Chapter 50 Reunion with an old friend

Chapter 50 Reunion with an old friend
Daphne
For the next few days, I immerse myself into my new life on Olympus. Living in my mother’s temple, taking long walks, meeting my new relatives, fellow gods and goddesses. Sometimes, it doesn’t feel real. I still think I might be dreaming.
One day, a week later, Mother and I link arms together as we walk down the golden-paved street. Olympus is so big and hilly, filled with temples of the gods and goddesses. It is mind-blowingly beautiful. It feels like home.
“This is where you belong,” Mother says as we walk on.
“I understand why you had to send me away. To protect me from Hades, but damn, I wish I never left,” I say.
At the mention of Hades, something deep inside me rouses. His name alone is enough to stir my blood, make my skin crawl, alert all my senses. My mother despises him so much; she doesn’t even want to hear his name mentioned. So, how could I tell her that I miss him? I miss the devil who had lied to me, kidnapped me, tried to manipulate me into living in Hell forever with him. I miss the same man I shouldn’t even think about.
We walk by a temple with the sculpture of a familiar-looking man. His physique is different, but those eyes and the hair, I can remember. Mother notices me staring and pulls me along into the temple.
“There’s someone here I’d like you to meet,” she says.
The temple has an aura of love, almost as if romance itself is secreting in the air. The temple workers are stunning women, dressed in red with flowers tucked away in their hair or behind their ears.
The god at the temple looks awfully familiar. He is tall, handsome, seductive. When he sees us, he rises from his throne, his red cape flowing behind him.
“Dalia, how lovely to see you again,” he says before hugging my mother and air-kissing her cheeks. He turns to me, fixing those cool eyes on me. An overwhelming sense of déjà vu spreads all over my skin.
“Daphne, it’s good to see you again,” he says to me. I stare at him, trying to place him.
“I’m sorry, have you met before?”
“Of course we have darling,” he says, laughing. My mother joins him to laugh, too.
“Perhaps, you’d recognize my human form.”
He transforms, within seconds, into –
“Oh my God, Adonis!!!”
My jaws hang open. I can’t believe it. “You are Eros.”
He changes back into his god form. Eros, the god of love, the cupid-shooter, the giver of love.
“I had Eros keep an eye on you in school. I wanted him to try and steer you away from Hades,” Mother says.
“I wasn’t very successful, was I?”
Mother touches his arm lovingly, a strange expression on her face. “No, dear, you did your job. She’s here, isn’t she?”
“What else are you hiding from me? Who else did you send to help me out?”
They both look at each other and burst into laughter.
“This isn’t funny. My entire life has been a lie. I’m trying to sift through what’s real and what isn’t.”
Eros tucks his arm between mine, pulling me along with him. My mother hangs back in the temple to chat with some of the women there, her old friends. Eros and I walk out of the temple, into the garden just outside the altar.
“You know, your mother was only trying to help. Once Hades sinks his teeth into you, it’s impossible to break free. She knew what a terrible fate it would be living in Hell forever, she wanted to spare you. She pleaded with Alex to hide you among the humans. She did all of that because of love. A mother’s love is an unbreakable thing,” Eros says. In his god form, he sounds entirely different from Adonis. I don’t know how he managed to do that. I am still my old self, still in my human form but everyone else around me can change forms.
“I know, I know, it’s just that all of this is extremely difficult to wrap my head around. I have so many questions,” I say.
“Sure, you do. Fire away, I’ll try my best to answer the ones I can.”
“How long were you watching me, keeping an eye on me? were you ever in love with me like you said?”
Eros chuckles. He tucks a flying strand of my hair away from my eyes. “You are a lovely young girl. I owed your mother a favor. As for love? I’m not sure I was the problem. You were entirely devoted to Hades.”
I stop in my tracks. “Well, he deceived me. He lied to me.”
Eros shakes his head. “Even now, I can see it in your eyes, Daph. Do you know there are not a lot of women who can resist me? I’m the god of love and lust and all matters of the heart. But somehow you did. When we were together, I felt your desire for Hades.”
He touches my hand, tracing his fingers along my skin. “You miss him.”
I shake my head emphatically. “No, I don’t.”
“Yeah, you do. You can’t lie to me, Daph. You miss him. You still have feelings for him.”
I snatch my hand away from him. “The only thing I feel for that bastard is hate. I feel like a fool. He scammed me. He led me to believe he was this dream man I could spend my life with but he never told me the cost of falling in love with him.”
Eros sighs. “Hades isn’t a bad guy. He’s just…. incredibly lonely and utterly obsessed with you.”
“Yeah, well, too bad he’s the ruler of Hell. I can’t deal with that baggage.”
“Yeah, we can’t outrun our fates, right?”
“Fates?”
“Yeah, you are not fated to be his bride. You can only be the one that got away,” Eros says.
I nod silently. After a minute, I add. “What a shitty fate, right?”
“Right. But hey, if you ever want to talk, or do anything, just let me know. I’m always there for you.”
Before I can reply, I hear my mother’s voice calling out my name. I return to her slowly.
“What were you guys talking about?” Mother wants to know.
I glance back at Eros who is still standing in the garden, waving at me. “Nothing. We were talking about nothing.”
Hades, the man I was obsessed with, has turned to nothing. All the desire and lust I felt for him has turned into unimaginable pain. He is gone forever.
Gone.