Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Then Jacqueline slowly comes back to normal, relaxes, and then blinks and shakes her head. “What?”
“You heard me,” Eros growls. “Go. Away.”
Jacqueline is confused, still recovering from the draw of his presence, which is in conflict with the new order to leave. So I step in by touching her arm. “Go put the kids in the truck.” I glare at Eros as I say this. “We’re leaving.”
This new direction is enough for Jacqueline. She nods and follows the still-retreating Cookie and kids as they make their way towards the diner.
Then I take a deep breath and prepare myself for whatever comes next. I don’t want to talk to Eros, I just want to walk away.
But I can’t help myself. I turn and look at him, taking in his wings, and his leather clothes, and his beautiful face. A warm feeling washes over me, and I know that this is his magic. But then he swipes a hand through the air and the feeling disappears.
He clears his throat. “I would like to apologize to you.”
“What?” I make a face at him.
“I’m very sorry for fucking up your life.”
Is he for real?
“And…” He pauses to sigh. “And if there is anything I can do—”
“There isn’t.”
He presses his lips together and nods. “OK. Regardless, the offer stands.”
My attention is momentarily diverted when I notice that Jacqueline has reached her kids and they are all talking excitedly. The smaller ones are completely enthralled with Cookie, almost jumping up and down with excitement. I know Jacqueline. Maybe we haven’t kept in touch like we should’ve, but I still know her.
“Pie?”
I ignore Eros as I continue to study my friend. She’s putting on the brave face. She’s excited for those kids, but she’s going to miss them.
I turn back to Eros. “You know what I want you to do?”
“Name it.”
Wow. Pell must’ve done some serious negotiating in that bar. Why is this stupid god so accommodating? Who cares, Pie? Tell him what you need.
“I want you to…” How do I put this? Eros frowns, but I put up a hand to shut him up before he speaks. “I want you to… bless her.” I nod my head in the direction of Jacqueline. “You manipulated her.”
“As one does,” Eros retorts.
“As one does not. It’s… gross. The way you make people like you, it’s gross. It’s like you can’t get anyone to like you for yourself, so you have to trick them into it. And shooting people with love arrows, that’s gross too. You shot me!”
“I’m apologizing!” He’s loud and getting angry.
But I don’t care. “It’s not enough. You’re a jerk. You’re a bully. And you know what? Worst of all, you’re…” I narrow my eyes at him. And the last part comes out as whispered venom. “You’re a coward. A deserter. You’re. A. Quitter.”
“Because I quit you?” He says this like… like it’s just another thing ‘one does.’
I don’t say anything. Because he doesn’t deserve this conversation with me. He hasn’t earned my feelings. He hasn’t earned my thoughts.
“You can hate me, Pie, if that’s what you want to do.”
“It is.”
“Fine. Hate me. But I’m apologizing. And if you need anything, I will accommodate you.”
“Why?”
He throws up his hands. “Obviously, because I’m sorry.”
“But why are you sorry? Why this sudden change? You shot an arrow at me to make me fall in love with Tarq, didn’t you?”
He presses his lips together again, caught. “That was before.”
“Before what?”
“Do you or do you not have a request for me?”
I straighten my back, push out my chin, and growl, “I do.”
“Then voice it.”
“I want you to bless Jacqueline.”
“Bless her how? I don’t even know what that means.”
“It means, if she needs help, you will be there. It means, if she’s sad, you will make her happy again. It means, if she gets a flat tire in the middle of the night, you will drag your ass out of bed, fly to wherever she is, and fix it. You will bless her. That’s what I want. You will make her life a living dream.”
“No.”
“Yes!”
“No! I don’t even like her.”
“You shot her!”
“I didn’t. I didn’t shoot her. It doesn’t work like that for me. I can’t use the arrows for my own love. It…” He pauses. Looks away. Clenches his jaw. Looks back. “It was a teeny-tiny spell. It wasn’t an arrow. She is free to leave and then I am done with her.”
“No. You’re not. You brought her into this.”
“You literally brought her into my town!”
I point my finger up at him. “I brought her to Granite Springs. You made her cross the fog into Savage Falls.”
He looks away, caught.
“So I win. You will bless her.”
He just huffs air and shrugs.
It’s not an agreement, but whatever. I never really thought he’d agree to it. I was just giving it my best shot.