Logically, I knew this was good. That it was the right thing. Demi needed to complete the quest. But I couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that Eros had lied to me. That the void inside me wouldn’t be filled by helping her—because helping her meant losing her.
I couldn’t take another second of watching Jonas fawn over her like some lovesick bard. I ripped off my headphones and stormed out of the control room.
Lars, my assistant, was already in the hallway.
“I was just coming to get you,” he said. “A new batch of . . . you know . . . has arrived.”
It sounded illicit. It wasn’t.
Just men. Which somehow sounded worse.
But I was turning over every stone to find Demi’s soulmate.
Some of my siblings were helping—discreetly bringing in demigods who thought they were interviewing for an executive producer role.
Getting them onto the property without anyone noticing was a logistical nightmare. And I hated wiping their memories afterward. It was probably against our laws, but I was more of the mindset to ask for forgiveness rather than permission at this point.
Thankfully, my half-sister Adriana had terrifyingly effective powers. No one knew who her mother was—except our father, and he wasn’t talking.
Still, she was helping me make sure none of these men remembered a thing. Because I had to protect the show. And I had to protect Demi.
At all costs.
“You know what to do.”
Lars nodded. It was his job to make sure I didn’t end up on camera. With his gift for manipulating electricity, he’d been causing just enough “technical difficulties” to keep me invisible. The crew had been scratching their heads over the glitches all week.
I crossed the lobby and spotted Miles and Jazzy near the check-in counter—standing a little too close for coworkers. Jazzy was pawing at him, all smiles and fluttery lashes.
The crew had been buzzing about them for days, but clearly, subtlety wasn’t part of their budding romance.
I gave them a nod.
“Stepping out for some fresh air.”
They barely looked up.
Jazzy waved, all breezy and unbothered. “Have fun.”
I rolled my eyes. Not that I wasn’t happy for them. I was. I considered them both friends. But Demi’s rule book probably had a point about workplace romance. It was awkward as hell for everyone around them.
Lars texted as soon as the coast was clear. I headed straight for the forest.
Demi’s unsuspecting candidates were probably wondering what in the Titans they were doing out here—if this was supposed to be a job interview, it was a strange one.
Not that it mattered. They’d forget soon enough. Unless one of them was the lucky man meant for her.
A quarter mile in, beneath the dense canopy, I found four men standing awkwardly among the trees. Adriana and my brother Cai flanked them, both shaking their heads at me. They were willing to help, but they thought I was insane.
They might be right. I’d never felt so out of control in my life. A war raged inside me—me versus my god side. The ache for Demi was constant, gnawing. I’d lost count of how many times I’d nearly gone to her. But I didn’t want to be that man. Selfish. Unbridled.
“Hello, thank you for coming,” I said, as if this were just another round of interviews.
Each handshake triggered the Cupid inside me, scanning for the thread that might lead to Demi’s heart.
And with every touch, I found myself praying he was the one—and praying he wasn’t. All of me recoiled at the thought of them touching her.
By the time I reached the last man, I already knew. I sighed, loud and tired.
