Page 79 of Midnight Star

He doesn’t care. Of course he doesn’t care.

But, when this is finished, he will. This is my chance, and I won’t waste it.

So, since I’m apparently the only one who’s going to be useful in getting back what Riven bargained away, I return my focus to Eros.

“Willyou help us?” I ask him, since the god of lovemusthave love in his heart.

“I could,” he says, studying the golden arrow withdisturbing intensity. “But you don’t deserve it.” His eyes flash with anger, and gold magic buzzes across the dome like electricity, reminding us of his power. “You treated love like a commodity. Like something to be bargained away for personal gain. Both of you.” His gaze cuts to Riven. “You for trading it, and you—” Back to me. “For agreeing to the deal.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” I protest, wind whooshing through the dome as my magic senses my desperation. “He used magic toforceme.”

The reminder makes my stomach swirl with nausea. It’s so disturbing that I can’t blame Eros for being angry about it. I’m angry about it, too.

But that’s an issue for another day.

A day when Riven loves me again.

“There’s always a choice,” the god continues. “And you made yours. Both of you. Now, you’ll face the consequences.”

“What consequences?” Riven asks, the air cooling around him as he keeps his gaze level with Eros’s.

“I’m here to punish you,” Eros says simply. “To show you what happens when you treat true love—once in animmortal lifetimelove—like a trinket to be traded.”

His threat hangs in the air, and I glance at Riven, hoping he’ll prove Eros wrong. That he’ll show this vengeful god that hedoeslove me.

All he has to do is say those three words.

Three words, and the god of love will—hopefully—leave us alone.

“Your point is valid,” Riven says instead, positioning himself slightly in front of me, in a way that could almost be perceived ascaringabout me. “However, it doesn’t apply to us. Because if I ever truly loved her, nothing could have taken it from me. Why should we be punished for something that was never real to begin with?”

I take a sharp breath inward, the coldness of his words a punch to my soul.

“I am a god of love,” Eros says, more golden energy crackling across the dome in bright electrical veins. “I see the truth of what you’ve thrown away. The emptiness it left behind screams at me like a shattered vow. And I will not stand idly by while you desecrate what others would die to have.”

“You’re mistaken,” Riven replies, with no flickers of regret or hesitation. Just that same unwavering certainty that digs into my chest like a blade. “Whatever you think you see?—”

“I see everything,” Eros cuts him off. “I see the void in your heart where love should be. I see her pain, raw and bleeding—a wound that festers because you refuse to acknowledge it. I see the threads of what you shared—threads you carelessly severed as if they meant nothing.”

My breath catches, my vision blurring, the windblowing my hair in strands across my face. He’s saying what I already know is true, but hearing it aloud—spoken with divine certainty—makes it real in a way that tears even deeper into my soul.

“Do you know how rare true love is?” Eros continues, his voice dropping to something quieter, but no less dangerous. “How many beings in this universe search their entire lives for what you two once had? Meanwhile, you traded it away like common currency. I should shoot both of you down on the spot for it. However, I’m going to be generous, since Iamthe god of love and all. I’m going to let you choose your punishment.”

Sapphire

Eros drawsboth arrows—one gold, one lead—and he holds them up, side by side.

The metallic tips gleam under the golden light of the dome, and my heart pounds as I stare at them.

I reach for Riven’s hand, but he shrugs me off.

“What are our options?” he asks calmly, as if we’re standing in the center of court and he’s ready to enter negotiations.

Given that our options are to either negotiate with this god or to fight him, I can’t fully blame him.

“It’s simple,” Eros says with a cruel smile, directing his attention to me. “I’ll either shoot you with gold, intensifying your love until it consumes you completely. Or...” His gaze shifts to Riven. “I’ll shoot him with lead, driving what remains of his capacity to love you so far away that all that’sleft is hatred.”

“No.” I step back, staring at the arrows in horror.

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