“It’s Hektor,” the massive dragon-being grumbled. “Just Hektor.”
Zara watched him, feeling the ache of heartbreak leaking through his aura.Hopeless romantic. And despite the destruction, the drama, the overwhelming feelings battering her shield…something about that tugged at her.
“Hektor,” Perseus said, slipping into full diplomat mode. “What is it that you want from Eros? What did he do, and how can he make it right?”
“He cannot undo what he has done,” Hektor wailed. “Because of him, I have lost the chance to have a mate.”
“Oh, don’t be dramatic,” Eros cut in, folding his arms. “It was one woman.”
“One woman whom you shot with one of your cursed arrows so she would fall in love with someone else!” Hektor hissed, his scales rippling with heat. “Eleonora should have beenmine.”
Perseus blinked. “Is this true?”
Eros sighed, his mouth flattening. “Unfortunately, yes. I did…some terrible things in the past, sometimes just for mere amusement because I was bored. Or maybe I was angry at my own circumstances.”
“We all have a past,” Psyche said gently. “What’s important is that we do better once we correct our course.”
“Quite right, darling.” Eros cleared his throat and faced the Drakkon. “Forgive me, Hektor. It was wrong of me to do that.”
“Itwas,” Hektor grumbled. “You cost me the love of my life. And now I am condemned to walk this world alone! Forever mourning what we could have been. I will never find another, and I am doomed to an eternity of solitude.”
Zara’s eyelid twitched.Wow. He really is a romantic drama hurricane in humanoid form.
Eros only sighed and shook his head. “Really? Let me tell you a little secret, Hektor. My arrows don’t work the way people think.”
Hektor stiffened. “They don’t?”
“No. They can redirect your affection to the first person you see…but only if your heart is truly free. If Eleonora had loved you, she wouldn’t have been turned by those arrows. The effect would only be temporary.”
“I…” Hektor’s face crumpled, his jaw slackening. “So, she never…”
“No,” Eros said softly. “She never loved you. And I’m sorry. I truly am. No one understands that pain more than I.”
Hektor swallowed hard, a wounded sound leaving him. “I always thought…”
Zara could still feel Hektor’s emotions rolling off him in waves: despair, longing, bitterness so old it tasted like ash. Underneath it all, though, was a softness she hadn’t expected. A hopeless romantic streak that wrapped itself around his grief like ivy. Oddly…it appealed to her.
“Forget about her, Hektor,” said Eros.
Zara watched with cautious fascination as Eros stepped closer, offering a surprisingly gentle pat to the Drakkon’s shoulder. He approached the Drakkon with the same casual confidence one might use for a mildly upset housecat, never mind that Hektor could melt steel with a sigh.
“I know it feels like you’re never going to get over her. But you know what helps?”
Hektor sniffed, massive chest shuddering. “What?”
“Having a purpose,” Eros said brightly. “Tell me, Hektor, what do you do back in the Drakkon citadel?”
“Well, uh…I’m an enforcer.”
“Do you like it?”
Hektor lifted a clawed hand and wobbled it. “It’s okay. Just boring sometimes.”
“Excellent!” Eros beamed. “Because our team is recruiting.”
Perseus made a faint choking sound. Medusa muttered something that sounded suspiciously likeAbsolutely not, while Psyche seemed to be suppressing a laugh.
But Zara? Her pulse kicked.
