The Gatekeeper's Daughter by Eva Pohler

Therese had carried off a perfect shot on the first try, and many more since, she was nervous something would go wrong tonight when she tried to pierce Pete’s heart with the special arrow from Cupid. After adding fresh water to Jewels’s and Clifford’s bowls, she folded the collapsible bow into her purse and headed downstairs.
    “Wanna go outside, Clifford?”
    He followed her to the back door and out onto the deck. She immediately sensed another presence.
    “Who’s there?”
    She felt fear and panic gripping her chest, and this time she knew Ares’s twin sons were close.
    “Back inside, Clifford.”
    Clifford whined and followed her indoors, though a locked door would be no protection from the twins.  “Than!” she cried.
    Immediately he appeared in the kitchen beside her.
    “Deimos and Phobos,” she said. “They’re right outside.”
    “I sense them, too.”
    The front doorbell rang. It was Jen.
    “What do we do?” Therese asked.
    “The twins won’t touch you as long as you’re in the company of mortals. They wouldn’t risk Zeus’s wrath.”
    “Therese?” Jen walked inside, looking around. “Hey, there you are.”
    Than had disappeared.
    “Hey. I was just locking up.” She checked the lock on the back door, grabbed her purse, and followed Jen out the front, hoping the twins wouldn’t think of hurting her pets while she was gone. If they touched one hair on Clifford’s body or one scale on Jewels’s shell, she’d find a way to torment them.
    As they walked to the truck, Jen said, “Matthew and I broke up.”
    Therese stopped and turned to her. “Oh, Jen. When?” Therese pretended like she didn’t already know.
    “Last week. The day you left. I didn’t want to talk about it yesterday in the barn with Courtney there, though she knows. And I especially didn’t want to say anything at the meet. Afraid I’d lose my focus.”
    “I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you.” She gave Jen a hug. “You doing okay?”
    “I’ll be alright.” She pulled away. “We better get in the truck before Pete honks at us.”
    Todd, Ray, and Courtney met them outside the movie theater in the ticket line. Ray looked like he had a thing for Courtney. She hoped Courtney would give him a chance, though she seemed to prefer Pete. If she had the right arrow, could she play matchmaker like Cupid?
    As they waited in line, they chatted and watched the people walking up and down the street, Therese still paranoid by the appearance of the twins. Deimos and Phobos wouldn’t dare take her from a crowd of movie-going mortals would they? What about from a dark theater? She shuddered. Across from them was a café, and further over, a grocer, both well-lit and bustling with activity. The afternoon shower had left behind a residual coolness to the air, and Jen crowded close to her, warming herself with Therese’s body heat. She heard Jen direct a prayer her way: “I’m so cold, Therese. Keep me warm.”
    Therese flinched, wondering if her friend knew she was communicating with her. Surely not, she thought, putting an arm around her, happy to have contact with a mortal. “Cold?”
    Jen nodded.
    A man walked by with his dog, a golden boxer with a brown head. Therese noticed them because the dog was muttering, “So unfair. So unfair.”
    Therese wondered what the dog meant. Testing her new abilities to communicate with animals, she sent a thought out toward the dog. “What’s not fair?”
    He looked at her with surprise, stopping in his tracks, and gave one short, desperate yelp. Therese understood it to mean, “My man beats me.”
    Therese gasped.
    “What’s wrong?” Jen asked.
    “Look at that dog. He looks so sad.”
    Just then the man holding the leash jerked the dog, saying in a gruff voice, “Come on, you idiot. What are you stopping for?”
    Jen and Therese exchanged looks of concern.
    “He’s a jerk,” Jen said.
    Therese watched the dog and his man continue down the street, wishing she could shoot