The Gatekeeper's Daughter (16 page)

The gray cloud floated up in fear, but the gates did not move. Than disintegrated into the hundreds of thousands and, as one huge mass, charged the gates. They barely budged, but the tiny gap he created was large enough for one to slip though. The hundreds of thousands of Thans pressed against the gates while the one entered. He reintegrated and charged across the courtyard and up the rainbow steps.

Hephaestus worked in his forge and Hestia in her kitchen. Hades and Persephone were absent—autumn having arrived because his mother had returned to the Underworld. Artemis was also gone, and Demeter had returned to her winter cabin. But the others were seated on their thrones visiting among one another, Poseidon with Apollo and Hermes, Hera with Zeus and Ares, and Aphrodite with Cupid, who had come in from tending the stables. They all looked up when Than entered like a bull from its gate. He ran at Ares and wrapped his hands around his throat.

Ares laughed.

Than disintegrated into five and surrounded the god of war, each taking a limb and disabling him. “Tell me where she is, you coward.”

“Or what?” he asked. “You’ll rip me apart as the maenads did you?”

“Good idea.”

Zeus stood before them in his full form and bellowed, “Release my son!”

“Not until he tells me where he’s taken Therese!”

“How dare you speak to me in this manner,
Thanatos!” Zeus roared.

Zeus’s army of three Cyclopes, larger and stockier than any among them, entered the palace, ambling across the marble floor in their slow, ungraceful gait. One by one, Arges, Brontes, and Steropes peeled each Than from Ares and threw him to the ground.
Than responded by continually disintegrating, despite the painful blows. Like a colony of ants from its hill, he kept multiplying until the Cyclopes wailed in anger and frustration. Than had never turned against the gods before, and now he realized his special power of disintegration gave him a unique advantage. He would never attempt to use it to overthrow the Olympians, but he would fight for Therese.

“Enough!” Zeus shouted.

The other gods looked on, some with concern and others with amusement.

The Cyclopes stopped and ambled from the palace.

Than integrated into five and maintained his hold on Ares, who was no longer laughing.

“Get this repulsive god away from me!” Ares wailed.

Than took great satisfaction in having bested the god of war, if for even a little while. “Tell me what you’ve done with Therese!”

“She’s not been harmed, only taken,” Ares growled.

“Return her you mother f…” Than looked up at Hera and thought better of his words. “You weasel!”

Ares strained against him but could not break free.
“On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“You find Hippolyta’s girdle and let me fit it to Therese.”

Than wanted to strangle the
god, and he tightened his grip around Ares’s neck. “What have I ever done to you?”

“Besides threaten to break my neck?” Ares mocked.

“Tell me where to find the girdle.”

“I’ve been looking for it, but with no luck.”

“Let her go. I promise to search for it. I promise not to touch her. Please.” Than released Ares and integrated. He stood before him.

Ares rubbed his neck and gave
Than a hateful glare. “You find the girdle and I’ll set her free.”

Than glanced at each of the gods present in a circle around him. “Will no one help me?”

All but Zeus lowered their eyes, even Hermes, whom he loved like a big brother.

“You’re an oath breaker, Thanatos,” Zeus said. “You’ve lost our respect.”

Than looked at Aphrodite, whose face was pink and whose mouth was turned into a frown, but she did not look back. Cupid, too, avoided his eyes. These were Therese’s ancestors. Didn’t they care for her safety? And Ares, also from the same blood, was to blame for all of this! He glared up at Zeus. None of this was fair.

Just as he was about to give up on all of them, Athena stepped forward. “I will help you, Thanatos.”

“As will I.” Hephaestus came up from behind and put a hand on Than’s shoulder.

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Amazonian Pit

Therese’s arms were bound behind her back. She was blindfolded and sat on a surface that felt like dirt and rock. Something blocked her from being able to stretch out her consciousness to see beyond the blindfold, to god travel, and to pray. She could hear Than’s frantic prayers to her, but clearly he could not hear hers to him.

If it weren’t for his voice raging through her head, she’d feel utterly alone.

Tears of frustration rolled down her cheeks. Her throat was sore and her voice hoarse from screaming. She didn’t have time for this! Baby Lynn could die any day. And Pete! What would Mrs. Holt and Bobby think when they returned home and Pete wasn’t back from the hospital, as Therese had promised? Would they get rid of the golden retriever?

She screamed again. “Let me out of here!” Her throat stung with pain. “Let me out of here!”

Feeling along the floor with her hands, she recognized fine sand mixed with pebbles. She scooted on her hands and bottom, trying to get a sense for how large a space her prison was. As she scooted along, her hands fumbled against a larger rock with a sharp point. Hopeful, she snatched it up and rubbed the point against the binding at her wrists, over and over, sawing as fast as she could, approaching the speed of light and creating so much heat she nearly produced a flame. At last, the binding broke and her arms were freed. She removed her blindfold and looked around.

“What on earth?”

She found herself in a pit about ten feet deep and twelve feet in diameter. The walls of the pit were made of smooth incandescent stone, which cast a purplish glow throughout the prison and emanated a low buzzing sound reminding her of the extra freezer back home in the basement. Above was an opening, three feet in diameter with a metal grate over it, also aglow.

“Hello!” She called out toward the opening.
“Anyone there?”

When no one answered, she felt along the incandescent walls, hoping to find a hidden door. The walls seared her hands. “Ouch!” Fanning her burnt hands in the air, she studied the walls, finding the bright glow wasn’t too hard on her eyes, but there was no crack or crevice, no hidden door.

The floor! She crouched on her hands and knees, her black jeans and top nearly white now from the dust, examining every inch of the dirt and pebble-covered ground, hoping for a trap door. Unlike the smooth walls, the ground did not emanate heat or purple light. She found her collapsible bow and slung it over her shoulder with her quiver. Then she had the idea of shooting an arrow through the opening, to see if anything would happen. She fitted the arrow and released it perfectly. It incinerated as soon as it broached the grate.

Discouraged but not without hope, she retrieved her sharp-pointed rock and struck the ground with it, her burnt hand, nearly healed, stinging from the contact. In spite of the pain, she found she could dig a hole in seconds with her godly strength. Full of renewed hope, she eagerly crawled next to the wall and started digging with the idea that she would tunnel below the incandescent wall, behind it, and up toward the surface.

Perhaps it was because her mind was so singularly focused, but however it happened, as she dug beneath the incandescent wall, she realized how she would get Callisto from the sky without upsetting the universe. She would find another bear to take her place. If she could switch the bears at the speed of light, she might be able to avoid any repercussions to both the universe and the notice of humankind. She didn’t know exactly how the bear held the stars, light-years away from one another, together in their constellation, but if one bear could do it, another could. She would see to it, but she needed a bear. There were plenty in the woods near her house.

She didn’t want to force one against its will. That would make her no better than the other gods who used people and animals for their own selfish purposes. No, she had to find a way to convince a bear to volunteer. First, she had to get out of this pit.

She hadn’t yet decided whether she would feed the apple to Pete or return it to Hera. If she fed it to Pete, she would likely lose Hera’s favor forever, and worse, Baby Lynn would die. But she remembered reading that Artemis, too, was sometimes called upon to help the unborn because immediately after her own birth, she helped her mother travel to a safer island away from Hera’s wrath to give birth to Apollo. Maybe Therese could feed the apple to Pete and then ask Artemis to save Lynn. A shiver worked its way down her spine as she realized she had nothing to give the goddess of the hunt in exchange for the favor. Could Artemis be trusted to give another gift out of the kindness of her heart? The goddess was generous to Therese when she was human, but things seemed different between them now.

Therese could return the apple to Hera, and then ask her to save both Lynn and Pete. She bashed the rock against the earth, again and again, frustrated by the thought that, Hera, too, would have no reason to help her beyond her original promise.

Although she had successfully dug beneath the incandescent wall, she hadn’t made much progress tunneling up toward the surface when something fell from the opening above with a thud. Turning, she saw it was a man. He held a spear in his hands and wore torn trousers and no shirt on his muscled torso. His sky blue eyes glared at her warily through blond messy bangs, and his strong jaw lifted in defiance as he climbed to his feet and crouched with the spear pointed at her.

“Who are you?” She stood up and backed away.

“Leif Anders, from Norway. Who are you?”

“You don’t know? I thought I was your prisoner.”

“Am I not yours?” Leif looked to be in his early twenties and was tall, broad, and strong, but was clearly just a man. Despite his size and weight, she felt confident she could defend herself against him if he attacked.

“You’re the one with the spear.”

He narrowed his eyes, as though he didn’t trust her. “It’s hard to see you in this purple haze.”

“I’m Therese Mills from the U.S. Where are we?”

“Amazon territory.”

“The rainforest?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know our exact location. It’s kept secret. You don’t want to know either. I’ve heard they kill anyone who discovers it.”

“They?”

“The Amazons.”

“What? The Amazons? Why?” She paced around him, and he turned defensively with his spear keeping himself square to her. “What would the Amazons want with me?”

“To reproduce for them.
That’s what they want with me. If it’s a girl, they let us go. If it’s a boy, they kill him and make us start again.”

Her jaw dropped open. “What?”

“They’re a tribe of women. They capture men for reproduction.”

“They can’t find anyone willing?”

“What man wants his son murdered? And it’s not like the Amazons are desirable. Their faces are beautiful, but they cauterize their right breasts as infants.”

“What? Why would any woman mutilate her young like that?”

“They believe it makes them better warriors with the spear.”

“That’s so…antiquated and morbid, especially when we have automatic assault weapons.”

“They’re loyal to their traditions. Another reason why I’m here instead of a sample from a sperm bank.”

“So they’re really going to force you to have sex with them?”

“That’s what they said just before they tossed me down here. I think I’m meant to have sex with you.”

The blood rushed to her face. “No.
No, not me.”

“So you aren’t going to rape me?”

“God, no. I want to get us out of here.” She crossed her arms at her chest, trying to think why the Amazons would take her prisoner. Then she remembered that the first Amazons were daughters of Ares. He must have solicited their help in keeping her away from Than. How ironic that Leif was here to be forced to reproduce while she was here to be kept from it—unless they meant for her to become impregnated by a man as a way to prevent her from conceiving a god’s child. Was the god of war buying himself some time? Nine months to be exact? A demigod would be no threat to him if she was raised among the Amazons. Her heart sped up and pounded against her ribs as she returned to her digging. “I think I’ve found a way out.”

He dropped his spear. “They’ll kill us if we try to escape.”

“We can’t let them catch us then.”

He surprised her from behind, shoving her to her bottom. “Stop digging! They’ll kill us!”