EROS- Chapter 7 coming to AO3 on Monday 10 of August 2026.
Hi folks, thank you so much to everyone who has engaged with and interacted with Eros over on AO3, your comments and support mean the world to me, and I am so glad you're enjoying reading the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it!
The plan is to upload chapter 7 this coming Monday 10th of August 2026 to AO3.
If you'd like to read a snippet from chapter 7, then as usual you can keep reading below the cut!
DISCLAIMER:
Some of this chapter (including this snippet) is lifted pretty much word for word from Lord of Shadows, I have changed the order of some sentences, gave lines of dialouge to different characters and changed it to present tense, but some of it is lifted verbatim from Lord of Shadows, pages 236- 239, in my copy of the book.
“Ok.” Ty agrees, his eyes closed as he holds tight to his sister, his shoulders drooping a little with relief at her suggestion. It’s not perfect or ideal, but it’s good enough.
“Alright c’mon, before everyone starts getting hangry.” Julian determines with a light laugh, scooping Tavvy up into his arms when the little boy reaches for him.
“Diana, you wanna join us?” Emma offers, as the family sets off towards the kitchen, leaving the Centurions to figure out their own meal plans. They can starve for all Emma cares.
“It would be beneficial to debrief on what just happened, if you don’t have other plans.” Julian adds, shifting Tavvy higher on his hip, his heart aching at the fact that one day soon, his little boy won’t be so little anymore, and Julian won’t be able to carry him like this.
“Not tonight, debrief over dinner sounds good.” Diana agrees, falling into step beside Emma as they walk.
When they reach the kitchen, Diana closes the door behind her and turns to face Emma and the Blackthorns as they gather around the dining table, and Julian starts to pull pots and pans out of cupboards.
“None of you are safe here in L.A. now Malcolm is back, and out for Blackthorn blood.” She announces to the room, her shoulders heavy with the weight of protecting these kids she loves so dearly.
“Agreed, but what can we do about it?” Emma asks with a sigh, stretching her legs out in front of her on the benchseat, her back leaning against the wall as she rests her hand over her belly.
“Get out of here, out of L.A. I can get everyone a portal in a matter of minutes.” Diana says, shrugging off her blood soaked jacket and tossing it over the back of an unoccupied chair.
“What? But we can’t just disappear!” Livvy exclaims in protest. “You heard what he said, Malcolm will release all those demons, and countless people will be killed!"
“You can’t bargain with Malcolm.” Diana paitently explains. “He lies, Livvy. He could well get the Blackthorn blood he wants and still release the demons. Getting you lot safe and then striking against him is the better bet.”
“But_” Livvy begins to protest, but she is swiftly cut off by another voice.
“She is right.” They’re all surprised to hear Arthur say, and even more surprised to see him standing in the doorway, leaning heavily on his cane, a world weary look on his face. “You are all far better off out of Malcolm’s reach. You need to leave here, in fact as head of this Institute I insist.” He continues, sounding more resolute and firm than any of them have ever heard him sound before.
“Jules?” Livvy looks to her older brother standing still by the stove, having made no further move to begin cooking. “You’re the head of this family, you’re the one who’s taken care of us all these years. What do you think?”
If Arthur has any protestations to his nephew being referred to as the head of the family, he doesn’t voice them or let any hurt or upset show on his face.
“I agree with Diana and Uncle Arthur.” Julian determines, after a beat of silence. “Malcolm can’t be trusted.”
“It’s true, he can't, and shouldn't be.” Kit speaks up for the first time since they all came inside. “Malcom made all sorts of promises to my dad, including keeping him safe. In the end, it turned out Malcolm made sure that if anything happened to him, my dad would die too.”
Emma knows only too well that look of grief and pain on Kit’s face, the shimmer of unshed tears in his blue eyes as he thinks of his father. She almost wants to reach out and comfort him, give him a hug or squeeze his hand. But she doubts he would accept it, and it would probably put him in a bad mood.
“So? Are we leaving?” Ty questions, looking between Diana, Arthur and Julian. It’s not often the three of them seem to be in agreement, but it seems that right now, for once, they are on the same page. Which goes to show how serious the matter at hand is.
“Yes, ASAP. Diana, how fast can you arrange that portal?” Julian questions, trying to determine if they have time and if it’s safe enough for everyone to go pack a bag. Probably not, especially given that Julian doesn’t like the idea of the 4 kids leaving his sight right now, not after Malcolm’s threat, and his implication of being able to access the Institute.
Who’s to say he isn’t waiting in the shadows to kidnap Tavvy again, or maybe it would be Ty or Livvy or Dru this time. No, better they stay together for right now, and not take any risks.
“Pretty fast, leave it to me.” Diana says, digging into her jeans pocket for her phone, before pulling it out and beginning to dial.
“Catarina?” Diana asks a moment later, turning aside with her phone pressed to her ear. “I need a favor, a big one.”
“But we’ll be seen as cowards.” Dru sighs unhappily. “For running away like this_”
“You are children, all of you.” Arthur interrupts, his gaze moving from Kit, to Emma, to each of his nieces and nephews gathered. “No one would expect you to stand and fight.”
“At 17 Jules and I are expected to stand and fight.” Emma protests. She doesn’t love the idea of leaving either, she wants to ultimately and finally avenge her parents, for good this time. She wants to make sure Malcolm stays dead, and that he can’t harm anyone else ever again.
“The child you carry is not.” Arthur quietly points out. “And you are as intertwined and as inseparable as two people can be. Malcolm threatened you and your child directly. All here among us know that your child bears Blackthorn blood in their veins, Emma. And Malcolm knows it too. He will not have mercy on a babe, nor a pregnant mother. You would not ride into battle with an infant in your arms, would you?”
Emma has to take a moment to process what Arthur just said, and what just happened. It’s the most she’s ever heard him speak, possibly the most any of them have heard him speak. And he sounds remarkably like Mark, with his more formal and poetic way of speaking.
It makes Emma’s heart ache for Mark and Cristina, and leaves her hoping that her friends will return from their dangerous foray into Faerie soon, and can join them in hiding so that Mark can also be safe from the deranged former High Warlock of L.A.
Emma also wants to ask Arthur how he knows that her baby is a Blackthorn. As far as she’s aware he has no clue or idea about any of his wards’ love lives. But then again, like Ty, not everyone who is observant is vocal about it. If Jem could and can tell how Emma and Julian truly feel for each other, just by observing how they look at each other, is it really so out of line to think Arthur could have gathered the same conclusion from the same evidence?
Regardless, Emma gathers that now is not the time to ask and dig into these questions.
“I… no, I wouldn’t.” Emma admits after a moment.
“Then don’t ride into battle while you still carry your child in your womb. Fighting an unprecedented battle with a powerful warlock who has the Black Volume of the Dead to hand, is entirely different than fighting and dispatching demons as you have been doing since you were but a babe yourself.” Arthur’s tone is tinged with a deep sadness, but Emma knows he is right.
She has to protect her child and keep them safe at all costs. And if that means taking a back seat for once -at least for the next two months- then that’s something she has to do, whether she likes it or not.
I’m rereading QOAAD and in the scene when Mark and Christina first get intimate — why does he lie about not having a stele? I can’t remember how that gets resolved and it’s bugging me
I believe it’s because he was hesitant about taking things farther with her and didn’t know how to communicate it
