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Hypnos steps closer, invading our space, then he tells Eros, “You still have until midnight before your time on the bet isofficiallyup.”
“But Carl and Dee aren’t in love—” Eros begins.
Hypnos cuts him off. “Yes, I know what happened betweenthem.”
Eros slowly looks at me, his eyes shiny with unshed tears, then he turns his attention back to Hypnos. “It only goes one way.”
Hypnos arches an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”
“What is it? Please, tell me,” I demand, wanting to know what they are talking about. If our lives are on the line, then I should be privy to their ideas. I can’t let Eros go. “Is there something,anything,I can do to help you?” I want him to survive. I want him in my life. I think… I care about him far more than I realized before today. He’s snuck into my heart.
Eros frowns. “I don’t think you can, love.”
“Stubborn god.” Hypnos gestures to me. “Say your goodbyes.Now. Thanatos and Hermes are calling for you to wake, and they will demand your choice.”
Panic floods my consciousness. “I don’t want to say goodbye to Eros.” Forgetting my incorporeal state, I try to throw myself on top of Eros to hold him one more time, but I fall through.
Eros moves, sitting up a bit and holding out his arms, as if trying to catch me. My face passes through his, but for a second, it feels like my lips brush his.
I should have fallen to the floor, but something stops me. It feels as if something lodged in my spine, hooking me in place.
“What the hell?” I curse and pull back.
Hypnos grabs my shoulders and stands me up. Brushing my hair away, he gasps. “Eros’s bow is latched onto you now.”
“And the arrow?” Eros asks hopefully.
“I don’t see it.” Hypnos shakes his head and indicates for Eros to turn so he can check his back. “Still on you, but fading fast.”
I touch the mark at the base of my neck. It feels like a real thing buried in my skin.
“How is this possible?” I ask.
“You’re playing with the gods now, baby goddess.” Hypnos grins wickedly, and it unnerves me more than having Eros’s bow. “Anything is possible.”
He grabs my waist, and without giving me a chance to say goodbye to Eros, I’m pulled into the swirling tunnel.
Eros’s voice echoes in my mind as I’m whisked away, but it must have been my imagination, because I thought I heard three words that he couldn’t have said—not to me.
23
CHALLENGE
Landing back in my body, I open my eyes to see Hermes and Thanatos gazing down at me sprawled on the hard floor.
Hypnos is nowhere in sight, and I’m in the enormous cavern of Tartarus. Instead of smelling moldy and stale, it has a campfire scent, more so with Thanatos so near. There’s enough light to see by, but I can’t detect a light source.
I pick myself up off the floor and glare at the towering gods. “What do you want?”
Thanatos looks at Hermes. “Insolent little thing.”
“I’m not a thing!” I snap with actual insolence. “I demand to see Eros.”
Hermes steps closer, forcing me backward, and I have to tilt my head to keep eye contact. If I wasn’t used to Eros’s stature, I might be more intimidated. As it is, my knees are onlyslightlyknocking under his threatening glare.
“You don’t get to make demands of gods,” he growls.
“Um, it would seem that I can.” I arch an eyebrow and cross my arms.
