Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“So you’re just giving up?” He throws up both hands in a dramatic give-up gesture. “Just gonna accept it?”
“Do I have choices? Because if I have choices, please enlighten me on what they are.”
“I’m just saying.” He stares at me for a moment. Then looks me up and down. “You changed your clothes.”
“You have the observation skills of a royal detective.”
“You look… nice.”
A small laugh escapes before I can stop it.
“Never mind. I take it back.”
“So I don’t look nice?”
He sighs. Then… he pouts a little. Which I have to admit, is a good look for him. Those lips of his are quite plump on any given day. And puckered up in a slight pout… yes. I like it.
“Here’s the thing, Callistina. I… might…” He pauses for many moments here. I actually have to roll my hand at him to keep going. “I… I might like you. There. I said it. I think I like you. Especially when you talk. And… change your clothes. I mean, I have always liked you—” My eyebrows shoot up because this is a lie. “I have,” he insists, observing my disbelief. “It’s just… you were all crazy and shit. I didn’t care about the wooden blocks. And the antlers—though the spray-paint job was a mess—the antlers were kinda cool. But that coat, Callistina.” He shakes his head. This crossed his line. “It was mangy. I couldn’t get past the coat. But this”—he motions to my new dress—“I like this.” And then he smiles at me.
And again, he is Eros. The god of love. And so… I find myself… perhaps, maybe, slightly… let’s call it intrigued, but really it is more like flattered. I’m getting caught up in his… well, the whole package, really. It all just works for him. I mean, Batty has those wings. Nearly the same. But they don’t come off as sexy. In fact, they come off creepy. Very, very creepy.
But really, nothing about Eros is creepy at all.
It just works.
So I am flattered that he cares, I suppose.
“What are you trying to say, Eros?” Still. A woman does not let a man get away with such a shoddy declaration of interest. He needs to explain himself properly. It’s called courting. Wooing. Am I not a queen? Do I not deserve the courting and the wooing?
“OK, I’m just gonna get to the point. My point is, we are… kind of a team. And I think we should go to this new world together.”
Well. I could not be more stunned if he had gotten down on one knee and proposed marriage while reciting a hand-crafted wedding vow written in trochaic tetrameter. My hand flies to my heart. “I’m sorry?”
“I want to go with you, Callistina. OK? I want us”—he takes a moment to point to himself, then me—“to go into that new world to-gether.”
“Why on earth would you want that?” I have to admit, I’m more than a little suspicious at this point. Granted, I have been having sex with this man for weeks, so I do believe he has some sort of attraction to me. But he’s talking about taking a journey together. Starting over together.
This is not something casual lovers do.
This is something committed couples do.
“Are we a committed couple?”
“What?” He stares at me like I’m speaking a foreign language.
“Is this some sort of turning point in our relationship?”
Now he smiles. Points at me. Smiles bigger. “Yes. That. It is a turning point, Callistina. That’s exactly right. I wanna get out of here. I’m tired of this place. This is not something I just decided today, OK? I’ve been thinking about this for eons. Today is just the last straw. And look.” He points at the door. “It’s like fate, isn’t it? We’re both fed up to the point of exasperation and lo and behold, a new beginning presents itself. Let’s go through the door together.”
Hmm. I picture this offer. I’m not even sure what the Realm of Pittsburgh looks like. I don’t know the local customs, or speak in the local accent, and I don’t have any particular skills in the normal human world.
I have done a bit of alchemy, but the human world is non-magical, so that would not help.
But going to this new place with Eros, well. He’s a god, is he not? Not very powerful, not in practical ways. But he’s charming, in his own dark way. And one cannot discount charm in times of peril.
“What would we do there?”
He smiles. Quite a big one too. Because he knows I’m going to accept his offer. He just needs to close the deal. “Whatever you want. We can do whatever you want, Callistina. Get jobs, or something. Or go to one of their schools. Immerse ourselves in this new opportunity. Ride it for all it’s worth.”
I take a deep breath and when I exhale, I’m nodding. “OK. If you want to come, I think that would be acceptable.”