Free The Gatekeeper's House by Eva Pohler Page A

needs some sleep.”
    “ Please don’t mention I
stopped by,” Than said through his dry throat.
    “ Are you sure?”
    He nodded, thanked her, and was about
to move on when Therese appeared beside them.
    “ Than?”
    “ Oh, hello, Therese.” He was
suddenly not sure where to put his hands. He swallowed hard. “How
are you?”
    She glanced at Hecate and gave her a
smile. “I’ll come visit with you and the girls in a bit, okay? I’m
going to go talk to Than right now.”
    Hecate disappeared behind the wooden
door, leaving Than and Therese alone in the corridor.
    “ You are?” he
asked.
    “ If that’s okay.” She smiled
up at him.
    They went to his rooms and stood before
the blazing fire in the hearth.
    “ Listen,” he said when she
took a step toward him. “You don’t’ have to do this.”
    She gave him a look of confusion, but
continued toward him until her arms were wrapped around his neck.
“Do what?”
    He felt every atom of his body awaken
as his arms wrapped around her waist of their own accord. He’d
longed for this for months. But he didn’t want payback. He wanted
her to love him. “You don’t have to…show your
gratitude.”
    He felt her stiffen as she dropped her
arms and searched his face. “Gratitude?”
    His throat tightened. Her lips were so
close to his. He wanted to shut up and kiss her. “For finding a way
to save your parents. Isn’t that what this is about?”
    She backed away, and something inside
him died.
    “ I thought you knew me
better than that.”
    “ Therese,” he held out his
hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
    She vanished.
    Before he could follow her, a knock
came at his door. He sensed Meg on the other side.
    “ Enter.”
    Meg’s face looked paler than usual in
stark contrast to the black falcon perched on her
shoulder.
    “ Something’s gone wrong on
Mount Olympus,” she said.
    He waited for her to
explain.
    “ Melinoe the Malevolent has
escaped.”
    ***
     
    Hip appeared in Jen’s bedroom as Jen
slept in the early morning dawn. She looked lovely with her blonde
hair fanned across her pillow and her long lashes resting on her
soft white cheeks. Her lips were slightly open. He leaned close to
her face and breathed in her earthly scent. He wished the senses in
the Dreamworld were as potent as they were here. He brushed his
lips gently on her forehead before plucking her pink scarf from the
hook behind her door and vanishing from the room.
    A few hours later, when he entered the
barn, all but Pete were there brushing the horses.
    “ Nice scarf,” Bobby
teased.
    “ Thanks,” Hip said with a
wink.
    Jen turned from her mare and gawked at
him.
    “ Mornin’, Hip,” Mrs. Holt
said from across the barn.
    “ Good morning, m’am.” He
took a step toward Jen. “Good morning, Jen.”
    Jen backed up against her mare, still
gawking. Then she clutched her head with both hands.
    Hip frowned. Maybe she wasn’t ready for
this. “Are you okay?”
    “ I, I…”
    “ What’s wrong, Jen? You
seeing ghosts now, too?” Bobby teased.
    Mrs. Holt came up alongside her
daughter. “Jen? Are you having one of your attacks?”
    “ I can’t breathe,” Jen said.
“I need air.”
    Jen stumbled from the barn, through the
gate of the pen, and up the steps to the wooden deck of the
house.
    Hip and Mrs. Holt followed. Pete came
out of the house and asked what was wrong.
    “ She’s having one of her
panic attacks.” Mrs. Holt helped Jen onto a chair. “Go get me a wet
rag.”
    Pete disappeared behind the front door
and returned moments later with a wet towel, which Mrs. Holt
pressed against her daughter’s forehead.
    “ Take deep breaths, baby.”
Mrs. Holt crouched beside her daughter’s chair. “Let them out
slowly, like the doctor said.”
    Hip felt like dirt, and he
prayed to his old girlfriend, Pasithea, for help. I need you, Pasithea.
    The goddess of relaxation appeared
beside him as a bright orb, which he hid from the eyes of the
mortals with a