My Eros (Modern Cupid and Psyche Dirty)

My god, whose name Eros I am finally in possession of.

The reminder makes me feel all foolishly tingly inside, and it's all I can do not to fidget in my seat.

Eros, Eros, Eros.

I know I'm acting like the stereotypical infatuated schoolgirl here, but I truly adore his name, and I can't get enough of it.

Eros, Eros—-

Anteros coughs, and when I look at him in concern, he says dryly, "Our big brother has not told you, has he?"

"Tell me what?"

"With all of us in the same room and belonging to the same order," Erma says with a smile I can only describe as devilish, "it's impossible for us not to hear your mental dialogue."

Shit.

Himeros' silver eyes twinkle. "We heard that, too."

SHIIIIIIIIIIT!

"And that as well, I'm afraid," Anteros drawls.

Shit, shit, shit, SHIT!

I've made a mental note in the past to pick up a library book on divine telepathy, but I just never got around to doing it, and now I'm paying the price.

Dessert is courtesy of Erma, and it's while Eros pours champagne into my wine glass that he addresses me again.

Now that you have met my brothers, I thought you should know one last thing.

I can't help making a face at this. Why do I have a feeling that I'll run out of years to live before you ever run out of secrets to confess?

Women's intuition, probably?

So you do have more secrets you're hiding!

We all have secrets, moraki mou.

Is he seriously using that as an excuse? I'm about to tell his divine face to 'fuck off' when I notice too late the way his brothers' interested gazes are flicking back and forth between my god and me at the exchange. It makes me feel awkwardly self-conscious, but since they're already listening in—-

"He told me that his face is the kind that makes people cry," I blurt out.

His brothers start choking, and I'm now more confused than skeptical.

Is it not true, brothers?

"As painful as it is to admit," Anteros says with a grimace, "our oldest brother speaks the truth."

"And his voice?" I arch a brow at them. "Does it also brings tears to his eyes, and that's why I'm not allowed to hear it?"

"Well..." Himeros' tone is pensive. "Our big brother can sound more than annoying every time he talks about—-" He suddenly stops speaking, and I see the three visible gods suddenly sporting the same hardened expression.

"What is it?" I ask worriedly.

An emergency meeting of the order's sovereign council has been called.

I'm tempted to pretend I'm getting what he's saying, but in the end I just decide it's better to be stupid and honest.

Is that bad?

"Only the Grand Master can call for such a meeting." Erma is the one who answers my question, and his unusually sober voice makes the hairs at the back of my neck start standing again. "And since neither of us four did it..."

Invisible fingers cup my chin, and I can feel the god's tension as his words unroll in my mind.

We have to leave Rosethorne, moraki mou.

Can I have your word that you will stay put while we are away?

EROS USES HIS DIVINE powers to transport me outside Rosethorne's library, and I shoo him away right after because a) I know how urgent his business is with the order and b) I don't want him to see...this.

I'm bent over the water closet, puking my guts out, and although my stomach finally settles down after a minute, it takes another five before the world around me ceases to spin.

I'm hoping I'm wrong about this, but maybe I need to schedule a discreet check-up with Keia. Is it possible there's such a thing as being allergic to, well, magic?

Then again, since I'm already at the library...

Ginny beams at me as soon as I enter. "Welcome back."

I shake my head in wonder. "You are so friendly."

"And you make friendliness sound like a sin—-"

"It is," I assure her.

"We shall agree to disagree."

"See? Friendly."

"Again: not a sin." The librarian takes her tortoiseshell glasses from the counter and puts it on. "Let's get down to book business, shall we? Are you looking for another guide this time?"

"Well—-"

"May I suggest The Idiot's Guide to Socialization? Or perhaps No Man's An Island? There has also been several rave reviews about Friendliness Doesn't Kill—-"

"Very. Very. Funny." I shoot her a dirty look. "Not."

Her lips crack a smile. "But seriously, what book—-"

"Secret societies."

Ginny laughs. "Yeah right."

"Uh, I mean it."

"Uh, no, you—-" Ginny stops speaking at the look on my face, and her brows shoot past the top of her glasses. "You hate being friendly," she sputters, "but you're interested in joining a secret society?"

"Who says I'm interested in joining one? I just know someone—-"

"Oh, now I get it."

Ginny's smile turns knowing, and I feel defensive all of a sudden without knowing why.

"That someone you know is someone you like."