The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) (27 page)

“Except for
Melinoe and Cybele,” Persephone said.

“Not Cybele.”

“Melinoe,” Hera said.

Hip regretted every malicious thing he’d ever said about his sister. She had become a monstrous villain to the human race, but he realized that he might have, too, if his own father had misshapen him in the womb and then deceived and betrayed him his entire life.

Zeus averted his eyes. “Yes. Look what she has become.”

“Do you not see your hand in her fate?” Persephone questioned.

“Yes. And by sentencing her to Tartarus, I would have righted another wrong.”

“No!” Persephone cried.

Please, Mother,
Hip warned.
Stay out of it for now
. Hip did not want Zeus on the defensive. Hera was handling it well. He worried his mother’s accusatory tone would spoil the discussion.

“We have to give our daughter the chance to redeem herself!” Persephone cried.

Hera turned a vicious face to Persephone and shouted, “Back down!”

Please, Mother
. Hip repeated.
For gods’ sakes.

“What is it you want from me?” Zeus demanded.

“I want to be your equal partner, your co-ruler,” Hera said.

Zeus grinned, a soft chuckle escaping his l
ips. The chuckle erupted into full-blown laughter.

Hera looked about to attack. “What’s so funny?”

Zeus regained control of himself and said, “Dear, Hera. You already are. Don’t you realize the control you have over me? I’m constantly looking over my back, hoping not to displease you. You know how to make me suffer, do you not? You withhold your affection or dole it out to me, and in so doing, you make me your puppet. How can you stand there and demand from me something you already possess?”

It was Hera’s turn to be speechless. Metis quickly stepped forward to Hera’s side.

“Lord Zeus, we ask that the mothers and daughters in general be given equal treatment.”

“How are they not given it already?” Zeus said in a tone that was not unfriendly.

“You drew lots with your brothers and disregarded your sisters,” Metis clarified. “You cast your mother aside. You misused your daughter.”

“I ask again,” he said, his temper flaring. “What would you have me do? Be specific!”

Athena stepped forward. “You and Hera rule the sky. Poseidon and Amphitrite co-rule the sea. Hades and Persephone co-rule the Underworld. Allow Demeter and Hestia to co-rule the land and its inhabitants.”

Demeter was not present, but Hestia covered her mouth with her hands.

“They are your sisters and rightful heirs, like you,” Athena said. “Demeter already takes care of the lands, and Hestia watches over the households of mortals.”

“Also, Metis and Cybele must remain free,” Artemis added.

“And given positions of honor in this court,” Amphitrite added.

“Yes,” Athena agreed. “My mother can continue to be your advisor, but here, where she can be acknowledged.”

“And you must swear on the River Styx to overturn your previous oath to swallow Therese,” Hades added, still invisible to all.

“If I am to consider your demands, you must all agree to my conditions, too,” Zeus said.

“What conditions?” Poseidon asked, his trident still pointed at Ares.

“All must swear to never make another human immortal. No more apotheosis to upset the balance of our pantheon.”

Hip winced. If the gods agreed, then Jen would never join him as one of the gods.

“Is that it?” Hades asked.

“Hera must make every god and goddess incapable of further reproduction,” Zeus declared. “To further protect the balance.”

Hera lifted her chin. “But Therese is already pregnant.”

Zeus gazed across the room at the Thans holding the arms of Ares. “Is this true?”

Before
Than could reply, Hera said, “With twins.”

Zeus cleared his throat. “No. You must agree that they cannot be immortal like the rest of us.
Demigod, yes. Immortal, no.”

Hip met his brother’s eyes.
Than and Therese would have to watch their children die mortal deaths. Hip wondered if Than would be the one to escort the souls of his own children to Charon’s raft. Sadness gripped his heart.

“Why not enforce your demand after the twins are born?” Persephone asked.

“Because the gods of the Underworld are too powerful already,” Zeus growled. “The power of disintegration of your twins leaves me no choice but to demand a stop to the creation of more allies of the house of Hades.”

“Fair enough,” Hades said.

“Do you have any further demands?” Athena asked.

“I want your love and forgiveness,” Zeus said. “But I cannot demand it of you. I never meant to hurt you, Athena, but only to protect my kingdom. I still fear that Metis will bear a child that will destroy me.”

“So you
are
afraid,” Hera said.

“Does that bring you happiness?” Zeus challenged.

“Somewhat, because it makes me love you all the more,” she replied. “It’s harder to love someone who has no vulnerabilities.”

Hip noticed that Hera did indeed have a way of controlling Zeus. His demeanor softened and his tight hold on
Than seemed to relax.

“If we gods are rendered sterile, then you have nothing to fear from my mother,” Athena reasoned.

“Prophecies are only predictions,” Apollo added. “Unlike an edict from the Fates, they are never a guarantee but are only realized on condition.”

Zeus seemed to consider this. Hip held his breath and glanced around the room. All eyes except for Poseidon’s (who kept his trident steadily on Ares) were focused on the king.

“I will agree to your terms if you will agree to mine,” Zeus said. “We must all swear on the River Styx to uphold all that was stated.”

The faces of the gods in the Athena Alliance transformed into the smiling faces of victors. Everyone swore at the same time. Zeus lowered his thunderbolt and released
Than. Poseidon lowered his trident. The war was over. Order had been restored.

Now that he could, Hip thought only of Jen and wondered what kind of future, if any, they had together.

Chapter Twenty-One: The Gatekeeper’s Secret

Than fell on his back in bed as his heart rate returned to normal and his body relaxed. He hadn’t realized how tense he had been until now that the conflict was over. While the gods congratulated one another on Mount Olympus, Than wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his arm and sighed with relief beside his wife.

As if she sensed a change in his mood, Therese curled against him. “You okay?”

“Zeus has agreed to our terms.”

Therese sat up beside him, squealing with excitement. “That’s wonderful!
Oh, Than!”

He looked up at her smiling face as it bent down to kiss him again. Her bright red hair fanned around his face and tickled his chin. When she sat back up, she frowned.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him.

He hadn’t realized he’d given anything away. He had been hoping to hold off the inevitable conversation to bask in the glow of victory with his wife a little while longer.

“Zeus made counter-demands.”

***

Jen strapped Lynn into a seatbelt beside her on the bench seat of her truck and drove her up the road to the Bradshaw house.

“Where Terry go?” Lynn asked again.

“She’ll be back soon,” Jen said, though she had no idea whether that was true.

When Carol answered the door, her smile faded when she noticed Therese was not among them.

“Therese had to leave suddenly,” Jen lied. “I’m not sure why, but she asked me to bring Lynn home.”

There was no way Jen would tell Carol the truth.

“Oh, no.”
Carol took Lynn by the hand. “That’s too bad. I better call her. Would you like to come inside?”

“No thanks. I’m needed back home.”

As she drove back down the road to her house, Jen tried once again to find out what had happened. She remembered crying out to Hip. She recalled him showing up outside her house. Then the next thing she knew, she was waking up in the family room with Bobby’s foot on her lap.

“Therese? Can you hear me? What in the heck is going on?”

The morning of Pete’s funeral, Jen was rummaging through her closet for her one black dress (had she had it dry cleaned after her father’s funeral and never picked it up?) when she had the daylights scared out of her.

Beside her in the not-so-good light of the walk-in closet, Therese appeared.

“Oh,
eem, gee, Therese!” Jen clapped a hand against her beating heart. “Don’t ever do that to me again. You scared the crap out of me!”

“Sorry.” Therese didn’t even try to hide her grin.

“Where have you been, anyway? You’ve had me worried to death.”

Therese frowned. “It’s, um, complicated.”

“Don’t give me that.”

“Do you mind if we get out of the closet?”

Jen huffed, full of battling emotions. On the one hand, it was the morning of her brother’s freaking funeral, for crying out loud. She was a wreck. A total wreck. On the other hand, she was super relieved to see Therese.

Jen collapsed on her bean bag as Therese sat on the edge of Jen’s bed.

“Well?” Jen demanded.

“Well…there was this huge conflict on Mount Olympus,” Therese began. “Zeus swore to swallow me whole so I’d be separated from
Than for all eternity.”

“Because of what Pete said,” Jen said, feeling guilty that one of her family members had put her friend in danger. But hadn’t Therese put
them
in danger? Wouldn’t Pete still be alive if Therese hadn’t insisted on marrying Than?

“It might have happened the way it did regardless,” Therese said. “But it’s over now, so I’m no longer in danger, and I could finally come to see you. I came as soon as I could, I hope you know.”

Jen felt the blood rush to her face. She should have known Therese had a reason for being gone so long. “I know.”

“I haven’t even seen Carol and Richard and Lynn yet. I came straight here.”

“Are you going to the funeral?”

“Of course.”
Therese fiddled with her gray blazer.

“That’s a killer blazer by the way,” Jen said.

“Thanks. Anyway, before we go, I wanted to tell you a couple of things.”

“What?” Jen bit her bottom lip. Maybe Therese had news about Hip. Did Jen even want to hear it?

“First of all, Pete is in the Underworld, and he’s actually doing really well. He told me to tell you hi. I think he and Tizzie might have a thing for one another.”

“Okay, this is weird.” Jen jumped up from the bean bag and paced the room. “You’re freaking me out.”

“Does that mean you couldn’t handle going to see him?”

Jen’s mouth dropped open. What was Therese saying? “Are you serious? When?
How?”

Therese clutched her abdomen, like she was going to be sick.

“You alright?” Jen asked, alarmed.

“Yeah, fine.” Therese smiled. “Hip got Hades to agree to let you come down for a visit.”

Jen stared at Therese. Did she have any idea how odd that sounded? Anyone else overhearing their conversation might think they were talking about an ordinary visit. “Go down for a visit? Therese, this sounds crazy. When? How would it work?” And would Hip be there? she wondered.

“I don’t know when exactly,” Therese said.
“But soon. Either I or Hip would take you—your choice.”

“My choice?”

“Hip isn’t sure how you feel about him,” Therese explained.

Jen fell back on the bean bag chair. She wasn’t sure, either.
“Yeah.”

“So think about,” Therese added. “Meanwhile, I have other news.”

The look on Therese’s face—it was beaming, glowing.

“Oh my god,” Jen said. “You’re pregnant.”

“With twins.”

Jen jumped back up.
“Twins?”

Therese jumped up, too. “Can you believe it?”

“Wow. Congrats. Two baby gods.”

Therese’s smile turned into a frown. “Well, not gods.
Demigods. They’ll have special powers, but they’ll be mortal.”

Jen didn’t really know much about the gods, but she was pretty sure that when one god got pregnant by another, the result
was another god—or in this case, twin gods. Maybe the fact that Therese was not born a god made it impossible for her to give birth to them?

“How will they live in the Underworld if they aren’t gods?”

Therese shrugged. “Don’t know.”

“Will they be able to be around
Than without dying, or Hip without falling asleep.”