The Gatekeeper's Daughter by Eva Pohler Page B

like a hungry wolf.
    “Than and I are together again. It’s for good this time. I just wanted you to know that.”
    Pete stomped toward his truck, snarling as he passed her, “Why don’t you two bitches stay out of my life, okay? I’m sick of all the drama.”
    He drove off, leaving Therese stunned in the dark night. At least he no longer loved her. She heard a twig snap in the forest and rushed inside. The house was dark except for the small light over the kitchen sink. Carol and Richard must have already gone to bed. She went down the basement stairs to the garage to make sure Richard’s car was back. Yep. Thank goodness they were alright. She headed up the stairs to her room, thinking it was good she wouldn’t be alone tonight. She and Jen both needed one another’s company but for different reasons.
    Jen sat slumped on Therese’s bed with a wad of tissues in her hand. Her eyes were swollen, her nose red. “Can you believe he said those things to me?”
    Therese sat on the bed across from her. She couldn’t let Jen think her brother hated her. Then she recalled what Hip had once told her: people have free will. The arrows only make stronger a feeling already present. Maybe Pete really did blame Jen for their family problems. If so, he was a jerk.
    No. He couldn’t have meant what he’d said. Therese knew Pete. “He didn’t mean it. He was just mad and taking it out on you.”
    Jen wrapped her arms around herself, shivering like a wet cat. “He’s never talked to me like that. He’s been plenty mad before. What did you say to him?”
    “That Than and I are back together for good. I thought he needed to hear it from me.”
    Jen sighed. “I need to call my mom. Can I sleep over?”
    “Of course.” It would mean Than would have to stay away, but she was probably safer with Jen, anyway. Deimos and Phobos wouldn’t take her in the dead of night if she were lying by a mortal, would they? She doubted she would sleep.
    “Broken heart or not, he shouldn’t have said those things to me.” Jen kicked off her boots and piled them in the corner of the room.
    “I’m so sorry, Jen. There’s something else you need to know.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Sixteen: Amphisbaena
     
    The cool chill of night in Athens lingered in the air and wrapped its long fingers around Than, as though wanting to deter him from visiting Amphisbaena. The sacred caves in the underbelly of the acropolis smelled acrid and dank, and for once Than was glad his immortal senses weren’t as sensitive to stimuli as mortal ones. With heavy boots, he trudged into the first of the caves searching for signs of the serpent dragon.
    He could sense her presence, but couldn’t pinpoint her exact location as he stole silently over the rocky cavern floor. A thin ribbon of water, stagnant and foul, divided the ground in half. Than straddled it as he followed it to the back of the cave. The first chamber opened onto a second, larger one, the size of an auditorium. He unsheathed his sword as he glanced around the cliff edges above him, feeling the serpent close. A billow of fire shot across the top of the cavern, and the residue of smoke lingering behind spelled, “I see you, Thanatos.”
    “Amphisbaena? I just want to talk,” he said into the darkness.
    Another flash of fire illuminated the cavern ceiling, and this time the smoke remaining spelled out, “Drop your sword.”
    Than gripped the hilt, fearing a trap. If he didn’t drop it, he’d have to take her by force. “Can I trust you?”
    The fire shot in a blaze above him, and the smoke read, “One says yes. Two says no.”
    “What is that supposed to mean?”
    He waited for the fire, but when none came, he put down the sword. His fingers had barely left the hilt when the serpent darted from her lair and wrapped her thick, slimy body, at least a foot in diameter, around him, binding his arms to his sides. No matter how hard he pressed his arms against