The Gatekeeper's Daughter (10 page)

Jen dove over Therese and took off, easily coming in first.

Throughout the rest of the meet, Therese struggled to keep a low profile, making sure to come in second and third for the rest of her races. Jen didn’t mention the freakish dive throughout the meet, but everyone else couldn’t stop talking about it. The coach said the word “Olympics” at least a dozen times.

Once they were alone in the locker room and changed out of their wet suits, Jen slipped on her sweats and flip-flops and turned to Therese.

“It has something to do with the crown, doesn’t it?” Jen asked.

“What?”

“The dive.”

Therese nodded, opening her locker for her t-shirt. That’s when she discovered her purse was missing. Before she could respond, a voice called from across the locker room.

“Therese! What in the world?” The voice belonged to a teammate named Stephanie. “Look what I found in the trash can!”

Therese and Jen crossed the room and found Stephanie holding the photo of Therese and her parents.

Tears flooded Therese’s eyes and anger clutched the back of her throat. “Who would do this?” She looked in the trash to see the other photos crumpled inside as well, even the sonogram. Had a god done this, or a human?  

Later that afternoon while Carol and Richard were at a doctor’s appointment for the baby, having another sonogram—this time to find out the gender—Therese was sitting on the couch in front of the television half-watching and half-thinking about the stolen purse when Than appeared beside her.

She threw her arms around his neck. “Hey, you,” she said.

“I’m sorry about what happened today.”

“At least I got the pictures back.”

“Do Carol and Richard know?”

“No. It would break their hearts. I’ve got to try and keep it from them.”

“Maybe I can find a replacement. Then they’ll never know.”

She popped up into an upright position, feeling perkier. She hadn’t thought of that. “Aren’t you clever?”

He took her back into his arms and kissed her. Then he said, “Listen. I’ve got some good news, some bad news, and some semi-good news.”

“You met with Aphrodite?” She squared herself to him.

“She said only the descendants of Cupid can see his arrows.”

“But we know that’s not true because I can see it.” Then she added, “I even felt it. It wasn’t completely solid, but I could wrap my hand around it. Did you find out what would happen if I were to pull it free?”

“Therese. Stop talking and listen to me.”

She rolled her eyes.
“Than. I
am
listening to you.”

“Only the descendants of Cupid can see his arrows.”

“Like I said…wait.”  Did this mean what she thought it meant? “Are you saying…hang on, are you saying that
I
must be Cupid’s descendant?”

“And Aphrodite and Ares’s as well.”

She jumped to her feet and waved her arms in the air, emitting a joyous whoop. This would let them off the hook, then, right? As much as she loathed Ares, he couldn’t possibly want to capture her if he was her own ancestor.

“Wait.” Than pulled her back down to the sofa beside him. “Aphrodite doubts this will change Ares’s position, but what it does mean is that you can help Pete. You might even possess some talent we haven’t discovered yet, something akin to your lucid dreaming and your ability to communicate with animals while you were still mortal.”

She wasn’t sure how to take this news. “Help Pete how?”

He explained what Aphrodite had told him.

“He could hate me?”

“Maybe.
Maybe not. But it’s better than letting him pine away for you, don’t you think?”

“Better for whom?” she asked suspiciously.

“Him, of course.”

He was right. Pete could move on with his life. She wouldn’t be around anyway, so why did she feel sick at the thought of him hating her? “I suppose I’ll need some practice first.” She crossed her arms. “What’s the rest of your news?”

She watched the blood drain from his face. Oh, no. More bad news? Her back stiffened. “Tell me.” She braced herself.

“You remember how you said we could promise Ares we’d never have children?”

“Of course I remember. I got laughed at.” Why did he have to bring it up? She felt her own blood drain from her cheeks in mortification.

“Well, there is a way.”

Her heart sank. He was willing to give that up? “You mean abstinence.”

He nodded.
“Not my first choice, but, yeah.” He told her about Hippolyta’s golden girdle. “Aphrodite says we could have it put on you permanently, guaranteeing we could never…”

“I get it.” She stood up and crossed the room. So she would live eternity like one of the virgin goddesses. “This is so unfair. You don’t deserve this.” She turned off the television, the annoying commercial making it even more difficult to hide her frustration.

“Neither do you. But I don’t want to live in fear of your safety.”

“It’s so unfair.”

“Life isn’t fair.”

Chapter Fourteen: The Parthenon

While Than gave Therese archery lessons in the afternoon in Colorado, he disintegrated and dispatched to Athens, where it was dusk, to meet Athena, who’d been summoned for him by Hermes, at the Parthenon. The ruins were no longer littered with tourists, so Than waited, alone, by the old statue of Athena.

Once Athena appeared, her raven hair barely visible beneath her silver helmet, her grey eyes brighter than the metal gleam above them, he told her about his plan to find the girdle.

“So Therese will join the ranks of the virgin goddesses,” Athena said with an approving tone.

“If it’s the only way we can be together without fear of Ares.”

“Do you see those sacred caves across the acropolis from here?” She pointed to the west.

Than saw them. “I sense something dangerous dwells there.”

“Yes. Do you remember Medusa?”

“Of course.
Perseus cut off her head. It’s there now, on your shield.”

She lifted the shield proudly. “You know why I wanted it, don’t you?”

“She and Poseidon met here at your temple.”

“And soiled it with their love-making.”

Than knew the story. Perseus himself had told it to him when he came to the Underworld. When Perseus cut off Medusa’s head, their children, Pegasus and Chrysaor, sprang free. “Is it the giant dwelling in the caves?”

“Not Chrysaor, but another of her offspring formed from spilled drops of her blood. She’s a serpent called Amphisbaena. She has a dragon head on each end. I brought her from the desert to dwell in the caves to protect my temple from further dereliction.”

“What’s this got to do with Hippolyta’s girdle?”

“Amphisbaena is a seer of lost objects. The two heads don’t always agree, but much insight can be gained from her. She might be able to tell you where the girdle can be found, especially if it exists somewhere in this region.”

“Is she amiable?”

“No. But if you tell her I sent you, you might get her to cooperate.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“You’ll have to bind her two heads together and give her an elixir from Apollo. It will force the truth from her lips.”

With his special power for summoning gods and delivering messages, Hermes located Apollo for
Than more quickly than Than would have been able to find the god of truth on his own. Apollo lingered before a painting at an art gallery in Dallas standing beside his lover. In a black tuxedo, a fedora pulled over his eyes, a white scarf wrapped around his face, and dimmed to his lowest light possible, Than crossed the room, all the while sending his silent prayer to Apollo.

Apollo replied in like form that he was only too pleased to hand over the elixir, hoping for a speedy end to the conflict with Ares. As Than approached, he noticed how many of the patrons in the gallery allowed their eyes to linger on Apollo. Men and women alike couldn’t stop looking at him and admiring his beauty. Even now, with his lover beside him, Apollo was greeted by two women competing against one another
for his attention. Than wondered if he would have a similar effect on the living if he weren’t Death.

“Absolutely,” Apollo said to him silently. “You are quite stunning, you know.”

“Thank you,” Than replied, also in silence, as he grew closer to the god of light.

“But it can become dreary, attracting the attention of so many,” Apollo said. “I try to avoid public places, but Marvin loves this artist. The painting is quite good, is it not?”

Than looked over the abstract movement of colors. He was surprised to find it reminding him of a melody, the way it lifted and seemed to sway one way and then another. “Yes, it is.”

As
Than reached him, Apollo took a vial tied to leather string from the inside pocket of his tuxedo and handed it to Than, turning his back on the ogling women. “Here you are, cousin.” Then Apollo put a hand on his lover’s shoulder. “You remember Marvin, don’t you?”

“Sure. How are doing?”

“Great. Thanks for asking. And you?”

“Not too bad, but I’m in a bit of a hurry.” Than tipped his hat to the both of them. “Thanks again, cousin.”

Now, armed with his sword and shield, a coil of rope around one arm, and the elixir on a leather string around his neck, Than returned to Athens to face Amphisbaena.

Chapter Fifteen: Piercing Pete

Therese reminded herself that no one else could see the arrow as she tucked it into the back pocket of her jeans and looked over her hair and makeup in her bathroom mirror. Jen and Pete were on their way to pick her up.

Carol and Richard still weren’t back from their appointment and shopping in town. Therese had tried to call them on their cell phones, but had gotten no reply. Rather than freak out, she decided buying a crib and stuff for the nursery was probably taking longer than planned.

Than had shown her how to hold the bow and arrow, and though Therese had carried off a perfect shot on the first try, and many more since, she was nervous something would go wrong tonight when she tried to pierce Pete’s heart with the special arrow from Cupid. After adding fresh water to Jewels’s and Clifford’s bowls, she folded the collapsible bow into her purse and headed downstairs.

“Wanna go outside, Clifford?”

He followed her to the back door and out onto the deck. She immediately sensed another presence.

“Who’s there?”

She felt fear and panic gripping her chest, and this time she knew Ares’s twin sons were close.

“Back inside, Clifford.”

Clifford whined and followed her indoors, though a locked door would be no protection from the twins. 
“Than!” she cried.

Immediately he appeared in the kitchen beside her.

“Deimos and Phobos,” she said. “They’re right outside.”

“I sense them, too.”

The front doorbell rang. It was Jen.

“What do we do?” Therese asked.

“The twins won’t touch you as long as you’re in the company of mortals. They wouldn’t risk Zeus’s wrath.”

“Therese?” Jen walked inside, looking around. “Hey, there you are.”

Than had disappeared.

“Hey. I was just locking up.” She checked the lock on the back door, grabbed her purse, and followed Jen out the front, hoping the twins wouldn’t think of hurting her pets while she was gone. If they touched one hair on Clifford’s body or one scale on Jewels’s shell, she’d find a way to torment them.

As they walked to the truck, Jen said, “Matthew and I broke up.”

Therese stopped and turned to her.
“Oh, Jen. When?” Therese pretended like she didn’t already know.

“Last week. The day you left. I didn’t want to talk about it yesterday in the barn with Courtney there, though she knows. And I especially didn’t want to say anything at the meet. Afraid I’d lose my focus.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you.” She gave Jen a hug. “You doing okay?”

“I’ll be alright.” She pulled away. “We better get in the truck before Pete honks at us.”

Todd, Ray, and Courtney met them outside the movie theater in the ticket line. Ray looked like he had a thing for Courtney. She hoped Courtney would give him a chance, though she seemed to prefer Pete. If she had the right arrow, could she play matchmaker like Cupid?