The Gatekeeper's Secret: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Five (The Gatekeeper's Saga) by Eva Pohler

lesson.”
    “Artemis, please,” Therese objected. “The woman is frantic. She’s loved this fox for three years.”
    The hounds picked up the scent of a fox and ran through the woods, barking with excitement. The four horsemen shouted hurrahs and followed the pack. Therese took Stormy among them, commanding all foxes in the area to hide.
    “You can’t command the wild animals!” Artemis glowered at her. “How dare you!”
    The wild animals would already know to hide. Therese had given the command for Anya’s sake.
    Aretmis gave the foxes a counter-command.
    Up ahead, through a dense wood, a red fox scrambled up a tree. Since most red foxes didn’t know how to climb trees, Therese suspected this could be Anya. She called out to the fox by name, and the animal responded. The hounds picked up the scent and circled the tree, barking ferociously. Therese shot each one of them with her arrows of love until their barks became inconsolable whines. But by then, the horsemen had already spotted the fox.
    To Therese’s horror, Artemis jumped into the tree and flung the fox down into the pack of hounds. The hounds whined but did not attack. The horsemen swore.
    Then Artemis took her bow and fitted an arrow to it.
    “No!” Therese pleaded.
    Artemis let the arrow fly. Therese god traveled from Stormy’s back and took the arrow in her thigh. Fire seared through her flesh. She gritted her teeth, scooped up the fox, and god traveled back to Stormy.
    “Where did it go?” one of the horsemen cried.
    “One of the hounds must have it!” another said.
    Artemis followed Therese. “This isn’t over, goddess of animal companions.”
    Therese left the huntress and delivered the fox to the ground just outside its enclosure, where Belinda’s husband knelt mending the hole in the fence. The fox poked its head up through the hole and was spotted by the man. He said Anya’s name, and she leapt into his arms.
    When the man called to his wife and Belinda ran from the house with glee, Therese was overjoyed by the reunion, but she knew Artemis had meant what she had said about this not being over.
    ***
     
    Than was not happy. He looked across his sitting room at Therese, who leaned against the stone wall with her arms crossed. The wound from Artemis’s arrow had already healed, but Than wished it had remained as a reminder to Therese of the danger she was in.
    “The timing of this couldn’t be worse,” he said.
    “We can’t live our lives in constant fear,” Therese said. “And this is important.”
    “Why can’t this matter be settled in court?” Than grabbed the poker by the hearth and stoked the wood. He loved the smell of burning wood, and the flames it produced were less harsh than those cast by the Phelegethon.
    “You know why.”
    He turned to face her again. “No I don’t. Taking this matter to court could be a welcomed diversion from all the tension between the Olympians. Working together to solve a common problem could help ease some of the tension.” Plus, he didn’t like her running about out in the open, unprotected. No one knew what Zeus’s plans were, even if Apollo did see them all at the wedding.
    “What would be the likely ruling?” Therese said, folding her arms more tightly against her chest. “The last time we asked the court to settle something, it ended in a contest, remember? Me against McAdams.”
    “I remember,” he said bitterly. Why did she have to get so snarky when he only wanted to protect her?
    “Artemis is going to kill Anya if I don’t accept her challenge.”
    He moved across the room and put his hands on her shoulders. She was beautiful, even when angry. “You are the most compassionate person I know. I love that about you.”
    “But?”
    “But this is one fox, and these are dangerous times.”
    “Than!” She huffed and pulled away from him, crossing the room toward the mantle. “When, since I’ve known you, have these not been dangerous times?”
    She had a point.