sisters and brothers.

When they were alone in the dark
, winding corridor, spiraling further into the pit, Than asked Therese, “You might not care what happens to you, but what about me?”

“What?”

He took her by the shoulders and gazed down at her. “Don’t you care for me and for my happiness?”

“Of course.
I love you.” He was scaring her. Did he really think any of those gods would act unjustly?

“Except for the Fates, and sometimes Apollo, none of us knows what the future holds. I love my father, and I believe he’s just, but you’ve seen how brothers treat brothers. You’ve witnessed fathers turn on their sons and daughters.”

“Hades is different,” Therese said.

“I hope so. But what about Apollo?” he asked.

“He can’t lie,” she said.

“That doesn’t mean he’s incapable of injustice.”

Nausea crept up Therese’s throat.

“Eternity is a very long time, Therese. Things can change. Oaths last forever. Don’t be so quick to swear them.”

“Well, it’s too late now,” she said. “What’s done is done. We’ll just have to trust them. Now where’s Tiresias?”

Than muttered with disapproval, “Too late now. Ugh.”

“I am here,” a voice came from a crack in the stone.

“He’s on the other side of this wall,” Than said.
“Come on.”

Than led Therese through a narrow opening and into a large hall where a dim orange light glimmered over the asphodel cascading down the walls. The
Phlegethon did not flow here, so consequently, there was little light, though she, being a goddess, could still see. Many souls wandered or sat idly in this part of Tartarus, and the wails, moans, and shrieks could barely be heard.

“It’s quiet,” Therese whispered.

“The souls in here aren’t tormented,” Than explained. “Their suffering comes from being separated from the ones they love.”

“You mean they have their memories?” Therese asked.

“Yes, but they would be happier without them.”

Although the asphodel and the shimmer of light made the hall less dismal than the previous section of Tartarus, it was still nothing like the beauty of the Elysian Fields.

“Tiresias,” Than beckoned. “We need a word with you.”

***

Mercy Regional Medical Center was packed with people as Jen followed Bobby and Mr. Stern through the psych ward looking for Pete’s room. When they found it, Jen’s mother was sitting beside the hospital bed where Pete lay sleeping. For the first time, she looked small and fragile to Jen, who’d always seen her mother as the strong horsewoman and task-master on their ranch. Her mother stood and put her finger to her lips as they
entered. She waved them back out of the room and then led them down the hall to a waiting room.

“Let him get some sleep,” Mrs. Holt said. “Sit here with me, and I’ll tell you what the doctor said.”

Mrs. Holt had ridden in the ambulance with Pete, and Jen had come with Bobby in Mr. Stern’s sedan. Mr. Stern had driven like an old man, turning a thirty-minute drive into an hour.

“Sorry it took us so long, Steph,” Mr. Stern said. “I’m not used to those country roads, especially at night.”

“Don’t apologize,” Jen’s mother said. “I’m grateful you drove the kids over. Neither of them was in any condition to drive.”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Bobby said.
“Just worried.”

“Damn, I need a cigarette,” she said. “There’s an atrium on the floor above us where you can smoke. Do y’all mind?”

Jen wanted to say, “Seriously?” but she held her tongue, knowing this wasn’t the best time to pick a fight with her mother. She and her brother followed their mom and Mr. Stern to the elevator where they rode to the next level. In the middle of the floor was a courtyard of sorts open to the cold, dark night. It was windy but at least it wasn’t snowing when they bundled their coats more tightly around them and huddled close together on two benches.

Jen’s mother took a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of her coat and tapped one out. After she lit it, took a drag, and
exhaled, she said, “So the doctors are gonna run some tests on him tomorrow.”

“What kind of tests?” Jen asked. She wanted to tell her this was a mistake. Pete wasn’t sick. He was a seer. But how would that sound?

“They’ll do an MRI and a cat scan, and they’ll also do some kind of psych evaluation.”

“What’s a psych evaluation?” Bobby asked.

Mr. Stern said, “They’ll ask him some questions and observe him. It’s no big deal, nothing to worry about.”

“I told them about my uncle and how schizophrenia runs in our family,” Jen’s mother continued. “So they’re
gonna test him for that, too. The doc says it might take a week or two to get any kind of diagnosis. They’ll determine tomorrow whether Pete can come home or if he’ll have to remain here during that time.”

“He might have to stay here?” Jen asked.
“In the hospital?”

“Maybe,” her mother said.

Jen wondered if that might be the best thing for him. It would keep him away from her father’s ghost—unless the ghost could follow Pete all the way here to Mercy Regional. A quiver moved down her neck.

“I want to stay here with him,” Jen said. “I don’t want to leave his side, Mom. And you can’t make me.”

***

Therese took a shaky breath as Tiresias approached. His soul looked old and weary. He wore a white sarong at his waist and no shirt, exposing the transparent appearance of withered flesh, sagging breasts, and hunched shoulders. With a staff in one hand, he walked without opening his phantom eyes.

That’s right, Therese thought to herself. Tiresias was blind, even in death.

“Be forewarned,” the old soothsayer declared. “I have rarely been believed by those who have sought my knowledge.”

“Why?” Therese asked, unable to stop her curiosity from provoking the question.

“The truth hurts,” the old man replied. “And I don’t like to tell it.”

“Then why do you?” she asked.

“It’s usually bullied out of me,” he said. “And I am a weak, old man.”

Does he really deserve to be here?
She prayed to Than.

Than cleared his throat and said, “We haven’t come to ask about the future but to seek advice about a friend—a seer, like you.”

“I have no advice for your friend.” The old man began to turn away.

“Wait!” Therese said. “Don’t go!”

“Stay,” Than said. “I command you.”

Tiresias stood with his back to them and said, “See how I am bullied?”

Therese plucked an arrow from her quiver, dragged the tip across the palm of her hand, and watched her blood bead to the surface of her skin. Tiresias turned toward her, his nostrils flaring.

“Drink,” she offered.

You didn’t have to do that
, Than said.
I could have.