Read The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) for Free Online Page B

success at the wedding . I can’t see it anywhere else.”
    Hades tugged his dark curly beard and said, “We must weigh the benefits with the costs. Is the risk of losing an innocent life worth our chance to save Metis, who has already been a prisoner in Zeus’s body for centuries? Is it right to expect a mortal to pay this price?”
    Than noticed the eyes of the two Furies present—Meg and Tizzie—turn red with blood, and he felt a beacon of hope rise in his chest. Perhaps his father’s moral point about the costs and benefits would move the rest of the gods to see the wrongness of their plan, but the beacon was squashed when Therese’s face took on a look that was all too familiar to him. He groaned.
    “This isn’t just about saving Metis,” she said. “This is also about saving Cybele, and maybe even Melinoe. This is about standing up for women who have been bullied by Zeus for too long.”
    “You would sacrifice a loved one?” Persephone asked.
    “I’ve come to accept that there are worse things than death,” Therese replied—and Than could see the vein at her neck pumping fiercely. “Zeus cannot be allowed to wrong others. We need a more just king.” She looked across the room at Hades. “If Apollo can see our success, we must go forward.”
    The corners of Athena’s mouth lifted, and her gray eyes gleamed.
    Than recognized what this meant. It wouldn’t matter how much he objected. If Therese was willing, the mission was a go. The problem was, although Apollo could see them successfully bind Zeus, he could not see beyond that. Than had a feeling none of this would end well.
    ***
     
    As the gods departed the Parthenon, each with his or her instructions from Athena, Hypnos chastised himself for not speaking up during the meeting. A part of him wanted to keep secret the strong feelings he was developing for Jen. If Ares got wind of them, the god of war might assume Jen would attempt to follow in her friend’s footsteps toward immortality, and another deity in the Underworld would only further threaten him. Hip did not want Jen to be any more involved with the gods and their drama than she already was. But on the other hand, Pete’s prophecy unsettled him. What if the person close to Therese fated to die at the wedding was Jen? Would he be able to bear the sight of his brother guiding her will-less soul to the Underworld, never to be held in his arms again?
    He decided to speak with his brother privately about the matter.
    He waited a few hours, until Therese had gone with Apollo to visit Poseidon. Although Than was in thousands of places, he was also pacing nervously before the hearth when Hip approached Than’s room. Hip could sense him on the other side of the door.
    “Hey, bro’, can I come in?” Hip asked.
    The door opened. “Of course. Is something wrong?”
    What wasn’t wrong? Hip neither said the question aloud nor prayed it. He crossed the room in one big leap and landed on a leather chair before the fireplace. “You got any wine?”
    Hip glanced around at the addition of Therese’s things in the room as Than poured wine into a goblet and handed it to him. She had moved in with Hecate for a while but had recently moved back in with Than.
    “Thanks. Aren’t you going to have some?”
    “I’m not thirsty.”
    Hip chuckled. Than really was the practical one of the two of them. In Hip’s opinion, thirst was seldom a requirement for drinking wine. He took a sip and then asked, “You and Therese holding up?”
    “As well as we can. I think she’s preparing for the worst.”
    “She still upset with me for telling Pete how seers summon ghosts? I warned him not to do it. I told him what would happen to him.”
    Than shrugged, but that was enough of an answer.
    “I suppose the Fates are punishing me for that,” Hip said.
    “You?” Than stood up, suddenly angry. “How is any of this a punishment for you? Therese stands to lose at least one of her loved ones. There could be