The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) (18 page)

“So you’ve already bathed there once before?” Algaea asked.

“It was a terrible night,” Aphrodite explained. “I told you about it, remember? She had to fight…”

“Oh, yes,” Algaea said, her face flushing. “How brave you were.”

Therese didn’t want to talk about it. “Can we meet there tomorrow, then?”

“Sounds lovely,” Aphrodite said. “If my father will allow it.”

After their meal, Aphrodite invited Therese to her rooms, where Algaea experimented with Therese’s hair. Therese sat before an enormous vanity made of white marble and sterling silver. A crystal chandelier hung above them from a white dome ceiling trimmed with silver moldings. A row of diamond-shaped windows about the size of dinner plates lined the ceiling near the top through which rays of sunshine spilled into the room.

Aphrodite, who had left earlier, now returned to comment on the newest style
Algaea had fashioned for Therese’s hair.

“I like it up,” Aphrodite said. “It shows off her swan-like neck and becomes her dimpled cheeks.”

Therese blushed, unused to such compliments.

Aphrodite stretched out on the chaise lounge behind the vanity and met Therese’s eyes in the mirror.
Thalia and Cinny sat together on the sofa across from Aphrodite discussing flower arrangements and ribbons. They had spools of ribbon in their laps and on the crystal table between them, and their animated chatter filled the room. Pasithea was no longer among them.

“So tell me, Therese
,” Aphrodite said in a straightforward voice that held a conspiratorial tone. “Tell me, now that we’re alone in my room where my father can no longer hear us. Is Athena planning something against my father?”

Therese was taken aback. “What?” She didn’t know what to say. What if Zeus had put Aphrodite up to this? And why would she blatantly warn Therese in the dining hall only to interrogate her here?

“You can tell me,” Aphrodite said with a strange smile. “I feel sorry for my sister.”

Therese looked at the reflection of
Algaea, which had turned ghostly white, and then of Aphrodite, unsure of what to say.

“I don’t know of Athena’s plans,” she finally said. “What do you mean?”

“I heard her speaking with someone,” Aphrodite said. “It may have been Apollo. Do they mean to overthrow our king? And, if so, who’s involved? Hephaestus? Hermes?”

“Please, Aphrodite,” Therese said with a dry mouth, trying to hide her trembling hands. “Don’t talk to me this way. I know of nothing like that. Athena might be disappointed over not having the opportunity to reunite with her mother, but I know nothing beyond that.”

Aphrodite slid to the edge of the chaise and leaned forward. “Are you quite certain, Therese?”

“Quite.”

“Persephone indicated there might be something afoot, maybe in conjunction with your wedding,” Aphrodite prodded.

Did you say something to Aphrodite?
Therese directed to the queen of the Underworld.

No,
came Persephone’s response.

She claims otherwise. She’s interrogating me now.

Say nothing. Zeus is no longer in the great hall.

“Then maybe you should talk to her,” Therese said. “Like I said, I don’t know anything about it.”

Therese avoided Aphrodite’s company that evening and the following morning, sure that the goddess of love was working for Zeus. Instead, she visited with Hecate and her familiars and then strolled over to the stables to see Pegasus and the other animals. Cupid appeared and said hello, but he seemed suspicious, so she left not long after. She was saddened by the thought that his blood ran th
rough hers and had given her great talent with the bow, and yet, they could not trust one another. When the time came for the spa day with Aphrodite and her Graces, Therese was more than a little afraid.

Fortunately, Persephone would be joining them while Hecate and Artemis kept company with Zeus and Hera. Therese felt less terrified with a known ally at her side.

***

Jen turned out Hershey and then went back to the barn. She was exhausted and wondered if her mother would break down and hire a hand for the spring, just until Pete was back on his feet. The medication may have calmed him, but it was also making him loopy and lazy.

She was putting away the tack when Bobby came in. Their mother was still out on Ace.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey. I’m glad we’re alone.” Bobby shoved his gloves in his pockets and warmed his hands at his mouth.
“Hawh.” He exhaled against his hands again and again. “My gloves are crap.”

“What’s up?” Jen asked. Bobby was never glad to be alone with her—though she wondered if they were really alone, or if their father’s ghost was with them in the barn.

He tucked his hands beneath his armpits. “You know I’ve never been one to believe in ghosts and stuff, right?”

“Yeah?”
Where exactly was he going with this? Jen stiffened.

“Well, Pete’s got me
thinkin’. What if he’s right? What if Dad is trying to warn him?”

“What if he is?” Jen scrutinized her brother’s face.

“I had a bad dream last night.” Bobby turned his back to her as he fiddled with a piece of wire. “Dad told me to tell you that you were in danger.”

Jen couldn’t breathe. She locked her knees and nearly fainted. Reaching out for a post, she regained her balance but felt like throwing up. “Dreams are sometimes lies.”

“It felt real,” Bobby said. “I don’t think you should go to Therese’s wedding. I think something bad is going to happen there.”

He turned to face her, his expression grim.

“Are, are you going?” she stammered.

“We can’t all pretend to be sick,” he said. “And I’m not the one in danger.”

“Is that what you want me to do? Pretend to be sick?”

Bobby nodded. “I think Pete will feel better, too. I think worrying about you is what’s put him off kilter, you know?”

She wanted to puke. Pete had always looked out for her, and here he was, doing it again, even though it was making him ill.

“Well, think about it,” Bobby said just before he left her alone in the barn.

Jen sat on a stack of hay and tried to slow the beating of her heart. If only Hip would answer her prayers and help her through all of this, but he must be busy with some god trouble. She hoped he wasn’t tied to a mountaintop again. Believing she saw a snake in the hay on the ground, she flinched. It was a piece of rope. She covered her pounding heart with a hand and fought to catch her breath.

“Oh, Hip,” she whispered, still breathless. “Where are you?”

***

Although Therese had worn her bathing suit beneath her white silk robe, the other goddesses undressed with ease before each other in Poseidon’s luxurious bathroom behind closed doors. Not wishing to be teased about her modesty, Therese slipped off the yellow bikini and climbed into the swirling hot salt water with the others. The only things left on her body were her two lockets, which she never removed.

Aphrodite seemed different today—less sure of herself. She hadn’t said much to Therese since the interrogation the day before, but now as they all closed their eyes and tried to relax in the calming heat of the tub with candlelight bouncing against the clamshell mirror and turquoise walls, she reached out and took Therese by the hand.

Well, that was different, Therese thought, but she wasn’t about to pull her hand away from the goddess of love, no matter how awkward she felt.

Pasithea
, who sat in the water on the opposite side of Aphrodite from Therese, flushed with jealousy and took her mistress by the other hand.

Aphrodite turned to her with surprise, and then gave her a patient smile. “Dear
Pasithea, will you please go and get my favorite mineral oil? I left it in my room by mistake.”

Pasithea
tried to hide her frown as she stepped from the tub, slipped on her robe, and left to run her mistress’s errand.

Persephone, who sat opposite Therese from Aphrodite, gave Therese a reassuring smile.

Try not to look so frightened
, Persephone prayed.

Thalia
and Cinny had laid their heads back and were humming in harmony with one another. Algaea massaged the back of her neck and had closed her eyes.

As Therese was about to reply to Persephone, she was alarmed when Aphrodite suddenly pulled her under the water’s surface. Therese sputtered, having accidentally inhaled a little of the hot
, salty water.

“Listen to me, Therese,” Aphrodite said. “Zeus appeared to you as
me
yesterday, when Algaea was styling your hair. He trapped me in his room and wouldn’t let me out until later.”

Therese’s mouth fell open.

“Don’t say anything you don’t want him to overhear,” Aphrodite warned, “even when you think it’s me asking you. He wanted to be in my place here, but Hera would not allow it. He’s listening above, but I don’t think he can hear us under Poseidon’s protected waters.”

“Aphrodite, are you okay? Do you need to be rescued?” Therese asked, her mind reeling. She still wasn’t sure what to believe.

“He’s got me blocked. I can’t hear anyone’s prayers, not even those of my people! I’m his prisoner out in the open. I’m miserable!”

Therese believed the goddess of love, but she dared not speak her mind out loud. “What should I do?”

“Tell Lord Hades.”

At that moment, the others submerged, too, and looked at the two goddesses with curiosity. Aphrodite smiled at them and said something about the effects of the salt water on their complexions, so they all remained beneath the surface until
Pasithea retuned with the mineral oil.

Chapter Thirteen: Dreams and Vows

In early April, Therese returned to the Underworld, after a visit to Colorado over her birthday weekend, where she had a fitting with the seamstress hired to alter her mother’s wedding dress. Jen and Carol had gone with her. Therese had planned to break the news to Jen about Aphrodite’s new role as matron of honor, but the time had never felt right. Jen had seemed depressed, and Therese hadn’t wanted to add to her friend’s poor disposition.

She had also gone to see Pete, and even in his medicated state—which had been eerily calm—he’d tried to convince her not to go through with her wedding.

If it hadn’t been for the three precious evenings she spent with Lynn and her aunt and uncle, her birthday trip would have been an utter failure.

Back in the Underworld, Therese made her way through the winding chambers to the fields of poppy outside of Hip’s abode. When she discovered he wasn’t in his rooms, she stretched down on the cold flowers and went directly to sleep. She could have communicated with him through prayer, but what she had to say to him deserved to be spoken face to face, even if it had to be in the Dreamworld.

Gasping, she woke up in the world of dreams underwater, causing her to panic, like she had as an invalid at Poseidon’s palace. She expected to see her parents in front of her drowning, dying. Terrified, she looked for them before she
remembered that this was a dream and she had entered it with a purpose.

She swam through the water, no longer fearful. In fact, she enjoyed herself as she performed her favorite stroke—the breast stroke—at an easy pace. She willed a huge sea turtle to appear beside her, and he winked at her. Smiling, she returned the wink and took one of his flippers in her hand, which made her feel less angry and more relaxed. This would be better for Hip, for she had come here wanting to punch his face, and now she felt she was capable of a civilized conversation.

“Hip!” she called through the water. “Hip, I need to speak with you! It’s important!”

He appeared before her in his blue trousers, but his usual white shirt was gone. Blushing, she hoped she hadn’t been the cause of that like she had the very first time she had met him, while in the coma after her parents’ murder.

“What’s up?” he asked. Then, noticing the giant sea turtle, he added, “Cool.”

“What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “Don’t you know you can’t tell a girl you love her and then one day stop speaking to her, with no explanation?”

He hung his head.

“How could you use my best friend like that?”

He glowered at her. “I didn’t use her.”

Therese let go of the turtle’s flipper and crossed her arms. Of course he would say that.

“Look, can we talk somewhere else? I’m not fond of the water.”

Therese imagined a sunny, private beach covered in white sand. She and Hip walked side by side along the shoreline. “Better?”

“I’d forgotten how good you are at manipulating your dreams.”