Eros

Chapter 11: Pegasus and Cerberus

Angie felt heat surging from her throat, and spread through the rest of her body. She ran through the house, the hot tears filming her vision. Betrayal ravaged her broken heart. How could her dad invite this, this person into her home without checking on her first? How could Eros turn to her with the same glow in his eyes, drinking her in as if she was some beauty queen? How could he pretend that nothing was wrong when he had kissed another girl in front of her?

How?

She hurried on and on, not thinking where she headed. She wanted out. She longed freedom. She desired death.

Yes, death to swallow her up and drag her down where she belonged.

At last, when she was surrounded by nothing more than thick silence pierced by flowing water and cricket song, she stopped. With a wail and a pinch in her chest, she lowered to the ground. She ignored the chill from the rainstorm that cut through her yoga pants and bawled. Her face was hot in her palms, and the tears hotter still. They streamed down her wrists and into her sleeves.

Oh, how her heart ached. It was a sharp spike that cut the inside of her chest. Every breath stabbed her soul.

Angie closed her eyes and remembered how Eros turned to her. The light in his eyes capturing her and warming her. He didn't seem repulsed by her hideousness. She was simply terrifying with her ratted hair and yoga ensemble! She didn't even wear shoes. The thought sent fresh tears flowing down her cheeks. She bit down along her pointer finger until the pain made her stop. With a staggering breath, she dropped her head and stared at the black sky.

The clouds had long gone, leaving the brilliant stars like glitter on the cement. A dashing light sliced through the night.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the falling star. A wish. A wish. She would make a wish. What would it be? The first thing that came into her thoughts was Eros' honey kisses. A piercing thrill raced through her and she shuddered.

She remembered the softness of his lips, full and demanding, as he gently brushed them over hers. The steady rhythm of his breath against her cheek. The tender caress of his fingertips along her jaw.

Heat spread over her body and she sighed, her fingers to her mouth.

Angie rubbed her arms, not realizing just how cold March could be. She blinked her eyes and felt her face tight with dried tears. After wiping the salt away, she gazed around. Towering lampposts revealed her whereabouts. She smiled, glancing over her shoulder to the fountain of the cherubic cupid sheathing an arrow while he urinated into the pool below.

She laughed and thought of Eros. Wouldn't he be upset to see the desecration of his ancestral god of love? She laughed again. Hard and throaty and wild. Tears leaked over her cheeks. If only Eros was here so that she could point it out to him.

She trembled against the sudden breeze. Her teeth clattered and she clamped them tight. She hated the sound of her teeth when she was cold.

Something warm and heavy fell across her shoulder, like a mother pulling a blanket over her shivering child. She turned with a cry as she clamped the warmth against her.

Eros smiled and lowered beside her, his face full of worry.

She breathed in sharply and turned away. Great. She didn't expect him at all. How was she going to resist him? If he was anything like cupid, she stood no chance at repelling him. Cupid was the disarmer of beings—both people and gods alike. "He unstrings the limbs and subdues both mind and sensible thought," as Hesiod said once so long ago. Where was her resolve?