Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
And sure enough, when I look over at Star, she’s looking at him and the curse has been broken. I know this because she’s blinking real fast and, of course, this is not the first time I’ve used my powers to seduce a woman into seducing me, so I recognize the blinking.
“Hey,” Declan says, elbowing Quaid. “What’d you do? How’d you counteract Aric, for fuck’s sake? You’re a nobody.”
Even though I can’t see Quaid’s eyes behind those dumb sunglasses, I can tell they’re narrowed because he’s sneering when he side-eyes Declan. “How many fucking times do I have to spell it out for you people? I’ve been touched by Apollo. I have powers you can’t even imagine.”
Declan scoffs and I laugh.
Quaid thinks he’s our equal?
That’s actually funny.
“Quaid, you can counteract all you want. She’ll never stop wanting me. Star,” I say. And it comes out in a commanding voice, so she looks in my direction. Then, as she watches, I slide my hand down the front of my shirt, right down between my legs, and grab myself, giving my junk a tug to bring her eyes down where they need to be.
Sure enough, she blinks again.
Once more, she’s under my curse.
3 - DECLAN
Am I shocked that Quaid has hidden powers? Yes. Yes I am. But am I worried about it? Hell no. Like Aric said, he’s nobody. A stupid mortal. Even if Star did choose to go with him over me, how far would they get? He can’t take her to Olympus. Whatever touching Apollo has done to Quaid, it was on this side of things, not that one.
Plus, Star doesn’t even remember who she is. And this memory hole goes far beyond what happened last night. I’m not exactly sure who she is either, but it doesn’t matter. Aric was wrong about why I’m here. While I was sent here by my father, I’m not here to take Star back to him. I’ve been undercover, working for Hera, queen of the Gods, and I’ve got her blessing inside me. She gave me a boost of power that melds perfectly with my own—the ability to travel between worlds.
Quaid lives here in this realm, so I guess I can see him showing up at the last minute to ruin things. But Aric was a problem I didn’t anticipate. Because he should not be here. Not even the son of Ares can walk through worlds. And he wasn’t gifted with this power like I was. Hera said there was only one way for a demigod to make the journey—they must be able to carry information with them as they cross. Coordinates, as it turns out. But the message isn’t the important part, it’s the messenger. And that’s me, son of Hermes. The most famous messenger of all time.
But the most pressing problem at the moment is that Aric has deployed an attraction curse on my Star and I don’t understand how he’s doing it. He shouldn’t be able to affect her that way. Attraction against one’s will isn’t a blessing that might come from Ares, it’s a curse which needs to be executed with an artifact. But he’s not wearing any jewelry that I can see. Not even a watch.
All I know is that whatever is powering this curse is on his body somewhere, and I need to find it before he steals her away and ruins everything. Because if he can cross over to this side, then he must have a way to cross back as well.
He can’t have her. Not ever. She’s mine.
And I can prove it.
“Star, look at me.” She doesn’t, of course, because she’s staring at Aric’s dick. He’s such a sick motherfucker. But in this instance, I don’t need her eyes. I just need her ears…
“Da, da, dahhh, da, da, da, lies,” I sing, using the melody we were working on last night, but inserting the word she just came up with. I have no clue what is up with this song, but it doesn’t matter. My little Star is fixated on it and when I sing the melody, Aric’s hold on her wavers.
His seduction curse weakens and Star looks in my direction as I sing the other part she came up with just before she was cursed by Aric. “Something, something, something, eyes!”
Star blinks, just like she did when Quaid broke Aric’s hold over her, and stares at me.
“Damn you,” Aric growls. “Stop fucking things up!”
I ignore him. Starting to panic. Because this is the extent of my knowledge about this stupid song. Which means it’s my last chance to influence Star unless I get some more info. “Look at me, Star. You know the rest of the song, I know you do. Let’s sing it now! Come on, dig deep into that brain of yours and tell me the rest of the words!”