Forbidden To Love (The Erosians) (3 page)

I carry on staring at him, sure he
’s going to charge towards me if he is an Underworld immortal, or maybe he’s going to make all the mortals freeze, or instantly kill them so he can deal with me alone no one sends this sort of advanced immortal just for a chat. My internal fiery pain has no further north to travel and is now rushing south quicker than it rose; as if gravity is helping with my destruction.

If he has been sent by Hades, then I'm the only one he could be here for. There
’s no way he would be here for a mortal at the school I happen to be working in. Coincidences like that don’t happen. Maybe Zeus and Eros reached a deal before the end of his deadline, and he is now getting his wish. I'm going to be destroyed!

Swallowing hard, I continue to fight to get my breathing back under control. I focus on taking in the air and releasing it. If I don
’t focus on something repetitive he’s going to win.

I'm close to giving in until he looks at me. My head is silenced as my body is washed with instant calm. My heart returns to a normal rhythm, the shivering stops and the urge to run is gone. The agonizing fire dies away, allowing my brain to concentrate again. The pain has lost; our eyes meet, torturing me now will do nothing.

Staring into his eyes I can’t doubt he is alive and isn’t from the undead. Hecate uses those that are already dead to create that race. The life has already left them and even after she invokes them their eyes never shine with life; like his are. Hecate invokes corpses with dark intentions, giving them one mission to complete before they return to their motionless state. Even if his eyes weren’t glowing I would know if he were one of them. He would be as grotesque as a lost soul that wanders the Underworld; like the ones I witnessed that time in the portal Amora created when she was trying to scare me.

This guy certainly doesn't have the body or face of a lost soul or one of the undead for that matter. He looks sensational and doing what I do, I
’ve seen a lot of attractive people walking around, but never someone as handsome as he is. I’ve been witness to the Gods of Olympus who are all pretty hot, but nothing compared to him.

There
’s more to him though than the breathtaking features that create his alluring image. There’s something else that sets him apart from all the others. He is slightly taller than the rest, his shoulders are a touch broader, and you just know he’s stronger than them all. His body is muscled but, not in a ripped, bulging way. The power he holds rests confidently under his impressively taut skin. He acts differently from the other jocks as well. They’ve all torn their tops off as they always do at the first ray of sun, and are doing their cool down stretches, which they usually do in the lockers, at the edge of the field and are bordering on a pretty x rated performance for the growing crowd. He though isn’t interested.

But, if he is an Underworld demon, why would he care about anyone else here? He wouldn
’t be showboating like the rest; he’d be as focused as he is now on his target, on his prey, on me! This relief he’s providing me with is to taunt me. Before was probably just a demonstration of his power; putting me in that heart stopping pain to show me what he is capable of doing! If I don’t cooperate with his wishes - I swear his lips twitched into a smile.

I
’m suspicious that Allana can read my mind and, if she can, there’s no reason this guy in front of me can’t. He must be a God.

Dragging my eyes from his, I run them down the rest of him. The more I take in of him, the more I'm sure he
’s a God. Wait, why am I so sure that if he is an immortal he has to be from the Underworld? He could be from Olympus. That would explain his freaking hotness, and his lack of an aura. But surely I would have been told? And his skin isn’t shimmering purple like those from Olympus. But then our ethereal radiance does fade the longer you’re in the mortal world. Good job too or the school nurse would be doing all sorts of tests on me to figure out why I'm glowing violet.

I
’d need to be told; especially if he’s going to turn up here at the same school where I'm playing a mortal! Unless I'm not meant to know; there is the possibility he’s here to take me back to the court of Zeus to be destroyed. What if he’s been following me for months; waiting for his best opportunity to strike. I guess he doesn’t need to be from the Underworld for my fate to be sealed.

One of his friends slaps him on the shoulder, laughing, and he turns to glance at them. The force of something snapping between us is intense, like we were both holding the end of an elastic band and he just lets go. Tingles start up in my arms and legs as my body returns to me. I'm no longer held in his gaze. A new breed of fear awakens in my veins and so does the desire to run.

“Like what you see?” one of the jocks asks me whilst flexing one of his biceps. The rest of them fell about laughing, except him. I watch all the football guys staring at me as I figure out the best way to take off. The sane part of my brain tells me screaming and running through the school common is not going to be the best way to end this situation. The jocks' laughter gets louder, and my cheeks start to burn as I scold myself for standing here like an idiot as they continue looking at me then at each other and start smirking and shaking their heads. I give in and run towards the school I don’t care how crazy I look.

“
What the hell was that?”

“
No idea, maybe she wants you”

“
Seriously, no thanks! I mean she’s hot an’ all but with a reputation like hers I’m not going there”

Their mocking stings more than usual. I glimpse back at him, the
aura less sadistic angel to gauge his reaction, but he is deliberately staring into the distance.

I pass other clusters of students dispersing to get back to their classes on my way to the entrance doors. They
’re all grinning madly, so they all saw what happened.

My body flushes brightly with embarrassment! Thankfully the further from him I get the weaker the stabs of fear are in my body. What they leave in their wake though is almost as distressing - an ache that stinks of rejection. I actually wish the ground would open and let me fall straight through into the court of Hades so he could relieve me of my life. I may not have liked this way of living before but now
it's worse than ever.

My brain kicks into overdrive as it tries to rationalize the whole situation, telling me not to worry about the mortal embarrassment and that they probably didn
’t even notice my open-mouthed fixation with him. The irrational side of my brain is screaming for me to forget about the mortal embarrassment and to concentrate instead on the new threat of an immortal enemy who can cripple me without even peering in my direction. But the laughing of all the guys around him silences both of those voices.

“
Hey Josh I think it was you she was after, guess you’ve got a stalker.”

Why care what they think; my mind tries to soothe me, but those calming words are shut down quickly by the hysterical questioning that overpowers any type of sense. What is he, why he is here and why am I terrified of him!

Revelation

~
2~

Slumping by the school entrance after the bell has already gone; I watch carelessly as everyone rapidly piles their way into school. I guarantee you none of them is that desperate to get to class. The heady stench of perfume, aftershave and sweat hits the back of my throat as they all rush past. I choke down  the gag erupting inside of me.

As I try not to choke, Keagan
’s dark blue hoody emerges at the back of the crowd from my left. He’s on a direct collision course with Cassidy who’s walking to my right. At least I’ve done one thing right today.

Glancing shyly at each other simultaneously, their auras start to pulse because of their proximity. The last of the crowd files into the school leaving them alone in the foyer, well apart from me, but they
’re too busy staring at each other to notice I'm here.

Keagan moves towards the door and holds it open for Cassidy. Confusion shrouds her face as she walks through mumbling some form of thanks. Keagan’s lips tighten into a weird sort of smile in response, and he nods at her. Their first meeting over and I suppose it went as well as I could hope. The mood I'm in though wouldn’t change even if they had run into each other’s arms and announced to whoever would listen how in love they are.

I exhale loudly. I'm alone, so no one
’s going to pay attention to my sighs of despair. The double doors swung shut minutes ago, I should push them open and head to geography, but how is learning about the different continents going to help me?

None of the questions currently dancing around in my head will be answered by which country has the highest amount of rainfall. I can just picture the teacher deciding to take a detour into the unknown lives of the hidden immortals who walk among us and their mind spinning dilemmas. It
’d be pretty cool if the teacher did though!

The blood finally starts draining from my cheeks so at least I don’t appear as embarrassed as before, but this unease in my stomach is refusing to leave me. Thankfully it’s not the intense cramp I got when I was near him, but I feel as if my body has been coated with a simmering pain that is just waiting to burst into flames. I bite my lip with a little too much force. I always chew on my lip when I'm anxious, but I never draw blood.

What
’s happening to me?

With my footsteps echoing in the deserted strip of the hallway, tiny spasms - like electric shocks, start to erupt inside of me. I know they
’re only baby threats to some mother of all attacks that could be approaching me. I daren’t glance behind me for the cause. I'm afraid I’ll spot the aura-less figure, or Josh as he seems to be known, ready to chase after me. If this pain only happens when he is close to me, he can't be too far from me right now.

Quickening my footsteps, I hurry to the end of the corridor and throw myself around the corner, straight into the welcome relief of other girls running as late to class as I am.

“
Did you notice Blane’s body? He has undoubtedly been hitting the gym” One them gushes as she waits for her friend to gather her books.

“
No,  I was glued to Josh waiting for him to get his jersey off like the rest of them! What is he hiding under there” her friend smirks back?

“
Well you know he’s off limits – Stacey has her eyes firmly set on him!” Another girl joins in closing her locker door and leading them towards the classrooms.

Stacey can get in line!

Whoa what am I saying? My body releases the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding; I slow my pace to a more natural one as I almost catch something whisper my name in the corridor trying to entice me back. If I keep moving forward, I’ll be safe.

I stop by my locker to swap my books. With one arm,  I gently close my locker door and lean my back against the hard metal. Surely now in this well-lit corridor with the classrooms only a few feet away I won
’t hear any more whispers. I close my eyes and focus on slowing my breathing. I just need a few seconds to compose myself before facing the school again. Really I’m just trying to remember anything from the few weeks’ induction I had about this life that might tell me what he is.

I can
’t focus though. When I close my eyes, he’s there. When I see him, I start to feel on edge. Is this obsession all in my mind? Did he actually control an aura and I just couldn’t make it out? Was I too focused on those eyes? Those deep brown almost black penetrating eyes; or how his jersey stretched across his sculpted chest? The chest that I wish his arms would hold me against just once?

Hold on a minute, what am I thinking? Snapping open my eyes I look for anything that could get the vision of us in a more than intimate embrace to disappear. I inanely search the floor cracks for any image but his. These thoughts aren
’t the ones I'm meant to be having. I'm a Goddess of love, to give love, not to receive the stupid wanting sensation I give everyone else.

These are the sorts of thoughts Amora plants in people
’s minds to help them fall in love. Amora has advanced further than just sticking auras together like I do; she can actually manipulate minds into falling in love.

Am I falling?

Is that what this is? Seeing him didn’t feel like falling; the sensation was more like someone or something was sucking me into an abyss! Causing every nerve in my body to electrify at the thought of being with him, causing my heart to contract and expand to the near point of explosion with every picture I create of him. I’ve only seen him once but then ‘love at first sight’ had to come from somewhere.

Oh no.

The pains in my stomach erupt, causing me to clutch my sides together as my breath splutters in my throat. The football squad run down the hall freshly changed out of their gear. I lift my eyes shyly, trying my best to look normal and not show my pain from being crushed internally. One of the bigger guys, Blane I think his name is shouts, “Hey Josh, she’s waiting for you.”