The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) (13 page)

What does it matter which of us does it?

Tiresias lapped up the drops of blood pooling in her hand.

After a few moments, Therese pulled her hand away, wiped it on the side of her pants, and asked, “How can we help Peter Holt stop using his gifts of sight?”

“Why should he stop?” the old man asked.

“Because it’s making him sick,” Therese replied. “And I don’t want him to end up here.”

“It’s too late for that,” Tiresias said. “He’s already committed the worst sin of all. And it’s only making him sick because he uses his eyes. An eyeless seer sees more easily.”

“Do you mean to say blindness would cure him?” Than asked.

“Blindness would ease the physical toll his visions take on his body,” the soothsayer explained.

“We can’t blind Pete,” Therese objected.

The old man shrugged. “No one likes to hear what I have to say.”

“How can we get him to stop talking to his father’s ghost?” Therese asked.

“Provide him with a motive,” Tiresias said.

“Hypnos warned him of the consequences,” Than said.

“Not enough.” The soothsayer raised a bony finger in the air. “He doesn’t care as much about his own well-being as he does that of his family. Everything he asks to see has to do with his mother and siblings. He would suffer for all eternity for them.”

“So you want us to blind him and threaten the lives of his family?” Therese asked.

“I want neither.” The old man lifted his staff and turned to go away. “I want peace.”

Therese watched the decrepit soul limp into the darkness.

Chapter Nine: In Search of Cyclopes Island

Since the day of their contest, Artemis had been standoffish toward Therese, but one day, in late February, the goddess of the hunt sought Therese in her favorite bat cave. The bats had already left to feed, and only the babies had remained behind. Therese had brought Hecate,
Galin, and Cubie along to observe the tiny bats and to await the magnificent return of the parents.

“Dione has great respect for you, am I right?”
Aretmis asked Therese.

Therese glanced at Hecate, wondering what she thought of this comment.

What’s Artemis up to?
Therese asked Hecate.

I sense she’s seeking your help.

Therese returned her gaze to Artemis. “Dione seemed to like the way I stood up to the gods who wanted me to wear Hippolyta’s girdle.”

“She is a possible ally none of us have explored,” Artemis said.

“But would she side against her own daughter?” Hecate asked.

Therese wasn’t sure how Dione would feel about opposing Aphrodite, but doubted the
Oceanid would want to. And yet, Therese had been snubbed by the goddess of love for so long now that it hurt to even think of her.

“That’s what we need to find out.” Artemis paced along the cave with her arms crossed at her chest, like a caged lioness.

Cubie, the Doberman, then said, “I would never oppose one of my children, if I could help it.”

“But Aphrodite seems neutral,” Hecate said. “I don’t think she’s involved.”

Therese gnawed on her lower lip. She really didn’t think she’d earned enough respect from Dione to sway her against her own daughter, even if Hecate was right and Aphrodite was neutral, but before Therese could voice this concern, Artemis sat down on a rock and continued to speak.

“Hecate and I have a history with Dione. Did you know that, Therese?”

Therese shook her head.

“I sense a story coming on,”
Galin said as she curled up in a ball near Artemis’s feet. “Wake me up when it’s over.”

Artemis narrowed her eyes at the polecat, and for a moment, Therese feared the goddess would kick
Galin, but Hecate swept her familiar up in her arms and held her in her lap on the far side of the cave. Cubie sat on her haunches beside them.

Therese followed their lead and took a seat on a ledge of rock. “What kind of history?”

“Hecate’s mother, Asteria, once turned herself into a quail to avoid Zeus’s advances,” Artemis explained. “She dived into the sea and became the island known as Delos.”

Therese shook her head in disgust. She was sick of these kinds of stories about the king of the gods. How selfish could he be? She knew this behavior was typical among mortal kings and had read enough of human history to recall how many women’s lives were destroyed by selfish monarchs—Henry the Eighth being one example. But a god should be better than that.

“So where do you and Dione fit in?” Therese asked Artemis.

“I was born on Delos,” Artemis said. “My mother,
Leto, is…”

“My mother’s sister,” Hecate said.

“You two are cousins,” Therese recalled. “That’s right.”

“When Hera discovered that Zeus had gotten
Leto pregnant,” Artemis continued, “Hera came after her.”

“Why doesn’t Hera ever go after Zeus?” Therese complained.

“He’s too strong for her,” Hecate said. “She probably would if she could.”

“She did try once, remember?” Artemis said.

Oh yeah, Therese thought. The first binding of Zeus. The one that went terribly wrong.

A nerve twitched below Therese’s right eye. “So what did
Leto do?”

“She took refuge on Delos and gave birth to me first,” Artemis said. “Then I helped her give birth to Apollo. Dione was there, and her sister Amphitrite. They formed a lookout, in case
Hera returned, and they promised to protect us from her.” Artemis stood from her rock. “Dione has watched my back ever since. She might help us in this mission to find Cyclopes Island.”

“What do you mean
find
it?” Therese asked. “Don’t you know where it is?” Therese had its location memorized after what had transpired there a few months ago, when she, Than, and the Furies went to borrow Polyphemus’s eye.

“Didn’t anyone tell you?”
Aretmis asked. “The island’s missing.”

***

Hip hesitated outside the gates of Mount Olympus before asking the Seasons to let him enter. Going to Aphrodite had been
Than’s idea. Hip wasn’t so sure it was a good one, given the tension between her and the gods of the Underworld.

Than had argued that Hip’s visit would not only divert the Olympians from the activities of the Athena Alliance (as they’d come to call themselves), but also provide Hip with good advice from the goddess of love, who couldn’t bear to ignore matters concerning the heart.

Hip entered with wary steps.

Zeus addressed him as soon as Hip broached the great hall.

“I’ve come to see Aphrodite,” Hip explained.

He glanced at Hephaestus and Athena, who pretended not to notice him. Hephaestus sat on his throne tinkering with a
tool box, and Athena was talking with Hestia. Apollo and Artemis were not at home.

“Of course, dear boy,” Zeus said. “You are welcome to speak to her.”

Hip approached Aphrodite where she sat with her Graces. She refused to meet his eyes.

Feeling hurt and rejected by her, Hip froze in his tracks. “Never mind,” he said, turning away. “This was a bad idea.”

“Wait,” Aphrodite said.

Hip turned back to face her, and she finally met his gaze.

“You’re in love with the mortal, Jen Holt,” Aphrodite said. “Am I correct?”

He was amazed by how much she was able to sense when it came to matters of the heart. He took several steps closer to the goddess and the three Graces seated beside her, one of whom was
Pasithea, his old fiancée. “Yes.”

This was way too uncomfortable, discussing his current love in front of an old one. He said as much in prayer to Aphrodite, but she ignored it.

“What would you have me do?” Aphrodite asked.

Could you send
Pasithea on an errand or something? This is awkward.

Aphrodite simply said, “I’m waiting, Hypnos.”

It occurred to Hip that maybe Aphrodite wasn’t able to hear his prayers or to answer them.

Can you even hear me?

Aphrodite glanced at her father, who was watching them carefully.

Hip decided he should speak. “My problem is this.” Hip studied
Pasithea before continuing. “I’m afraid I don’t have what it takes to commit to one person forever.”

In his peripheral vision, Hip could see
Pasithea’s cheeks redden.

“Hypnos,” Aphrodite said gently. “Jen is a mortal. What’s this talk of forever?”

“But…”

“Her lifetime will go by in a flash. You will have centuries upon centuries to love again,” Aphrodite said.

“But…”

“Surely you can remain loyal to a person for less than one century,” the goddess of love added.

The Graces stifled their giggles.

“I hope so,” Hip said. “But when she gets all wrinkled and gray…”

Aphrodite jumped to her feet and crossed her arms at her chest. “Hypnos! What are you? A man or a god?”

The Graces giggled more loudly.

“Huh?” Why was she asking? Wasn’t the answer obvious?

“Well?” Aphrodite demanded.

“A god, of course.”

“Then you must know you have the power to behold the one you love as she appears to you now.” She threw her hands in the air. “You can control how you perceive her. So what’s the problem?”

“I can?”

The Graces laughed out loud, which was beginning to piss him off.

“Of course you can,” Aphrodite said.

“I didn’t know that.”

Aphrodite let her hands drop to her sides and moved closer to Hip. The frustration left her face and she gave him a gentle smile. “I can see your heart is pure. I can see your love is genuine. I truly believe it is strong enough to last her lifetime.”

Hip wondered if that was because Jen was the person fated to die on the summer solstice during
Than and Therese’s wedding.

Aphrodite took his hands, which surprised him. What surprised him even more was the piece of paper exchanged between them. He hid it in his fist as he kissed the goddess of love on her cheek.

“Thank you, Aphrodite,” he said, as she stepped away and returned to her throne. “I feel so much better now.” He bowed to her and to the Graces, avoiding Pasithea’s eyes.

Then he turned to Zeus and said, “Thank you, Lord Zeus, for allowing me this visit. My heart feels lighter already.”

Zeus gave him a subtle nod. Hip turned to leave and felt the eyes of all the gods watching him.

***

Therese and Artemis stood together on the banks of the Black Sea in Turkey, where Dione was known to spend her time.  Artemis called to the
Oceanid, and within moments, her silver eyes gleamed up at them from the surface of the water.

“We need your help,” Artemis said. “We’re looking for Cyclopes Island, which seems to have disappeared. Do you know of it?”

Therese admired Artemis’s assertive, yet tactful, approach.

“Indeed,” the
Oceanid replied.

Therese knelt on the sand to better see Dione. “We were wondering if you would go with us to investigate its original location.”

“We want to see if a cloak has been placed around it, and if not, we are hoping to find clues as to its whereabouts,” Artemis clarified.

Dione’s face emerged from the water, silver and shining with excitement. “I would be happy to go with you. Shall we swim or fly?”

“Swim,” Therese said. She didn’t add that they were hoping to avoid Zeus’s notice.

“Follow me.” Dione disappeared beneath the sea.

Therese and Artemis dived into the cool water and followed Dione across the Black Sea and through the Bosporus into the Sea of Marmara. Therese had swum these areas before and was proud of her acquired knowledge of the names of the various bodies of water. She also enjoyed swimming for long stretches—miles and miles—and varied her strokes to maximize her enjoyment of it. They hadn’t made it far into the Dardanelles Straight when Amphitrite appeared and asked them where they were going.

“We’re looking for Cyclopes Island,” Artemis answered. “Do you know if a cloak has been placed around it?”

“No cloak,” Amphitrite replied. “It’s been taken.”

“Taken?” Therese
folded her arms. So Zeus had physically moved the island to another location.

“By whom, dear sister?”
Dione asked.

Therese didn’t have to ask.

“We’re not sure who took it,” Amphitrite said. “But it’s gone.”