- Eros -

Defiance, there was defiance in her eyes. And a whole lot of happiness.

She grinned at me and raised her empty glass to me before getting off the stage. She disappeared into the sea of people and I felt someone grab my shoulder.

"Eros! What was that?!" Payne caught up with me, shock plastered on his face.

I had no idea. After centuries of living and pairing people, I've never met someone who broke out of it.

"I don't know, we'll fix it."

He wanted to say more, but clearly the look on my face stopped him. I probably looked pissed as hell, which I kind of was.

An actress strode into my club and announced that she broke up with the man I paired her with. Who did she think she was? Taylor Swift?

We left the club and I got into my white gold-rimmed Lamborghini with Payne struggling to get in shotgun. My huge cases that stored my bow and arrows took up a lot of space and were really inconvenient.

I sighed and grabbed the cases from him, easily flinging it to the space behind the seats, "You need to work out man, you can't even lift my cases properly."

"I work out more than you but not everyone is as gifted as you are so stop your whining," he shot back.

I couldn't help smiling, Payne is such an idiot.

He's been my assistant for as long as I can remember. He isn't as built as I am, or as tall, or as smart, or as good-looking. Okay, put simply, Payne is like me, but with a lot less of everything.

Though in human sense he is extremely good-looking and 'hot', if I may quote young teenage girls nowadays. 

I'm just the crazy extreme of everything. Too extremely good-looking.

I've had girls stalk me for months at a time, and the only way to get them to quit, after sleeping with them of course, is to pair them. Good riddance.

The engine rumbled quietly as we made our way down to my mansion. 

"What do you think happened?" Payne questioned.

I pulled up at the entrance of my huge mansion and grabbed the suitcases from behind the seats.

"Check the records, maybe we can find something from there."

I got out of the car and we went inside, down to the basement. I placed my hand on the scanner next to the highly secured metal door and looked into the retina scan. A green light flashed, followed by a beeping sound and finally, my security system greeted me, "Welcome back Master Eros."

"It's good to be back," I walked over to my showcase cabinet and opened my case. I placed my bow back on the stand and kept the case at the bottom of the shelf.

The moment Payne walked in the whole place flashed red and a dreadful siren rang throughout the space.

"I have a guest with me," I called out to the voice recognition as I went over to my work station and the lights immediately stopped flashing and went back to normal.

The siren also switched off and was replaced by some soothing nature music that never failed to calm my nerves.

My basement was basically my office and was where I did all my work. Researching partners, pairing them, checking their horoscopes and even their height and weight.

Everything was measured to have the optimum couple.

The perfect match.

There can only be one made for the other, hence what happened tonight, shouldn't have happened at all.

"Your security is crazy, it's not like anyone can even get through the front gate. Plus if I were you, this place would be a gym. Not some clinical pearly white office with like ten monitors all doing some elaborate pairing system," Payne complained.

He's been obsessed with working out recently and somehow everything reminds him of the gym. I shook my head and turned my laptop on, pulling an adapter from the pairing system and plugging it into my screen.

The screens changed and holograms floated in the air. I flattened my laptop out into a tablet and the picture of the actress hovered above my screen.

I took a deep breath as her image looked back at me. It was the image of her looking at me from the stage.

Eyes bright and curious, hair curled and wavy past her shoulders, cheekbones high as she smiled, her teeth white and perfect, her lips a deep red. She was a total actress, overflowing with confidence and beauty.

"She definitely lost her aura, did you shoot that arrow accurately at her? I mean, I'm not saying that you ever miss but-"

I raised an eyebrow at my assistant and he cleared his throat, "Sorry boss."

I swiped the image of Destiny away from me and to the main hologram. I ran a scan on her and the system did its work. 

Her full background history in clear sight for me.

I replayed her recent encounter with Dylan on video, yes we have eyes everywhere and we're watching your every move. But only for your own good. I need to find your life partner.

They were at a studio, Dylan was talking to her. Destiny just stared straight at her mirror and continued touching up her make-up.

Payne stood next to me and watched the scene with me.

She stood up and yelled at him, he yelled back. It was an intense quarrel. Then I saw it, Dylan's aura faded.

"There! There! Did you see that?! He lost his aura Eros! It just vanished!" Payne shouted next to me. 

I replayed those few seconds and watched as Dylan's love-struck glow in his eyes disappeared.

My forehead creased, wait. What about Destiny?

I rewound the video all the way back to the day she came to my club and got shot by my arrow.

I remember the scene vividly. I'd already shot Dylan and I found Destiny sitting at the bar. She was facing outwards, smiling at everyone who walked past her. She was drunk. It was a clear shot for me, I aimed straight at her and the arrow pierced her heart.

There was minimal reaction from her, but she jerked forward slightly and looked around. As if stunned by what just struck her. She glanced up at me and stared at me with wide eyes. 

Then Dylan walked towards her and everything else was history.

"That's weird," I mumbled and replayed the moment when I shot the arrow.

The arrow piercing her heart, her eyes shifting up to me, the arrow vanishing, she didn't catch the aura at all. There was no sign of it in her eyes from the very beginning. 

But there was something else, happiness. 

Something I didn't seem to have.

"So what do we do now? Do we have to like, re-pair her?" Payne burst out laughing and I couldn't help smiling at that idiot.

"Seems like we have to, I have to check what the matching system says about that though," I keyed in Destiny and Dylan's names into the holographic monitor and it did a quick scan.

MATCH CONFIRMED: DYLAN ROGUE & DESTINY PAIGE

The machine where the arrows were made was now in 'Progress' mode.

I sighed and walked over to my huge leather seat. I can't believe I had to do a manual repair for a couple.

"You need to catch up on some sleep man, I'll go run some errands," Payne hopped out of my office and I mumbled a quick command for the doors to open for him.

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. I've not been resting enough since I literally had to stay awake throughout the opening hours of my club just to wait for Ashley and Charles to show up.

And now I had to redo the whole process again with Destiny and Dylan.

I breathed out an exhausted breath and let sleep take over.

***

I could smell her sweet scent. It smelt much lighter than the arrows. Maybe strawberries with a hint of alcohol.

"Why so nervous Eros? You should be most familiar with lust, desire and passion," she whispered into my ear as her hands ran down my chest.

What the hell was she doing?

"You know who I am, you know I don't feel anything towards humans. Let me do my job," I demanded.

My hands were tied behind me, the room was dark. But I could feel her, sense her being envelope me.

"But don't you want me? I know you do. Your eyes tell me everything," I felt her breath on my lips.

I gulped, I don't feel anything around humans. But I feel something for her.

Every time we catch one another's gaze, I can feel her. I can tell she wants me as much as I do.

Her eyes tell me everything too.

"Kiss me," she urged and I felt her soft luscious lips devour mine.

My eyes flew open and I breathed deeply.

I pressed my temples and mumbled profanities. 

Destiny will drive me insane. Why am I even dreaming of her?

My phone vibrated on my table and I picked it up swiftly, "Yes?"

Payne chuckled, "Dude let's grab some dinner before visiting your clubs. You're supposed to do a surprise check on your staff."

I glanced at my calendar, I would pick out a random day of the month to check on my clubs. Today was one of those days. 

I owned almost all the clubs in this city except for maybe one or two that I've put under Payne's name. It still belonged to me I guess. 

It didn't really matter. The clubs were just a place for me to pair couples. 

"Get changed, I'll be there in ten," Payne instructed and hung up.

I rolled my eyes, tonight was going to be another long night.

I looked over at my machine and it was still in 'Progress' mode. The arrows were not done yet.

At least I won't be doing any pairing, I can do my checks and head home. I had to confirm a few scans on other couples in the city.

I left my office and walked up to my bedroom to have a cold shower, thanks to a stupid dream. I changed into a clean suit and slipped my black shoes on.

I styled my hair back and pulled my grey blazer around me before straightening my tie. I looked into the mirror and for a split moment recalled how Destiny's touch sent me over the edge.

And it was literally only in my dreams.

I closed my eyes, damn you Eros. She's human, you're a fucking God. Get your head in the game.

I clenched my fists and felt the odd feeling go away. I won't feel anything. I never did. Not after that girl.

I checked my phone that was charging on my tabletop and saw a message from Payne.

'Check this article out. Link attached.'

I clicked on the link and it led to an article about Dylan Rogue.

Dylan Rogue seen with new EL magazine model. New start so soon? 

There was a picture of Dylan with a lady and they were eating each other's faces. Not good.

I did a quick scan on the girl he was seen with and she was supposed to be paired with someone else. Of course.

My phone vibrated again and Payne sent another link to me. It was an article about Destiny.

Destiny Paige gone rogue over Rogue? 

A video played at the bottom of the article, showing her last night's announcement in my club.

I sighed loudly, I didn't really care about her shenanigans at my club but I did care about Dylan. I mean, if he is seeing other girls it will just make it harder for both Destiny and him to appear at the club at the same time.

I need to find a way to get them back together.