The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) (29 page)

“You know how Pete used to say Daddy’s ghost talked to him?”

“He was sick. He couldn’t help it.”

“We saw Daddy’s ghost that one time, too. The night he died. Remember when we were all in your tub ‘
cause you thought a tornado was coming? Therese convinced us it was a dream.”

“Now wait a minute…” Her mother pulled the covers back and moved to the edge of the bed.

“Just listen. This is gonna sound crazy.” Jen was scared to death she was doing the wrong thing. Her mother would probably think Jen was schizophrenic, like she had Pete. But Jen couldn’t take another day of her mother’s pain. “I’ve been to the other side. Don’t freak out.”

Her mother looked exasperated. “What are you talking about, baby doll?”

“It wasn’t a dream, either.” Jen stood up and walked around to the side of the bed to get closer to her mom. “I went to the other side, and I saw Pete.”

***

Hip made his way down the deepest path of the Underworld, determined to ask Pete’s advice. The seer was already condemned, so what harm could come from using his gifts? Hip’s heart was hurting, and maybe Pete could tell him what to do.

Before he reached the iron gate of Tartarus, he sensed Pete and Tizzie down in the seers’ pit among the asphodel where the Phlegethon did not flow. Hip was still several yards away, but it was unusually quiet—except for the moans of Tantalus—and Tizzie and Pete did not seem aware of Hip’s presence.

“How can I not warn them?” Pete asked in a strained, almost tortured voice.

“The visions of seers aren’t guaranteed,” Tizzie replied.

“You don’t believe in me.”

“That’s not it, love. Come here.”

Hip could see
Tizzie’s slender dark arms wrap around Pete’s neck. Her long dark serpentine curls lay limp without their usual animation.

Tizzie
sensed him then, and said, “Can we help you, Hip?”

“Let’s ask him what to do,” Pete said.

Hip opened the gate, scratching the iron against the rock, and then closed it behind him. He made his way past the flames of the Phlegethon and then turned the dark corner and went down, down into the deep pit of the seers.

“Hey, sis,” Hip said in the most nonchalant voice he could muster. “What’s up?”

“Everything. This is the Underworld,” she said without humor.

“Double entendre?”
Hip asked playfully. “I mean, everything
is
up above us, and the Underworld
is
a hopping place, am I right?”

“If you’re a frog,” Pete replied.

“Ha,ha, ha. Good one.” Hip snapped both thumbs in the direction of the seer.

“So tell us why you’re here,”
Tizzie demanded in a voice nothing like the soft one she had used with Pete.

“Well, I came down here seeking advice, but it sounds to me like you want the same thing from me.”

Pete said yes at the same time Tizzie said no. The two lovers glared at one another.

“Whoa,” Hip said. “I didn’t mean to start a war.”

“It’s about the twins,” Pete said. “Therese’s twins.”

“What about them?” Therese asked from around the corner as she escorted Than into Tartarus.

Therese had obviously taken Than’s duties as the god of death. Than didn’t look so hot. It was August, which meant the Maenads.

“You okay, bro’?” Hip put a hand on
Than’s transparent shoulder.

“Huh?”
Than gave him a blank look.

“Give him a minute,” Therese said. She put her arms around her husband. “
Than, baby? Do you know who you are?”

“Speaking of babies,” Pete said. “There’s something…”

Tizzie cupped Pete’s face in her hands, and blood dripped from her eyes. Her hair briefly lifted up in a hiss before falling limp again. “Don’t.”

“What’s this about?” Hip asked. “I get that it’s about the twins, but what about them?”

“Do you mean
our
twins?” Than snapped to attention.

“They can’t live here,” Pete blurted out. “Hades neglected to tell you that part of the prophecy.”

Therese’s brows bent together and her mouth fell open. “What are you saying?”

“The twins have to grow up among mortals if they’re to fulfill their destiny,” Pete replied.

Therese and Than sought one another’s eyes, trying to process this new information. Hip wondered what this would mean. Would Therese leave his brother behind and return to the Upperworld to raise their children?

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