Child of Eros

Chapter One

The Family of Eros

Gerwin sat at the dinner table with his other siblings, staring slack-jawed at his father. “I’m-I’m sorry… what?” He couldn’t believe his father would drop a bomb like that at the dinner table—it couldn’t be true, Gerwin didn’t believe him.

His father let out a deep sigh, his hands clasped together on the table. “You have another sibling.” He spoke slowly, “He’s sixteen years old, and he’s living on the human side.”

Gerwin’s eyes widened. “Wait, what? The human side? Why is he living in Earth?”

Gods and humans hated each other however they lived on the same planet. After being plagued by war after war, the humans and the gods came to an agreement—a peace treaty. The world was split into two. The Humans’ Side—Earth. The Gods’ Side—Olympus. Humans lived in Earth, and they were happy, the same for Gods with Olympus.

Gerwin was a god, along with his father and mother. His father was Eros, the god of s****l desire, and his mother was Enyo, the goddess of war. Their pairing was strange, and every god believed so, but they turned out to be a powerful pair who created dangerous children. Armed with striking good looks from their father and incredible strength from their mother, the gods knew the children would grow to be greatness—the minute they were born. Gerwin couldn’t help but wonder how their new sibling would fit into the f****d-up puzzle that was their family.

“He lives in Earth because…” Eros ran a hand down his face. “His mother is human.”

“What?!” Caradoc stood abruptly, knocking his chair behind him. “He’s a f*****g human?!”

Gerwin didn’t react like the others. He sat back and watched each of his siblings. “What do you mean, Father?” He asked calmly. “Our sibling is half-god, half-human?”

Eros nodded his head. “Yes, and it has come to my attention that his powers are awakening—his god side.” The god narrowed his eyes slightly. “So, it is time to fetch your brother.”

Enyo nodded. “Yes, and we will all treat him with kindness. You got it?” She said sternly.

“Father?” Gerwin leaned forward slightly. “What is his name?”

Eros gave a small smile. “Amias.”

•••

Getting into Earth was easy. Gods could easily hide themselves among humans, most just choose not to because of their deep hatred for that particular species. Not every sibling went with them—Enyo didn’t come on the rescue mission either. It was only Eros and the three oldest siblings. Gerwin, Esme, and Caradoc.

Caradoc was taking it hard, Gerwin could tell. Caradoc always hated humans, and Gerwin was worried having a half-human brother wouldn’t change Caradoc’s mind. He was worried he might even hate their new brother just as much as Caradoc hated other humans.

“What’s his mother’s name?” Esme asked. She was always the smart one, and she was always the one asking questions that no one else cared about.

Eros scowled. “Kennedy. She was a mistake. I don’t know why I chose her, but I shouldn’t have, I know that now.” He kept walking.

They were nearing Kennedy’s house, and Gerwin was getting more and more curious. How could they justify plucking a boy from his mother? A boy who probably had no idea of his lineage? Eros stopped them and pointed to a run-down doublewide.

“There it is.” He stated, a scowl still on his features. “This is where your brother is.”

Esme’s features twisted up. “This is… nice.” She looked around the other houses, just as run-down and just as… nice. Well, except for one, a nice blue one that had a pretty garden. One diamond in a gigantic s**t-field.

Eros shook his head. “No need to lie, Esme. It’s terrible. It makes me sick, thinking my son has been stuck in this s**t hole.”

“Let’s just finish this.” Caradoc snapped. “How are we doing this? Just walking in?”

“Yeah, basically.” Eros said before casually strolling up to the front door, ringing the doorbell.

It took a couple minutes before a woman answered. She did not look the same way she did when Eros had first met her. Kennedy’s brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail, her skin was overly tanned to the point that her skin was completely covered in blemishes, her boobs were huge and definitely fake, and her face was stretched unnaturally—a sure sign of plastic surgery.

Kennedy stared at Eros in shock before it morphed into anger. “What the f**k are you doing here?”

Eros scowled, and pushed his way through into the doublewide. “I’m here for my son. Where is—” He paused, mid-sentence.

The three siblings also stepped into the building, confused on what had their father so shell-shocked. Then, they saw it.

“Hey, you’re not allowed to just bust in!” Kennedy yelled, slamming the door.

The gods ignored her as they stared at the scene. The house was a disaster. Alcohol bottles littered the ground, there was a pipe on the coffee table and something that looked like meth, and everything was covered in dirt and grime.

“Sorry, it’s a little messy.” Kennedy said bitterly. “My son can’t seem to figure out how to clean up after himself.”

Eros swiveled around. “Really?” He snapped before gesturing wildly to the drugs on the table. “That, over there, is Amias’s?” He questioned.

Kennedy crossed her arms, upper-lip curling up into a sneer. “Yes, it is.”

The woman’s behavior was not helping how Caradoc’s felt about humans and if it was true that Amias was doing drugs, Caradoc had a feeling he definitely wouldn’t like his new brother.

“Where is he, Kennedy?” Eros crossed his arms, watching Kennedy with a narrowed gaze. Esme mirrored him; she had an expression that showed Kennedy just how much she disliked her. Gerwin, however, was looking around the house, wandering the living room. He noticed a door and frowned.

“Why is this metal?” Gerwin turned to look at Kennedy, gently knocking the metal door with his knuckle.

Kennedy stiffened. “None of your god damn business.” She scowled.

Eros took a step toward her. “Open the door.” He hissed.

Esme smirked and stepped toward the door. “No need.” She smashed the door down with one swift kick. She grinned as it fell down a flight of stairs.

Kennedy flinched at the sound of tumbling down—it was loud and when it hit the bottom, they heard something. A whimper. Gerwin’s eyes widened, and his gaze snapped to his father. “Did you hear that?” He asked.

Eros marched toward the now empty doorway. “Is he down there?!” He shouted, running down the stairs. Caradoc and Gerwin followed while Esme stayed to watch Kennedy.

It was horrifying. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, they found Amias. He was curled up in the corner, all skin and bones and covered in injuries. Despite his deplorable state, it was obvious he was a child of Eros because, despite his sorry state, he was still beautiful. He had brown hair, like Kennedy’s, and it was overgrown and looked unhealthy, his skin was sickly pale, his cheekbones were sharp, but it could have been because of his malnourished state, and his eyes were a glorious green.

His eyes were wide, and he trembled as he stared at the three men. They were huge compared to him, all gods were tall in stature, and he was terrified.

“My god, what did she do to you?” Eros whispered.

Caradoc had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to hate his brother as he stared at the trembling child in front of them. How could he when the poor thing could barely look at him?

Eros’s fists shook, but he took a calming breath and stepped toward his trembling son on the floor. He turned his head to Gerwin and said, “Bring your sister and Kennedy down here.”

As Gerwin ran up the stairs, Caradoc took a few steps forward. “Is he… okay?” He was at a loss for words, unsure of how to go about the situation.

“Obviously not, Caradoc!” Eros snapped, causing Amias to whimper. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Eros slowly lowered himself in front of Amias. “Hey, we’re not going to hurt you, okay?”

Amias shook his head, eyes wide. His gaze snapped up to the three people descending the stairs—Gerwin, Esme, and Kennedy. Esme’s eyes instantly locked on Amias, and she froze. “This is how you’ve been treating your own son?!” She turned to Kennedy with an angry scowl.

“Esme, calm down.” Eros ordered and took a few more steps toward Amias. “Why would you do this, Kennedy? He’s our son!”

Kennedy scowled, inching away from Esme who was glaring at her fiercely. “He’s your son. That’s why. You stupid f*****g god ruined my life when you got me pregnant and left me to take care of it.”

“He’s not an it!” Eros snapped turning completely around to look at Kennedy.

Kennedy flinched away, stumbling back at Eros’s outburst. “He’s one of you, isn’t he? A god?”

“Only half.” Caradoc interrupted. “He is only half a god which means the other half is human, and, clearly, you did a great job of suppressing his god side or he wouldn’t be hiding in a corner!” His words were dripping with malice, not toward Amias but Kennedy.

Kennedy flinched at the tone. “He’s still one of you. It’s unforgivable.”

“My god, Kennedy! What we did was consensual! I told you I was a god, and you still had s*x with me!” Eros shouted.

Amias held his hands to his ears, his brow creasing as he squeezed his eyes shut. Gerwin took note of this and gently nudged his father, gesturing toward the poor boy. Eros gritted his teeth as he took a calming breath.

“I am taking my son.” His voice had lowered to a normal octave. “Gerwin, take Amias. We’re going back to Olympus.”

Gerwin did as he was told, picking up the trembling boy in his arms. Amias squirmed in his grip. “P-Please, let me go.” He whispered in a shaky voice.

The god was surprised to hear Amias’s voice, for a moment he thought Amias was surely mute. “Don’t worry, Amias, we won’t hurt you. We’re taking you somewhere safe.”

Amias’s green eyes locked with Gerwin’s blue ones. “Who are you?” He asked as Gerwin carried him up the stairs.

“I'm your brother.”