Also, I need the distraction. This date is just pissing me off to no end.
Another eros. Living in the nearby town.
What are the chances of that?
And if there is one, there are more. An entire bloodline just miles down the road. How did I not know this? The only explanation is that they don’t know what they are. This bloodline is some deeply hidden family secret. Because if the sheriff is an eros, and he had any inclination of what Saint Mark’s was, then he would not have driven away with Pie. He would’ve come inside. He would’ve started a war.
One eros inside Saint Mark’s is a caretaker.
Two is an invasion as far as I’m concerned.
They would’ve started a war. Because Pie is eros blood too.
Isn’t she?
The eros belong to Saturn. Did belong to Saturn. Because Saturn is gone now. All the old gods are. And all their creations—all their monsters—were cursed.
Except for the fucking family of eros living down the road, apparently.
I’m not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing. On the one hand, the eros have broken their curse. That’s… hopeful. For me, at least. But if they no longer even remember that they were cursed, let alone the power of the gods that they possess, then this curse-breaking happened a long, long time ago.
What have they been doing all this time?
And more importantly, did Grant know?
Eros are seductive. They emit pheromones that affect you in certain ways. They make you swoon with longing. Sometimes that longing is sexual. Sometimes it’s a craving for a shared adventure. And sometimes it’s just an overpowering compulsion to be near them. Forever. They cannot be out of your sight.
And every single eros caretaker who came into my sanctuary affected me in one of these three ways. At least for a while. I’ve had my share of swooning moments over the years. It can’t be helped. But it’s more of a casual swoon than a deep desire. It takes a while to wear off, but eventually, it does wear off.
Obviously the eros don’t affect each other this way or they would be useless. Just a bunch of frolicking fools with no other ambition but to follow each other around.
So maybe Grant didn’t know about the sheriff?
This leads me down another rabbit hole. The main tunnel, if you will.
Because everything about this new Pie phase in the curse is different. And I’m not talking different than the last fifty years, I’m talking different than the last two thousand. Aside from the sudden disappearance of Grant and the untimely appearance of an entire family of eros living in the closest town, never once in the history of Saint Mark’s has a slave caretaker asked to get a job before.
Like… what the actual fuck is up with that?
And it’s not even like I can complain about it, because she’s trying to keep her debt down. Objecting just makes me look like a dick.
And none of them have ever dated before. At least, if they did, I didn’t know about it. They were here for me. To pleasure me. That was their curse.
This one, she just throws it in my face. I’m dating the sheriff.
And she’s the only one who ever showed up knowing no magic at all. All the other slave caretakers knew they were different. But Pie? No. She has a magic bird and she calls it her “personal hallucination”.
This actually makes me smile as I gather up all the spilled herbs and put them back in their place on the shelf.
She’s not boring, I will give her that.
And she has lit a fire inside Tomas.
Literally. Since he’s locked himself in the dungeon.
I really need to keep an eye on him. He’s always been dangerous, but dangerous in the way that we all are. I didn’t see much when I was down there today, but I don’t need to see things to understand that it’s not going well for Tomas at the moment.
And who knows? Maybe this is normal? I haven’t paid attention to the guy in a century, at least. Grant and I weren’t even on speaking terms when he made his escape so he wasn’t filling me in on Tomas’s current mental state. But I never noticed anything off about Tomas when I saw him around the grounds.
Hmm. I pause here. Because Grant was a talented alchemist. Was he helping Tomas all this time? And now that he’s gone, will Tomas struggle to maintain control? I want to say that is unlikely. Tomas liked Grant—Tomas likes everyone. But Grant didn’t like him. No one likes Tomas back. His relationships are all very one-sided.
For good reason.
I will need to talk to Pie about this and tell her to stay away from Tomas.
She’s not gonna take it well, and I don’t blame her. She makes two friends—two men—and I’ve suddenly got a problem with both of them. If I were her, I’d think I was a jealous jerk. She will never believe me. This has always been my problem with humans. They never want to take anyone’s word. They always have to see it for themselves. Always have to take the hard road. Always have to take the long way home.