Chapter Twenty-Six: Therese’s Prayers

Than laid a hand on the shoulders of each of the two siblings, Ariadne and Asterion, as he led their souls from the palace ruins in Knossos, Crete to the Underworld. Relieved and exhilarated by the success of Therese, who still laid sleeping at his feet, and wishing he could sneak a kiss on her cheek without endangering her life, Than made a stupid joke to the Minotaur, for which he was instantly sorry, something like, “At this rate, we’ll have to get you a room of your own.”

Asterion glared at Than and knocked the god of death’s hand from his shoulder.

“Sorry, man. Bull. Bullman.” Than inwardly cringed at his horrible lack of tact. He’d never felt so giddy. For the first time since his father issued the five challenges, he actually believed there was a chance—however slight—Therese would succeed. “Sorry. This way.”

Not long after, he could hear her praying to him from the labyrinth. Her tone quickly changed from bewildered, “I can’t believe I’m still alive,” to regretful, “I can’t believe I killed them.” The more and more she expressed her sorrow over the souls he now helped board Charon’s ferry, the less giddy he felt.

“Asterion and Ariadne would have let me through, I bet,” Therese prayed. “I tricked them, angered them, and then killed them both. Ariadne may have held the sword, but I’m the one who drove her to use it. I don’t want to be this person I’m becoming, Than. I don’t want to kill the Hydra. Can’t I win your father’s approval without having to kill anything?”

He found it interesting that her new fear was not, “The Hydra will kill me,” but “I must kill the Hydra and don’t want to.” Her victory over the Minotaur had given her confidence. Maybe too much.

He left the two immortal souls on the banks of the Lethe River in Erebus and then sought his father.

 

Than waited for nearly an hour in Hades’s empty chamber, passing the time by listening to Therese’s constant prayers to him, and was overjoyed to learn she’d navigated her way to safety. Not long after, Hades and Hermes appeared at the golden table, in mid conversation.

“It’s a deal,” Hermes said, shaking the other god’s hand.

Once Hermes left Hades’s table and father and son were alone, Than said, “I need clarification.”

“Regarding?”

“When you said Therese must defeat the Hydra, did you mean ‘kill’ or ‘overcome’?”

Hades stood from his golden table and crossed the room to his son. “What’s this hair-splitting all about?”

“As you know, Therese succeeded in the third challenge. She killed the Minotaur and has just now made it safely through the labyrinth.”

“Yes.” Hades sat on his chaise lounge and regarded his fingernails. “I’m very pleased.”

“She’s proved she’s capable of overpowering and killing a beast, but it’s not her style. She doesn’t want to kill the Hydra.”

“Honorable trait.”

“But you hated that very trait last summer.”

“Death was deserved then; the Hydra is innocent and has loyally guarded the underwater entrance for centuries. I do not want her killed.”

“Then why challenge Therese to do it?”

Hades gave Than a patronizing look.

“You expect her to fail. You want her to fail.”

“I did. I don’t anymore.” He bit a cuticle and once again regarded his nails.

Than’s mouth fell open. A ball of heat arose in his chest. It was hope. A flame of hope. He gripped his hands behind his back and waited for his father’s next words.

“If she can make it past the Hydra into the Underworld through that entrance, she will have succeeded in the fourth challenge.”

Than rushed to his father’s side and took his hand. “Thank you.”

Hades jerked his head back with surprise. Than released his father, awkwardly, realizing he hadn’t touched him since he was a boy. He studied his father’s face, waiting to be mocked, but instead was given the smallest hint of a smile on his father’s lips, and for once the smile was not wry.

“I’ve just convinced Hermes to take your duties for two hours, so you can visit your red-haired girl in the flesh, as a reward for her accomplishment. You can clarify the fourth challenge to her then.”

 

Than found Therese curled up in bed, her wavy red hair a dark gold crown across her pillow, shimmering and dancing as the sobs shook her and her dog, who sat up a moment later, wagging his tail. Therese looked at Clifford, perplexed, and then turned to Than with wide, red-rimmed eyes.

“Am I dreaming?” she asked in the scratchy voice of someone with a cold.

He shook his head, his feet heavy because he, too, could hardly believe they were together. They both gazed at each other for a moment, incredulous. Then she climbed from the covers, wearing her “Durango Demons” t-shirt and very short shorts, and folded herself into him, slinking against him like a cat, her hair slightly damp and smelling of oranges. She tucked her warm face against his neck, her breath tickling his skin. His arms closed around her as her body went limp.

She took in an audible breath. “It’s really you.”

He ran his hands along the small of her back beneath the thin shirt, having forgotten how soft she felt, how warm, how alive. She slipped her arms around his waist and looked up at him with the most beautiful round green eyes. Her lips parted into a sleepy smile.

“I can’t believe it,” she said. “How?”

“A gift from my father. To celebrate your victory.”

A crease appeared between her brows as she sucked in her lips. Then she asked, “It was a victory, wasn’t it?”

“What else would you call it?”

“Tragic.” She buried her face in his chest.

He held her, stroking her soft, fine hair.

“I can’t get rid of the image of them lying on the ground, dead because of me.”

“I know. I’m sorry. They won’t be dead forever. In a few days, they’ll revive.”

She looked up at him. “What about their bodies? What will the tourists think?”

“They’re invisible. You could see them because they chose to show themselves to you.”

She pressed her cheek against his heart. “Oh, Than. I don’t know if I can ever kill again, even to save my life. It’s such a horrible feeling. I’ve been absolutely miserable. But I’ve got to. I’ve got to in order to save you. It’s crazy.”

“You don’t have to kill the Hydra.”

She stopped sniffling and looked up at him again, her mouth agape. “What?”

“Hades likes that you don’t want to kill for no good reason.”

She gasped. “Really?”

The gleam in her eyes made his heart swell. “Really.” Then he clenched his jaw. “But…”

“What?”

He held onto her, so she couldn’t slip from him. He could already feel her lithe body sagging at the word “but.” “You have to get past her.”

“Her? The Hydra’s a she?”

He nodded.

“What do you mean, “past her”?

He sighed and said, without inflection, “Why don’t we sit down.” He crossed to the chair beneath the window, pulling her into his lap. She curled against him like a newborn fawn—her knees against her chest, feet tucked beneath her bottom, arms around his neck. He wished he could hold her like this all night. Two hours wasn’t enough.

“Well?”

He cupped her face in his hands and studied it, not having been this close to her—to the living, breathing, fleshy her—in so long. His fingers weaved into her soft hair of their own accord, and his lips sought hers.

Her next words to him were in prayer, because her lips were too busy kissing his, and he heard them as clearly as if she were speaking. “Oh, Than. I love you so much. I’ve missed you. I can’t believe you’re actually here, holding me, kissing me. God. Don’t ever leave me again. I’ll do anything. Anything.”

He felt her tears touch his cheek, and he pulled back to wipe them from her face. “Don’t cry.”

“I’m so happy. And so sad.”

“Me, too.”

She stroked his face and gave him a sympathetic smile. Than couldn’t recall a single time anyone had ever given him such a sweet look.

“I can’t wait to be together like this all the time. Can you imagine? Can you imagine a time when my presence won’t kill you, when you don’t have to slay monsters and steal heavily protected golden apples just to be with me?”

Therese laughed that musical, lilting laugh that made his heart swell again. “I imagine it constantly.”

He touched his forehead to hers, closed his eyes, and said, “We could do it now. Right now. Forget the last challenges.”

“But the maenads.”

All at once, Than was accosted by an onslaught of panicky prayer cries, “I couldn’t be with you like that! I couldn’t ask that of you! I’d rather break your heart than put you though a lifetime of such unbearable physical pain!”

He recoiled and searched her face. “What are you saying, Therese? Are you saying you’ll refuse me if you fail the last challenges?”

She closed her mouth and pressed her face to his chest. Without speaking, she said, “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

Than’s mouth went dry. He hadn’t foreseen this. He’d been feeling afraid for her, afraid of the mortal pain and mental anxiety, but otherwise he’d been confident they’d eventually be together, one way or another. But now…was she really saying she’d refuse him?

“Let’s please not think about that. Please let’s just get me through these challenges.”

“Look at me,” he said, pulling her up by her arms, rising to his feet, frantic and angry. “Look at me!”

She lifted her eyes to his.

“You told me you would endure being burned to death to be with me. Isn’t that right? Answer me.”

She nodded.

“And were you telling the truth? Would you really do it? Suffer the most painful feeling imaginable just to be with me?”

She nodded again.

“And because I love you and respect you, I’ve agreed. I’ve agreed to allow you to make that sacrifice, because I believed you when you said you love me.”

“I do love you.”

“Then why won’t you allow me to do the same: to make sacrifices to be with you? Man, Therese! I’m honoring your decision to accept the challenges. I’m honoring your decision to burn to death for me. Can’t you honor my choice to face the maenads? Your love is worth so much more to me, and you’re killing me!”

“I’m sorry.” She shook her head, and he could see in her expression how conflicted she felt, how deep both her love and fear for him was, and he softened. “I’m sorry. It kills me, too. Thinking of that horrible pain every year forever. It kills me.”

He pulled her to him and held her. She seemed too small and fragile to be fighting monsters.

“I won’t fail,” she said. “I will not fail. Tell me what I need to know to make it past the Hydra.”

“Put on some warmer clothes and some shoes. And you’ll want your traveling robe. I’ll take you to her lair tonight so you can see what you’re up against.”