Eros (Contemporary Mythos Book 4)

We’d taken the last charter flight that night, and I awoke the next morning in a daze back at Ghaoil Cottage. Whatever Eric had done to Graeme and the woman made them steer clear of us the entire night. There were the occasional sidelong glances, but they kept to their side of the room, and we kept to ours. Anna thanked me over a dozen times for attending, and she became more touchy-feely the more alcohol she drank. And through it all, Eric—Eros made me feel weightless and full of life with a simple gaze or a fleeting touch.

Yawning, I grabbed my cell to check for messages—several from Alex berating me about not keeping her up to date and one from Da.

Da: Enjoying yourself, Lani girl?

A warm smile pulled at my lips, the soothing heat traveling to my chest and bringing me a sense of comfort.

Me: Very. But it’s not the same without you.

Da: You needed this. 😀

I read the message three times over. It could be taken one of several ways. He responded to my message of happiness, or…he purposely sent me to Scotland by myself. Or I was utterly overthinking it, considering he had no idea Graeme never showed up.

Me: *hugs*

“Elani,” Flora’s voice beckoned from the other side of the door. “Are you up, lass?”

After slipping a robe over my pajamas, I opened the door.

“Oh, dear, did I wake you?”

“I was already up. Everything okay?”

She patted my cheek. “Right as rain. You have a visitor.”

“A visitor? Who?”

“She didn’t give her name. Dark-haired lass. Very pretty.”

I bunched the robe at my neck. “Can you let her know I’ll be down in a minute?”

“Of course, dearie. I’ll put a pot on.” She did a hitch step before fluttering downstairs.

I racked my brain but had no clue who would visit me here in Scotland of all places. Plus, who knew I was here aside from close friends and family?

After slipping into my comfy pink cashmere sweater, I headed downstairs. A woman my height with waves of mocha-colored hair down to her hips stood in the lobby, chatting and laughing with Flora. She held her coffee mug with both hands and turned her gaze on me. Emerald eyes beamed at me as she closed the distance between us.

I knew her. But didn’t.

“Hello, Elani.” Her petite shoulders bounced once beneath her cropped jacket.

“Hi.” My feet froze to the floorboards.

“Can we go somewhere private to talk?”

I pointed up. “We can uh—go to my room?”

“Perfect.” The dark skinny jeans made light brushing sounds as she moved for the stairs.

Flora handed me a steaming mug of coffee and nudged me.

I jolted to attention and led the woman to my room, closing the door behind us with an ominous click.

“Do you know who I am?” She sipped her coffee, leaving behind a light red smudge from her lipstick. She rubbed the toes of her Lita-styled boots together.

“I feel like I do, but not sure how.” I squinted at her.

She tapped her glossy nails against her cup. “That’s what I’ve come to talk to you about. My name is Psyche.”

My blood froze. Inviting Eros’s ex into my room suddenly seemed like a horrible idea. I backed up until my butt hit the door.

Psyche frowned. “I’m not here for what you think. Will you sit with me?” She sat on the edge of one bed with a calm smile.

Side-stepping, I sat on the bed across from her, spine straight, and patted my palms on my thighs. I tried several times to make eye contact with her, but my gaze refused.

“Is this awkward?” She let out a nervous chuckle. “This is awkward, huh?”

“Maybe a bit. The Greek goddess who used to be with the Greek god I like is sitting on my rented bed in Scotland.”

Her eyes sparkled. “You’re already everything I imagined you to be.”

“You’re going to have to just hit me with whatever it is you need to say.”

“Straight and to the point. Like an arrow.” She placed her mug on the nightstand and pulled one knee to rest in front of her. “He thought—we both thought we were soulmates. Destined to eternity with each other.”

The awkwardness was not improving.

“But we were wrong. The gods answered my father’s prayer for a man’s love, but it was fabricated.”

“How so?”

Her gaze glossed over. “On Aphrodite’s bidding, Eros created this love potion they were going to use on the first ugly mortal man they could find to make him fall in love with me, but when Eros saw me, he fumbled with the bottle, dropped it, and fell in love with me himself.”

My jaw dropped. “I—wait a minute…”

“You heard right. The myth of Eros and Psyche was always meant to be—Eros knows it. He knows what fate has in store, and though it took us too long to realize it when certain events weren’t happening according to plan, we concluded…it wasn’t me.”

I couldn’t sit still anymore. The world was spiraling out of control, and my heart spun right along with it.

“It wasn’t you because—because he accidentally fell in love with you?”

She nodded.

“So, you two parted ways on amicable terms?”

“Yes. And I’m with Anteros now.”

I picked at a recently developed hangnail on my thumb. “What does this have to do with me?”

“He’s destined to fall in love with a mortal. A mortal with the passion for invoking love as a goddess.”

My neck stiffened.

“You and I share a lot of similarities. My name means the soul, but yours means the light of the soul.”

After flopping onto the bed next to her, I dug my nails into the comforter and stared at the floor.

“When I was very young, I lost my mother. And though I had dozens of suitors who found me beautiful, none of them would stay around, let alone marry me.”

My knee bounced.

“My father took it upon himself to pray to the gods. A plea for a man to love me. Doesn’t it all sound familiar to you?”

My sinuses stung.

“Do you understand what I’m trying to say, Elani?”

My bouncing knee turned erratic. “I’m not sure I can wrap my head around it.”

She scooted closer, testing the waters with how skittish I’d be. “What do you have to fear?”

“You don’t know me. I threw the idea of love off a cliff a very long time ago.”

She rested a hand on my twitching knee, and it stopped. “I assure you. The concept of love didn’t die at the bottom of that cliff. It clung to a rock on the way down, hoping one day you’d rescue it.”

A whimper escaped my throat, and I finally looked at her. “I’m a human. He’s a—”

“I was too. It’s possible. You just have to want it.” She squeezed my leg.

I rapidly shook my head and shot to my feet. “Are you saying—” Tapping my finger against my forehead, I paced. “Are you saying, Eros and me? We—” I made circling gestures in the air.

She crossed her legs and nodded. “It’s very, very possible.”

“How would we know for sure?”

She cocked her head to the side. “I think you already know. You’re simply not ready to admit it to yourself.”

I continued to tap my forehead. “No offense, Psyche, but—why are you here? Why tell me any of this?”

“Eros and I may not have worked out, but even the god of love deserves to be in love himself. And he can have it with you.”

My lips numbed. “You’re serious about this?”

“The myth of ‘Psyche’ has been yours to live all along, and Eros—is the last piece.”

Heat swirled in my chest, and I wanted nothing more than to melt in Eros’s arms.

Psyche rose and breezed across the room like a ghost. “I’m not asking you to make any kind of decision or come to a conclusion. All I ask is for you to believe in love again and hear what it has to say.”

I stared at her, already replaying her words in my head.

She reached for my limp hand and shook it. “It was an absolute pleasure to meet you, Elani. And I hope to see you again.” She turned away and opened the door.

“Psyche.”

She paused, smiling at me over her shoulder.

“Thank you.”

After bowing her head, she left.

I followed soon after, descending the stairs with the grace of a tortoise. Flora sat straighter when she caught sight of me.

“By heavens, ye look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

She wasn’t too far off. Gods could be considered supernatural beings, too, couldn’t they?

“You don’t happen to have anything stronger than coffee hidden away, do you?” I motioned at the high cabinets in the kitchen.

Her cheeks blushed, and she reached below the sink, producing an un-labeled bottle of amber-colored liquid. “A wee nip shouldn’t hurt us none, hm?”

After resting two tumblers on the counter, she poured a small amount in each. We clinked our glasses and sunk them.

“Your lad has been pacing around the loch, by the way.” She flashed a mischievous grin, motioning at the window with her head.

I choke-coughed on my whiskey. “Eric?”

“Who else?” She nudged my shoulder. “Go on, then.”

“Now?” I scrunched my face at the older woman’s spunk.

Continuing to coax me outside, she added, “Aye, now. And I don’t expect you back until the wee hours of the night.” She shoved a jacket into my arms.

“But I—” She’d pushed me out the door, and I turned only to have it slammed in my face.

In the distance, Eric walked the shoreline barefoot with his hands in his pockets. I slipped the jacket over my shoulders as I walked over, contemplating whether or not to tell him about Psyche. Their relationship had started with a lie, and if there were a chance for us, even a tiny one, I wouldn’t want history to repeat itself.

“Hey,” I said with a mouse squeak.

His gaze fixed on me, eyes sparkling as he took me in. “Hey.”

“I had a fascinating conversation.”

“Oh, yeah?” He picked up a rock and bounced it across the water’s surface. “With who?”

“Psyche.”

He’d picked up another rock, but instead of it flying, it plopped into the lake. “You…did? How’d uh—how’d that go?” His throat bobbed with an exaggerated swallow.

The god of passion did get nervous.

“It was…really nice.” A cozy smile tugged at my lips.

His shoulders relaxed. “Good to hear. I haven’t seen her in years.”

“Why are you barefoot?”

“I like the feel of the soil mixed with sand between my toes.” He wiggled his feet. “Is that weird?”

“For a Greek god?” I half-grinned. “Maybe.”

“Listen I—” He stepped forward, and a blue swirly portal appeared behind him.

A dark-haired man with a beard and black duster jacket leaped out, landing on his booted feet with a grunt. He sniffed the air, his tanned nose twitching.

My feet cemented to the ground, and I stilled, staring as the portal shrunk away as quick as it had formed.

“I know it’s here. I can smell it,” he said with a cockney British accent.

“Hephaistos?” Eric quirked a brow.

The British man grimaced. “Oof. I haven’t heard that bloody name in decades. It’s Heph.”

“God of the forge?” I finished, my jaw hanging open.

“Ah. You’ve heard of me. I’m flattered.” He bowed before snapping his head behind him, sniffing again.

“What are you doing here?” Eric’s nose twitched.

Heph squatted at the water’s edge, tapping the surface like Morse code. “Dite put out a bounty on the monster who lurks the depths.”

“Nessie?” I tightened the jacket around my chest.

Please tell me, for the love of God, the Loch Ness Monster didn’t also exist.

“Nah. She called it an elani.” The tapping turned into slapping the water. “Here, Beastie, Beastie.”

I shifted my eyes to Eric. “I’m Elani.”

A massive green creature burst from the lake, its neck long and winding like a dinosaur. I staggered backward, craning my neck to look up at it. The long winding tail flared out, heading straight for…me. I couldn’t have moved even if I wanted to, my limbs refusing to break free of the shock coursing through my veins.

“Elani,” Eric boomed from somewhere nearby—his voice sounded distant as I stared up at water tendrils falling from the creature’s tail looming over me.

Heph threw a squared metallic device to the ground, and a green hologram shot out, forming a translucent dome over a several-mile radius, shielding us from the outside world.

Eric’s arms wrapped around me and my feet lifted from the ground. His large white wings furiously flapped as he carried me away from the lake edge. Heph’s left hand splayed, and a giant golden hammer with etched Greek symbols and markings appeared.

As Eric set me on the grass behind a boulder farther away from the lake but not so far it was outside of the hologram dome, my shoulders trembled. His bare chest heaved as he looked at me, cupping my face with a palm. He’d taken his shirt off to free his wings and stood in front of me like the night I discovered the real him—half-naked in only a pair of jeans.

“Elani.” He kept his voice soft, but there was a sense of urgency.

I snapped my gaze to meet his.

“Stay here, alright?”

Heph’s growls and grunts followed by splashing as he fought the monster echoed off the rocks surrounding us.

I nodded numbly in response, unsure if words would’ve fallen away from my lips.

He kissed my forehead before flying into the air, and in a shimmer of silver, a quiver appeared on his back, followed by a shiny silver bow.

He drew an arrow and notched it on the bow, circling the beast from the air. Pulling back, he loosed the arrow into the monster’s shoulder. It roared, splashing water with one of its large fins, soaking Eric from head-to-toe.

Heph ran along the edge, curling both hands around the hammer’s handle. The monster zeroed in on me, my eyes locking with the large black orbs of its gaze. My jaw chattered as I gripped the rock, scraping my fingernails over its rough texture. Waiting for the beast to near the shoreline, Heph swung back and slammed the hammer into its neck. The monster writhed, hurling water at Heph. He paused, sputtering and dragging a hand down his face and beard.

“Is that all you got?” Heph yelled.

Eric swooped down, bow at the ready, and launched two arrows into its neck. The beast spun around, smacking its head into Eric’s body and thwarting him into the water with a monstrous splash.

“Eric!” I popped up, my heart racing at the mere thought of something happening to him.

Heph waved his hand at me. “He’s fine, love. It can’t hurt—” His words were cut short as the beast’s scaly tail slammed into Heph’s side, making his body form a “C”.

Heph let out an oof, and the monster coiled its tail around his torso, slamming him into the lake and dragging him underwater. The beast disappeared beneath the surface, and the world grew eerily calm. My heart raced as I walked forward, leaving the safe space of my rock. Frantically, I darted my eyes over the water, looking for a ripple or even a bubble. Nothing.

The monster exploded from the depths, sending geysers of water in every direction. Eric flapped his wings, snapping the wetness away. He had the bow secured in both hands, using it to choke the beast below the neck as it thrashed. Heph rode its back like a bull, bringing the hammer down on it repeatedly. Orange sparks flew with each stroke against the monster’s scales.

“Damn it all to shite!” Heph slammed the hammer down with faster swings, but it still did nothing to hurt it.

Eric let out a ferocious yell, keeping his grip on the bow around its neck. The beast dipped and threw its head back, throwing Eric and Heph to the shoreline. Heph landed in a fury of barrel rolls. Eric frantically flapped his wings, landing in a crouch on one knee. The monster began to morph, the neck shrinking until it reached its body. The water boiled and frothed as it disappeared underwater in bright flashes and lightning bursts.

I covered my mouth with my palm, unable to stop my curiosity from bringing me closer.

A naked man with pale skin and auburn hair crawled onto the bank. Purple bruises littered his back, and his breathing grew deep and heavy.

“What the bloody hell?” Heph picked up a stick and poked the man’s shoulder.

The man batted Heph’s arm away. “Christ.” He lifted his blue eyes to look from Heph to Eric and then me. His jaw was square-cut, lips thin, and a light peppering of auburn hair across his chin.

“You’re the—” I stuttered.

The man rose to his feet, and my eyes fell straight to his monster, making my cheeks flush.

“Loch Ness Monster?” He smirked, making a dimple in his cheek appear. Water dripped from his wavy semi-long hair as he shook his head. “Aye. That’s what they call me.”

“I’ll be damned.” Eric stared at him.

“Nessie is a shifter. Huh. Didn’t see that comin’.” Heph made a wry grin.

“I wasn’t tryin’ to kill her if that’s what you all think.” The shifter pointed at us, water dripping from his fingertip.

Eric curled his arm around my waist, easing me behind him. “Didn’t look like that to me. Why attack at all?”

“I was hired to try and scare her off.” He blew out a breath, making his cheeks flap.

Heph shook his head. “Lemme guess. Aphrodite?”

Eric’s grip tightened on my hip.

“Aye. How’d ye know?” The shifter cocked a brow.

Heph leaned back to peer at me behind Eric. “Because she put a bounty on lil Elani, here. Why does she have it in for you?”

“She’s Aphrodite. What other reason would there be?” Eric snarled. “Whatever she offered you, I’ll double it if you just let her go.” His gaze hardened at the shifter.

The shifter rubbed his chin and waved his hands. “Don’t worry about it. It’d been so long since I re-surfaced, I should’ve known she had an ulterior motive.” He peeked at me frozen behind Eros. “Did I scare ye, lass?”

Was that a rhetorical question? But also…no…not even a monster the size of a skyscraper was enough to frighten me away from the man standing in front of me. The man who’d fought the beast—for me. Eros.

I folded an arm over my stomach. “But you—this is so far from the Ness.”

“The lochs all connect around here. Ye think I’d limit myself to one?” He raised a brow as he slowly backed away, dipping his feet into the water. “Apologies if I frightened you, Elani. And rest assured, if ye should ever find yourself near any lochs again, no one or nothin’ will bother ye.” He waved as he descended into the lake, leaving only a ripple behind as his head disappeared.

Eric’s chest pulsed. “I need to talk with my mother.”

“Now, now. I’ll take care of the lovey-dovey goddess. Something tells me you have…other things to do.” He nudged his head at me.

I could only imagine the look on my face reflected the mixed feelings swirling through me—terror, lust, confusion.

Eric bowed his head. “Thank you for helping.”

Heph scanned Eric’s wings. “You did good, kid.” Heph scooped the shielding device into his palm and tossed it to Eric. “I’ll let you keep that.” He winked at me as the blue portal appeared, and he jumped in.

Eric tossed the device in his hand, his water-soaked wings drooping slightly.

I walked closer with my fingers interlaced in front of me. Words couldn’t begin to describe what I’d seen. More importantly, what I’d seen him do. No denying the reality standing in front of you, Stewart. Not after that. His blue eyes lifted to meet mine, that wavy piece of hair sticking to his forehead.

With a steady hand, I reached for his wings. He stood straighter, glancing from the wing to my hand. When my fingers brushed over one of the soft feathers, the wings perked up, snapping the water coating them into mist.

My vision blurred with tears. They were beautiful—the feathers like fluffy clouds coated with silk against my fingertips.

“Take me up, Eros.”