The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) (6 page)

But not for long.

She refused to be pathetic. She bent over and grabbed a handful of snow before smearing it over her closed, swollen eyes. She did not want to be this heart-broken, love-sick girl who could not control her emotions. At eighteen, she had plenty of time to meet someone new, but that would never happen as long as she continued to call Hip. She had to move on. It was the only way to protect
herself from further pain.

And yet, she had come to realize, as she’d gotten older, why her relationships with real boys never lasted. She was afraid
of getting too close. It was her father’s fault. Therese had told her to get counselling, but then Jen would have to talk about it.

A shiver moved down her body. In some ways, Hip had been the perfect boyfriend—always just out of her reach. But the day he tired of her would hurt like hell.

She climbed back on Sassy and rode to the pen. Before she reached it, she heard a strange sound coming from inside the barn. After dismounting, she cautiously led the mare toward the barn. The last thing she wanted was to come face to face with her father’s ghost. She couldn’t see it like Pete could, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

“Pete?” she called before entering.

“They see you!” he cried back.

She dropped Sassy’s reins and stepped inside. Pete was standing with his eyes closed, his palms turned upward, and his head nodding—not slowly, but like a man riding fast down a bumpy road.

“Pete?”

“They see you, Jen! Dad says watch out. You could be their key!”

“What are you talking about? Let’s go to the house! You’re scaring me!”

Pete’s head continued to nod, even more frantically than before. He looked like a lunatic. “They think you may be their key!”

“Whose key? What are you saying?”

“The gods!”

Jen grabbed Pete’s arm, but he could not be pulled from where he stood. He opened his eyes, suddenly, causing her to shriek.

“Jen?”
His voice was back to normal, and he was no longer nodding. She still held his one arm, but the other had dropped to his side. “What do you want?”

She trembled uncontrollably. “Let’s go back to the house. Please.”

***

When Therese entered her living quarters, Hip was sitting across from Than in conversation. They looked up at her as she crossed the threshold.

“How did it go with Poseidon?” Than asked.

Therese removed her quiver and bow and laid them on a table before crossing over to the new couch between the leather chairs. She nestled her back in one corner, kicked off her boots, and stretched her legs across the cushions. Clifford came from his bed in the next room and jumped onto her lap. As she stroked his fur, she said, “Apollo couldn’t get a clear reading.”

“What does that mean?” Hip asked.

“It means Poseidon isn’t sure himself where his loyalties lie,” Therese replied. “It means Poseidon hasn’t made up his mind.”

They were silent for a while as Therese kissed the top of Clifford’s head and continued to stroke his fur. She felt optimistic about Poseidon. Despite his flaring temper and past alliances with Ares and Zeus, Therese had a special fondness for the god of the sea that began in her childhood with her love of the water. Suspicious that the boys might be communicating without her, she scrutinized their faces and noticed that Hip looked less jovial than usual, and, on closer inspection, sad.

“So, what’s up, Hip?” she asked nonchalantly.

He gave a look that said,
Really? You have to ask?

It was
Than who spoke next. “He’s worried about Jen.”

Therese’s mouth went dry. Of course he’d be worried for Jen.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m worried, too.”

Jen was, after all, her very best friend.

She would never admit this to anyone—she could hardly admit it to herself—but she hoped beyond hope that the person fated to die on her wedding day was neither Jen nor Lynn. It wasn’t that she hoped it was Carol or Richard or any of the Holts or her other friends. None of them deserved to die, and any one of their deaths would be agonizingly painful. And she hated herself for playing this morbid game of favorites in her mind. But she wanted her best friend and her little sister to have a chance at a longer life.

Therese had thought about going to the Fates and asking them to tell her the outcome, but she was too afraid of their
answer. She’d already learned once that nothing good ever came from knowing the future.

Two, but none immortal.

“Have you heard who’s been assigned your duties yet?” Therese asked the boys.

“Mortals can go without good sleep for the ceremony,” Hip said. “But Hecate is slated for Death.”

Therese nodded. That was the best choice, but she was disappointed that her friend and ally would not be by her side on the best and worst day of her life.

She let out a deep breath and sighed. “Well,
Than, are we ready to head to my aunt and uncle’s for Christmas?”

Than
turned to Hip. “You sure you can handle my duties for two days on top of your other concerns?”

Hip stood up and offered his fist for a bump. As Than reached his knuckles to Hip’s, the god of sleep said, “I told you, I got this, bro’. Plus, you said you’d relieve me every so often.
Right?”

“Right.”

Therese watched as Hip faded from their sight. Despite his upbeat demeanor, he could not hide his frown.

“He’s in love with her,” Than said, once Hip was gone.

“Oh, no.”

Chapter Five: Christmas in Colorado

Lynn played patty cake with Therese as Carol pulled up the calendar on her ereader, the lights from the Christmas tree behind her reflecting on the screen. “But the summer solstice is on a Sunday. You sure you don’t want to have the wedding on the twentieth?”

Therese glanced over at
Than, who said, “My family is a bit eccentric.”

That’s putting it mildly
, Therese prayed to Than.

Than grinned, obviously trying not to laugh.
“They, uh, they have their hearts set on the twenty-first. Is that okay with you?”

“I don’t have a problem with a Sunday wedding,” Richard said. “And you want to have it here, you say? That’s nice.
Really nice.”

Therese was relieved that Richard wasn’t overwhelmed by the idea.

“Yes, sir. And my uncle would like to preside,” Than said.

“He’s a pastor?” Carol asked.

“Um,” Than turned his worried eyes to Therese.

She hadn’t really thought of anything to explain. She fought the blush that was threatening to sweep across her face and then an idea hit her.

“A judge,” Therese said. “Is that okay?”

Carol and Richard glanced at one another before Carol said, “We aren’t particularly religious, so that’s fine with us, isn’t it Richard?”

“I’m fine with it,” he replied.

Therese let out a heavy breath.

Lynn climbed from Therese’s lap and ran across the living room to her toy box. Clifford followed, and with a little bark, distracted Therese from her worries by telling her he wanted a new toy of his own. He snagged a plastic dinosaur and happily set to chewing on it. Lynn didn’t seem to mind.

Jen, who sat on the other side of Therese on the sofa from
Than, said, “How many, um,
people
are we talking about?”

Therese shot Jen a look that said,
Watch it.
She knew Jen was going to slip up and say something about the gods.

“I have a pretty big family,” Than said.

“How big?” Carol asked.

“Oh, let’s see,” Than appeared to be doing math in the air.

Therese calculated: twelve Olympians plus their spouses and partners made twenty-four or so. Most of them had at least three children, so thirty-six more, if they all came. There were also attendants. She wondered who Than was including.

“Okay, so that makes…seventy-one. Hold on.” He turned to Therese. “Do you think
Phobos and Deimos will come?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” Therese replied.

“Then seventy-three.”

Carol paled.

“Did you say Fear and Panic?” Richard asked with a look of surprise.

“Huh?” Therese asked her uncle. What did he know of the twins?

“Phobos and Deimos,” Richard repeated. “Fear and Panic, the twin sons of Ares.”

“W-wait a second,” Jen stammered. “You
know
them?”

Therese shot another look of warning in Jen’s direction. She just knew Jen was going to blow it for them.

“Know them. Of course. I love Greek mythology. It’s what led me to my love of reading, and eventually to my degree in journalism. So you have relatives named for the Greeks?”

“His family
is
Greek,” Therese explained, full of relief once more.

“That’s right,” Than said.

“But Than doesn’t sound Greek,” Richard said.

Than
said, “It’s short for…”

“Than-cu-
leez,” Therese interrupted. If Richard knew what Phobos and Diemos meant, then he’d recognize Thanatos, too.

Jen giggled.

Thancules? Really?
Than prayed.
Are you sure you want to go with that?

“How unusual,” Carol said.

You want to tell them the truth?
Therese asked Than.

But
Thancules? Why not Thantiope or Thancleod?

What’s wrong with
Thancules?

Than
rolled his eyes.
You know how I feel about Hercules.

Oh, yeah. She’d forgotten that he thought of the demigod as all brawn and no brain.

“So seventy-three for your side of the family,” Richard said. “That’s quite a few. But don’t worry. We can handle it.”

Carol looked less sure.

That’s when Therese realized her aunt and uncle were worried about the cost. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Than’s parents are loaded, and they insist on paying for the whole thing.”

“What?” Carol couldn’t suppress her smile as she glanced at Richard. “We can’t let them do that.”

“Of course you can,” Therese said.

“They won’t have it any other way,” Than added.

“We aren’t poor church mice,” Richard said. “We can help. Plus, we have a few folks we’d like to invite as well. Nanna and Paw-Paw and Uncle Joe will want to fly up from San Antonio.”

“No!” Therese said.
The fewer mortals at her wedding the better. “I mean, that’s not necessary.”

Richard looked hurt. “They would be devastated if we didn’t invite them.”

“Of course we should invite them,” Carol said.

“Of course,” Therese agreed. “But if they can’t fly up, it’s okay.”

“Of course they can fly up,” Richard said. “Don’t you want my parents and brother to come?”

“I, I, yes!
Oh, Richard, yes!” Oh, shoot! Therese hadn’t meant to hurt her uncle. She was trying to do the opposite.

“You don’t think an outdoor wedding in summer will be too hot for the humans?” Jen asked.

Everyone looked at Jen, perplexed, except for Therese, who wanted to pinch her.

“I, I mean, as opposed to the animals,” Jen recovered quickly. “Clifford won’t mind the heat, but what about the rest of us?”

Therese inwardly groaned but had to admit it was a decent recovery. That Jen!

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Richard said.

“If this was Texas, I’d be worried,” Carol added. “But Colorado is still pretty nice in June, especially up here in the mountains.”

“It’s the afternoon rain we need to worry about,” Richard said. “We should play it safe and have the ceremony early, like around eleven. We could serve a lunch afterward.”

As they discussed more of the details of the wedding—Richard talked about getting fans and misters, if necessary—Therese relaxed a bit.

Than
gave Therese a conspiratorial wink, which made her smile.

“And you have to invite Todd and Ray and their families,” Jen put in.

Therese frowned as the anxiety swooped down on her again. “I wasn’t really planning on it.”

“What?” Carol shot up from her chair. “Therese? Is there something bothering you? Something I need to know?”

“Huh?” Therese didn’t know what to say.

Carol looked back and forth between
Than and Therese. “Why don’t you want any of your friends and family to come? Is there something you’re not telling us? Are you, I mean…” Carol’s face turned red as a tomato. She glanced over at Lynn, who knelt near her toy box. Then Carol lowered her voice and asked, “Are you pregnant?”