Page 40 of Eris

She froze for the briefest second before she snuggled into him. His touch-starved goddess wasn't used to affection, so he was taking it as slow as he could with her so he didn't scare her off. The intensity of his feelings for her should have scared him most of all. They didn't. Nothing felt so right to him as his arm around Eris.

"You smell good," she whispered, rubbing her nose against him.

Enzo kissed the top of her head. "You do too. What is the first thing you are going to do when your curse is broken?"

"I haven't dared to think that far ahead. Hope still feels dangerous at this point. What are you going to do?" she asked, her dark purple eyes searching his.

"I have no idea either. I like running the bar, don't get me wrong. I just don't know if it's going to suit me forever. For once, I don't mind not knowing what's going to happen next. As you said, it feels dangerous to plan out anything until after we are done with this quest." Enzo grinned at the horizon. "Maybe I'll end up reading fortunes and making love spells with Bianca. Or retreating to a cave with the palladium somewhere to be a mystic."

Eris laughed and kissed his neck. "I doubt that, but it would be amusing for me to watch. Maybe we both need just to wait and see what happens."

"At least if we are together, the company will be good," Enzo replied and kissed the top of her head. Something silver flickered in the corner of his eye and released her. "Hey, did you see that?"

"What?" Eris asked, looking about.

"Take the wheel for a second," Enzo said and went to investigate. "Maybe it was a dolphin or a whale. I haven't seen one in ages." He moved about to the front of the ship, leaning over to see if he could spot whatever it had been. There was another flash of silver and purple, but he couldn't make out the shape of what he was seeing. He leaned down further and jumped as a woman's face smiled up at him with fanged teeth.

"Eris! There's something—" he began when the creature leaped up out of the water. He reeled backward, but he wasn't quick enough. Wet claws gripped him, and great wings flapped.

"Enzo!" Eris screamed in panic.

He tried to fight the naked woman-like creature off, but the claws tightened their grip, and he was pulled up into the air with another high-pitched scream. Eris reached out for him, and he tried to grab her. His fingers brushed against hers, but then hewas dragged up into the air by his feet, the ship dropping away beneath him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Eris watched in growing fear and horror as Enzo rose higher into the sky.

"Fucking harpies! You bring him back!" she shouted, amplifying her voice in warning.

Another creature burst out of the water, rocking the sailboat. Eris stopped the boat and dropped the anchor. Fear and fury were turning her eyes black. Her fangs lengthened, and claws stretched from her fingertips. First naiads and now harpies. She wasdonewith people touching what belonged to her.

A shadow spear appeared in her hand, and she threw it at the closest circling harpy. It pierced its chest, and it screamed, the wound spraying black blood as it careened out of the sky.

The other two harpies tossed Enzo between them in the air, and Eris went cold. She had seen them use each other's strength to terrorize and then tear their victims apart. They loved the taste of fear in their meat.

"No." Eris's power roared out of her, tearing and stretching her body until she was a creature of Tartarus. She didn't register the pain as horned bat-like wings burst from her back, and she shot into the air. Her whole world was narrowed on one thing—Enzo. He was struggling in the harpies' claws. Eris saw the blood seeping through his shirt and lost her mind.

Eris launched spear after spear at the harpies that were now swarming. She landed on one's back and tore its wings off before tossing it aside like the filth it was.

Eris unleashed the true darkness inside her—a gift from her mother—and blacked out the skies around them. The harpies called and screamed, disorientated and unable to see. Eris could see better in the dark than in the light. She summoned a sword and shot through them, slaughtering her path to the leader that had her Enzo.

"Eris!" he called over the noise.

She collided with the harpy holding him.

"Mine," she snarled and tore into its neck with her fangs.

The harpy dropped Enzo, and he started to plummet toward the waves. Eris tossed aside the dying harpy and dove after him. The darkness vanished, and the blue sea rose up faster and faster. Eris collided with Enzo, catching him and wrapping her arms and wings around him as they hit the water.

The impact snapped something in her right wing, but she didn't let Enzo go until the depths slowed them. She released the hold on him only long enough to untangle her wings. She grabbed him by the shoulders and began to kick back to the surface. They burst through the waves, Enzo coughing and spluttering.

"Eris!" He turned in the water and froze, eyes going wide. "Fuck...Eris,bella, are you in there?"

She couldn't form words, too lost in the power riding her. She grabbed him under the shoulders and started to swim toward the boat.

"I'm not hurt bad. I can swim," Enzo tried to say, but her answering snarl stopped him from arguing.

They reached the boat, and Eris lifted him up so he could grab the edge and haul himself aboard. He reached down for her hand and helped her up. She stood over him, her dress shredded and her wings broken. Enzo climbed to his feet.

---