Eros

Chapter Twenty-Six

With all the sleeping Angie had done in the last twenty-four hours, sleep didn't come easily to her that night. She shifted in and out of sleep and consciousness, tossing and turning as the duvets knotted around her legs.

When she woke up for the final time, Angie didn't feel alone.

She laid still in the dark room, keeping her breaths light and even. The covers were tucked higher than she remembered them being before. Normally, they resided somewhere around her waist. Tonight, they were tucked right up to her chin. Angie was completely buried beneath them, the lingerie she slept in totally concealed.

A hand had snaked beneath the covers. She felt it on her wrist. Every few seconds or so, a thumb would draw soft little circles into her skin.

She wasn't alone.

And it wasn't just Eros in here either.

For the briefest of seconds, she opened her eyes, gaze catching upon the mirror across the way. In its reflection, she saw the dark outline of Eros sat beside her on the bed. Behind him, she saw the even fainter outline of Ares.

Big creepy when she was trying to sleep.

So what was happening?

Use your brain Angie—think.

Ohhhh. He'd be touching her to anchor himself to reality so he could communicate with Ares. Whilst Ares could talk, Eros would be able to write his answers.

So what were they talking about?

Obviously they didn't want her to know whatever it was. If they did, they'd have waited for her to wake up and communicated through her.

So what were they hiding?

Dread hit her.

They'd probably read the book and seen her question. That'd probably got them thinking. Maybe they'd decided that Angie had to die. Maybe that was the only way to bring Eros back to life.

Sure, Angie wanted him to get his life back. But did she have to die in the process?

She'd barely lived herself.

If she had to die, couldn't they wait until she was old or something?

"Now you're being ridiculous," Ares said, speaking quietly so as not to wake her up.

Evidently, the two friends weren't seeing eye to eye.

Was it even possible to see eye to eye with Ares?

"And what if she has to die?"

Oh. So this was what they were talking about. No wonder they'd waited for Angie to fall to sleep to bring it up.

She made sure to stay extra still, gathering anything she could.

The hand on her wrist tightened. That thumb massaged her skin faster.

She heard the scribble of pen on paper and focused on steadying her breathing.

"You're not going to prioritise her life over your own," Ares said, exasperated. He sounded done with this, as though he'd been trying to reason with a brick wall. "I won't let you. Be real with yourself, or has dying taken the sense out of you too?"

There was a pause for more writing.

She didn't know what was happening, but Ares was definitely losing patience.

She heard Eros' sounds of distress too. Though he didn't bother speaking, she could hear him getting worked up.

"You know how humans work," Ares snapped. "Evangeline is as human as they come." Was that a compliment? "She's just like all the rest of them." Nope. Not a compliment. "If she has to die so that you can live then that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." Ah. At least she knew where she stood when it came to Ares. "You've watched humans for centuries. You know what they're like. She's displayed the same dense qualities as all the rest of them."