The Gatekeeper's Sons (The Gatekeeper's Trilogy) (30 page)

A hunger like she’d never known took possession of her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. A feverish, burning sensation flamed through her skin. Her heart either pounded franticly or stopped altogether; she could no longer tell. She grabbed fistfuls of his soft dark hair and pressed her body again
st him. Her knees trembled. She held on for dear life.

He took her up in his arms and carried her to her bed just as she was about to fall. He laid her down on her back and knelt on the floor beside her. She took his face in her hands and kissed him.

“I love you, too,” she said in between kisses. “You’re all I think about.” She kissed him again. “I don’t want to live without you.” Then she said, “And if you leave me again, I swear I’ll kill myself to be with you.”

He stopped and lifted his face to look into her eyes. “Don’t say that, Therese. Promise me you’ll never do that to yourself.”

“No.”

“If you love me, promise me.”

“If you love me, don’t make me promise.”

“Then there’s only one thing to do.”

“What?” Fear pricked her skin.

Than grinned. “Introduce you to my parents.”

He covered her lips with his and she laughed with joy. She laughed so hard, she couldn’t stop. Clifford pranced around the room.

“I’m sorry,” she said, still laughing, almost hysterical now. “I’m so sorry.”

He laughed at her and plopped beside her on the bed. “Don’t apologize. I love to hear you laugh. I rarely hear laughter.”

He blushed, and she wondered why, but instead of asking, she broke into another fit of laughter.

“I can’t stop. I can’t breathe.”

“I seem to have that effect on people lately.”

His hand at her waist sobered her, and she caught her breath. “You make me so happy. I like you so much.”

He rolled to his back. “I’ve never been happier.” Then he sat up. “Hey, I have an idea.” He had a curiously sneaky expression on his face.

“What?”

“Let’s travel the world together today. Let’s start with Paris. I’ve heard it’s the most romantic city.”

She sat up with her mouth hanging open. “Are you serious? Paris?”

“And London, and Tokyo, and Honolulu, and Cairo, a
nd all the places I’ve been to but never visited properly.”

“What will I tell my aunt?”

“The truth. Tell her you’re spending the day with me.”

With her traveling robe from Aphrodite and her golden locket from Pallas Athena, Therese held on to Than’s hand in front of the Melner cabin and closed her eyes against the bright light. The invisible plastic wrapped itself around her, and she held her breath, but soon the pressure was gone and she could open her eyes.

First they arrived in Paris, in the Louvre for just a minute and held hands while they gazed at the Mona Lisa, where a fashionably dressed woman complimented her robe and wanted the name of the designer. Therese grinned at Than and explained it was a gift; she didn’t
know. Although it was lunchtime in Durango, the sun was just about to set here.

“How about a cruise?” Than asked.

“How will we pay?”

Than
pulled out a wallet from his trouser pocket. “My father gave me this before I left. It’s magical. The paper bills become the currency of whatever country I am in at the time. See?” He pulled out the bills and showed her they were euros.

They boarded a private dinner cruise near the Eiffel Tower and sat outside on deck in the cool evening. A light breeze blew from the Seine, and the soft sound of violins lingered in the air. While the sun sank behind the Eiffel Tower, they ate om
elets and soup.

While they ate, Therese asked Than
a few questions about what it was like to be a god.

“Can you hear people’s thoughts?” she asked, taking a sip of her Diet Coke.

“Only when a person prays directly to me.”

“Does that happen often?”

“Yes, but people pray to me under the false assumption that I have anything to do with the timing of their or their loved one’s death, so I tune them out. It just makes me sad.” He looked into her eyes and smiled. “But your prayers to me are different.” He winked. “Finally, instead of begging me to postpone my visit, or pleading for me to take them swiftly to avoid the agonizing pain, somebody actually wants me just for me, for my company. You can’t know how exhilarating that is.”

Color rushed to her face. “Wait a minute. Do you hear me every time I speak to you in my mind?”

A huge grin crossed his face.

“The other night…” she dropped off.

“When you begged me to kiss you?” he teased. “And when you complimented my butt?”

She licked her lips. “Okay, I’m going to have to be more careful.”

“Don’t.”

She tried to recall other times she might have said things to him in her mind. Color rushed to her face, but what did it matter? He knew how she felt. Why should she hide her feelings from him?

When they had finished eating, Than said, “Let’s go see another sunset, this time in London. We have to hurry. The sun’s about to set.”

They leaned on the rail of London Bridge looking out over the Thames as the setting sun cast its golden hues across the water. A crisp breeze carrying the smell of rain blew into their faces. A shower was on its way. Sure enough, within ten minutes, it began to drizzle, but they stayed to enjoy it.

Therese asked another question. “Can you make yourself invisible and eavesdrop on what others are saying?”

“Yes.” He looked down as color came across his face.

“You look guilty. Have you ever done that before?”

He shrugged and the corners of his mouth turned up. “Maybe.”

“Have you ever eavesdropped on
me
?”

“Once or twice perhaps.”

She punched his arm. “Tell me everything, Than. I mean it! I want to know!”

The rain came down a little harder now, sending chills down Therese’s back.

“Let’s get out of this rain first.” Than put both arms around her.

They took a taxi past Buckingham Palace, and drove around until the rain stopped. Then they strolled through St. James Park as the sky turned into night. “Please tell me?” Therese asked now that there were no other people around them.

“Let’s pop over to Tokyo first. It’s late morning there.”

They took another cab over Rainbow Bridge and gazed at the cityscape, the sun just coming up from the east.

“That’s Tokyo Tower, I believe.” Than pointed to the tallest tower in the city.

“Yes, sir,” the cab driver said. “The tallest one there.
Also known as the Sky Tree Tower.”

“It’s beautiful,” Therese said. “Now let’s go someplace where we can talk.”

“How about Cairo for dessert?”

“I better call my aunt,” Therese said, getting out her cell.

The cab driver gave them an astonished glance in the rearview mirror. “That may take a day of travel, sir.”

“Just drop us at the nearest museum,” Than said.

Although by Durango time, the hour was late, approaching ten o’clock at night, it was sunrise in Cairo. They looked out over the Pyramids of Giza and gazed for a long while at the magnificent Sphinx, with its lion body and human head, before heading to a restaurant for dessert, or what was to the other tourists breakfast. On their way to the Lakeside Café, they strolled through Al-Azhar Park and caught a glimpse of the mosques and the Citadel. The café itself was a cluster of white pavilions floating on a lake with citrus groves visible through the screens. They ordered coffee and Baqlawa, which the waiter had explained was made of many layers of paper-thin dough with a filling of crushed nuts and sugar between the layers. Once the waiter left to fill their order, Therese asked her question again.

“So tell me. When did you eavesdrop on me?”

Than rolled his eyes. “You aren’t going to forget about this, are you?”

“You promised.”

The waiter returned with their coffee.

“Thanks,” Therese said.

Once the waiter left again, she said, “So?”

“Okay. Remember the first day you came to work for the Holts, and you had lunch with Jen?”

“No way! You were listening?” She tried to recall what she had said. Jen had liked him then, too. She shrieked and covered her mouth. She had talked about her
boobs
!

He laughed at her, like he knew what she was thinking.

“When else?”

“I may have listened in on a few of your conversations both times we went to the
Wildhorse Saloon.”

“Oh my God!”

“Like I said. You can call me Than.”

She slapped his arm. “Quit saying that!”

“I just wanted to be sure you weren’t already in love with someone else. So many guys asked you to dance. I worried you were in love with them all.”

She threw her head back and laughed.

“I might not have been wrong about Pete, though. I heard you went out with him last night.” Than frowned.

Their dessert arrived.

“What’s this called again?” Therese asked the waiter.

“
Baqlawa.”

“
Mmm, it looks good,” Therese said. “Thank you.” When the waiter left, she said, “Were you there with us at the movie theater?” She dug her fork into the pastry and took a bite. “Oh my gosh, this is so good.”

“I’m glad you like it.” He took a bite. “
Mmm. You’re right. It’s delicious.”

“So were you at the theater?”

“No. I had to work. But just before I left, I heard Pete call and ask you to go, and you said you’d ask your aunt.”

“You were there? In my room?”

Than blushed. “Are you angry with me?”

“I’m only angry that you didn’t make yourself visible and kiss me, especially when you saw me crying.”

“Yeah. It was hard not to take you in my arms.”

“I’m angry that you didn’t.”

“I’m sorry.”

She sipped her coffee. “The waiter probably thinks we’re crazy eating this for breakfast.”

“I doubt it. He’s probably used to international travelers. Plus, people do sometimes eat it for breakfast here.”

Therese smiled. She never would have referred to herself as an international traveler, but she supposed that’s what she was today. “So then you saw my visit with Pallas Athena? And you know about my locket?”

“No. She gave you a gift?” He looked flabbergasted.

“There’s an inscription.” She opened the locket and tucked in her chin so she could read it. “
The most common way people give up their power is by believing they have none.
” She closed the locket and lifted her chin. “I guess she wants me to believe in myself more.” Then she added, “Too bad you weren’t there. It was really awesome.”

“Yeah, I left as soon as she transformed from the snake.” He swallowed a sip of his sweet iced tea, loaded with extra sugar. “I didn’t want to anger her. She would have sensed my presence.”

“Did you know she was the snake all along?” She loaded her fork.

“Not at first. I sensed her later, when we we
re walking home from the Holts’, which is part of the reason I didn’t go into depth with you about how I was feeling. I didn’t want her to overhear.”

“Oh. That makes sense now. But you scared me, you know. I was so hurt.”

He looked penitent. “I’m sorry. I really was thinking of you and all that you would sacrifice.” He kissed the tip of her nose and asked, “Can I make it up to you with a sunset cruise in Honolulu?”

She wiped some crumbs from her nose, which he had put there with his kiss. “The sun is setting in Honolulu?”

“Yes. If we hurry, we won’t miss it.”

She gave him her biggest smile. “That could work.”

The wind lifted her hair from her back before she opened her eyes and found herself on a catamaran holding
Than’s hand with the sun setting in the distance behind the Honolulu cityscape. A tourist beside her jumped and muttered, “Excuse me. I didn’t see you there,” and Therese stifled a giggle. God travel was amazing.

The catamaran sailed along Waikiki Beach. The ocean glistened with an orange hue, and three dolphins leapt from the water with the volcanoes spread out on the horizon behind them. According to Than, Diamond Head, its vast silhouette resembling the profile of a tuna, was the largest of the volcanoes.

She quickly called her aunt—it would be later in Durango—and told her she was next door at the Melner cabin and Than would walk her over in a half hour, when the movie he and his sisters had rented was over. She hated to lie, but who could pass up a third sunset in one day?

Over a loud speaker came a series of clicks and long and short tones, and the captain of the vessel explained that a hydrophone enabled them to hear the dolphins speaking to one another underwater.