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)
Eros looks over at Tomas, points at him. “Correct. I do.” Then he looks back at us. No. He looks back at Pell. “Don’t you worry about that. I know where one lives. A very, very prolific and talented alchemist is caught up in the curse.” For a split second, his eyes dart to Tomas. But it’s so quick, I almost think I made it up. “And once this is all over, I will collect her too. And then…” Eros pauses to envision his own future, I think. “Then life can begin again.” His face goes dark for a moment. But then he smiles. It’s almost warm, too, which is kind of gross. “Then I will release your curses. And you can do whatever you want.”
“But again,” Tomas says, “what about me?”
“Go away, you stupid dragon. You have no purpose here. I’m not dealing with you. I’m dealing with them.” He’s pointing at Pell and me.
Tomas continues to question this, but only muttering under his breath.
“Your plan has faults,” Pell says.
Eros directs his gaze to Pell. “Does it?”
“What are you going to do about the other gods? They’re not gone, they’re just…” Pell throws up his hands. “Lost, I think. Saturn has certainly found a way around whatever rules they’re living under. Shouldn’t you dispose of them?”
“Dispose of them? Why in the ever-loving fuck would I do that?”
“Don’t you want to be the one and only?”
Eros throws his head back and laughs. “One and only? Pell. Come on. What is the point of playing the game alone? No! I will not be disposing of them. We are going to reclaim what was ours to begin with.”
“Vinca,” I say.
“To start with. But not just Vinca. All the worlds will be ours this time. We will control all the doors. Because, dear Pie, with you comes the rings. I will be the new Ptah. I will be the new Cronus. I will be the new Zeus, and the new Saturn. They will proclaim Eros the God of Gods. And I will rule the worlds forever and all the other, newly demoted, gods will bow to me and do my bidding.”
“Well, that’s not creepy at all, is it?” Tomas mutters this.
But Eros ignores him and barks at Pell, “You will go bring me Tarq.” Then he points at me. “And you will stay here—”
“No!” Pell’s objection is so loud, and so furious, and so final, that the whole world shakes. The floor beneath our feet, the ceiling above our heads. Plaster is crumbling and tiles are breaking and then he says it again. “No!” And his voice—the power behind it—it shakes Eros. Not literally, like the room. But internally. It’s just a moment. Just a fraction of a second, but I see it.
He’s afraid of Pell.
“Yes,” Eros demands back. His great black wings fly up, threatening us. “She will stay. And you will do my bidding.”
“How about I stay?” Tomas raises his hand. “I volunteer to stay.”
Everyone ignores him. “This is not happening,” Pell says, his voice still booming, but not shaking reality the way it was. “She is mine. You have already promised that we will be free after we do our tasks.”
“But I need insurance, Pell, that you will do as you’re told. And she is the only thing you seem to care about.”
“Well,” Tomas says, “he cares about me too. We are best friends.”
Eros doesn’t even look at Tomas. His eyes are locked in a battle of wills with Pell’s.
Pell looks away first and I wilt a little. Because I don’t want to stay with Eros. But then Pell says, “So bind her to you. Isn’t that what you do? Hmm? Throw arrows at hearts and change the future? You weaponized love. That’s the real reason they banished you. You had too much power. You could, with a single arrow to the heart, change the course of everything. Because when you’re in love, you will do just about anything to keep that love safe.”
Eros smiles. “You’re more perceptive than I thought, monster.”
“They were afraid of you, weren’t they?”
Eros’s smile turns diabolical. “So. Very. Afraid.”
“So bind her to you,” Pell repeats.
Which is a gross idea. Ugggh. So gross. I don’t want to be in love with the eros.
I’m just about to speak up and declare my objection when Eros says, “You know very well that I am immune to love.”
“Well,” Tomas says, “that’s very, very sad. You never get to fall in love? Wow. I would never want to be you.”
Eros shoots Tomas a dirty look before redirecting his attention back to Pell. “You know I can’t do that.”
“So… bind her to me.”
“What’s the point of that? You’re already in love with her.”
“It means I will do anything to save her. And the only way to save her is to bring you Tarq.”