The Gatekeeper's Sons

Chapter 19

After a warm shower, Therese lay in her nightshirt in bed with Clifford curled up beside her near her waist. Than said to give herself time to process what he had told her outside the Wildhorse Saloon, but how does one process such information? He's the god of death? His sisters are the Furies? They've come to Earth to avenge her parents' murders?

She couldn't sleep, so she took the remote from her nightstand and turned on the television tucked in a small armoire beside her desk. Puffy stopped in his wheel to see what the bright lights were all about. "Sorry," she said to him. "I know it's late." Puffy liked to work in silence and darkness.

Puffy continued on his wheel as she flipped through the channels and finally settled on an old George Lopez episode she had already seen. She tried to distract herself with the humor before her, but her eyes left the television to stare at the light reflecting on the ceiling. This whole business with Than as the god of death couldn't be real, could it? Had she lost her mind? The death of her parents had taken a toll on her sanity, right? She'd become a deranged lunatic.

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Clifford's ears pricked up. Therese was vaguely aware that Puffy had frozen, like a chipmunk in the middle of the road. She and Clifford jumped to their feet at the same instant. Standing across the room in the same pale blue polo and jeans he had worn earlier was Than, the supposed god of death.

Clifford sat back down on his haunches and wagged his stub of a tail.

She didn't move. "How did you get in?"

Than gave her a wry smile. "I'm a god."

"Why are you here? Did you decide to take me after all?" She was suddenly not so certain she was ready to go.

"I came to check on you. I was worried." He moved toward the bed. The smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol lingered in his clothes from the dance hall. "Mind if I sit down for a while?"

Laughter roared on the television, but Therese wasn't laughing. "I guess not. Go ahead."

He sat at the foot of her bed, and she returned to the headboard against her pillows by Clifford. She tucked her feet closer to her body to avoid touching him.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to sleep and that you'd have questions, so I decided to come to see if I could help put your mind at ease. I know this is hard for you."

"You have no idea. How could you?"

His mouth tightened into a frown. "I suppose you're right. I can't know how you feel."

"How can you be here, anyway? Don't you have a job to do? Is nobody dying while you're here handling horses?" Her voice had a touch of hostility in it. Then she remembered Dumbo. "Why couldn't you do anything to save Dumbo?"

He gave her a weak smile. "So I was right. You do have questions."

"And you haven't answered any of them," she said sharply.

"There was nothing I could do about the horse. I'm sorry. I don't kill living things; I merely guide their souls after they die. I have nothing to do with the timing."

"Couldn't you pull some strings?"

"No." He cleared his throat. "As to your other question, I made a deal with my dad. I told him if he'd make my brother, Hip, take my place as the guide for the dead, I would come to Earth and help my sisters find your parents' murderer and avenge their deaths. He gave me a time limit because while Hip is doing my job, humans have restless nights without dreams, and Zeus won't tolerate that for long."

That explained why she hadn't been able to reenter the dream lately. "But why would your father care about avenging my parents' death?"

Than shifted by lifting one bent leg partly on the bed and turning to face her, his back to the television. "My father is a just god and his priority is justice for the souls in his care. When humans fail to find justice for the dead, he and my sisters step in. The lieutenant needs help finding the person who orchestrated your parents' death. My sisters, Tizzie and Meg, are working on the case. I plan to help as well, but first I wanted to get to know you."