A Challenge for the Goddess Aphrodite

Chapter 1

It had been just over 6 months since Poppy died… and 6 months since he dug her out of her grave. Even though she wasn't dead by any conventional means of its definition, it still felt as though he had lost her. Before Poppy was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Phil had never been separated from her for very long. Heck, they had even shared a womb. And now, half a year later… half a year since Poppy left with James to find their father, Phil was left alone.

"Heads up!"

Phil moved his head slight to the left to just miss a collision with a Frisbee.

"Sorry, Phil!" Justin, the guy who threw the Frisbee, ran up to him with a stupid grin on his face. Justin had always been a good friend to Phil. They both played on the football team together. After Poppy's "death", Phil had tried to maintain all of his previous affairs. He continued to play for the football team, and baseball team, and the hockey team while earning straight A's. Even though he had tried to maintain his routine, his friends still made daily life difficult. Some of them tried to get him to talk about the death… A lot of girls tried to get him to open up to them… to lean on them as if he were a tormented soul that needed saving. What was it about a tortured mind that attracted girls? Were they masochistic? Most of his friend, however, just went out of their way to be especially nice to him. All of them treated him differently… except Justin. He was still as happy-go-lucky as ever. It was refreshing.

"Hey, check out the new girl!"

Phil turned in the direction Justin was looking at, and was momentarily stunned. The girl was… beyond description. She had raven-black hair that tumbled down her back, and a body that would put most Hollywood actresses to shame. As she walked by… or rather glided by, Justin whistled at her. Without slowing her pace, she looked over and smiled at his suggestively. Her eyes were the colour of built-up smoke… as was her hair on closer inspection. The girl was enchanting, mysterious, and… nothing that Phil wanted to get involved with. Someone who looked like that simply could not be human. Phil had overtly stated that he wanted nothing to do with the Night World.

Although Phil hadn't intentionally crossed paths with any Night people since the incidence with Poppy and James, he had unconscioudly learned how to pick them out. It wasn't just that they were eerily beautiful. It was in the way they held themselves. Their self-assured, predatory composure was unmistakable.

"She smiled at me! Did you see that?" Justin exclaimed and continued to stare as the girl disappeared into the school.

"I saw. Come on. You don't wanna be late for the first class of the semester."

--

Blaise Harman sat at the back of her English class and stared nonchalantly at her manicured nails. El Camino High was not unlike any of the other High Schools she had transferred in and out of, but compared to the Convent, it was a welcomed change. After Thea left, Blaise was sent to the Convent as punishment for using forbidden spells. After months of boredom, Blaise was able to convince her aunts that her High School education was important, and that she was well reformed. In truth, they probably took pity on her because Thea chose to abandon her and her family for that stupid human boy. Her Witch relatives outside of the Convent were done with her though. Gran was currently preoccupied with some new prophecies, and could not "look after" Blaise. Instead, Maddy Rasmussen, one of her vampire cross-relatives offered her an apartment to stay at in return for managing the building. James had apparently abandoned his station and ran off to God knows where. It wasn't a hard job. All she really had to do was collect the rent at the beginning of each month.

"Blaise Harman. What an unexpected surprise."

Looking lazily away from her nails, Blaised glanced toward the direction of the speaker. It was a blonde girl with a wicked look in her eyes.

"Delilah."

"Last I heard, they sent you to a Convent. However did you manage to escape?" Delilah stated in a mocking. Blaise and Delilah had met a few years ago at one of Thierry Descoudres' Equinox parties. After discovering their common interest in toying with the opposite sex and fine jewellery, they've exchanged a lot of… techniques.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm here now," Blaise announced.

"Well, good. It was getting rather uninteresting around here. You've always managed to spice things up."

Delilah took the seat next to her. At the same moment, the guy who had whistled at Blaise came into the classroom followed by his blonde, delicious-looking friend.

"Well, if you're bored, I'm sure we can find something amusing to play with." Blaise played with the little ring on her finger. It was one of her newer creation. It held a bloodstone, which was good for making the blood boil.

"Hft. Good luck. We're not exactly primed with eligible bachelors over here."

"Delilah, you have become entirely too picky with your toys. I'm sure we'll make due with our selection. For example, who is that delicious looking Viking, and what, pray-tell, does he drive?"

"My, you do have a good eye. That's Phillip North. He's a star on like… all of our sports teams. On top of that, he has one of the highest grade point averages of our year."

"Well, you certainly know a lot about the guy. Have you already ruined him?"

"Not likely…. Not that I haven't tried. The guy doesn't let anyone get close to him."

"I wouldn't have taken you for someone who'd give up so easily."

"I'm not. It just got to the point where the gain wouldn't have been worth all the effort…but if you're interested, I'm sure we could have some fun with him. In fact, let's make it a little more interesting. I challenge you to make him declare his love for you by… say… two weeks?

"I thought you were making it a challenge…"

"Without using any spells."

"Excuse me?"

"Blaise, I know you're the master at love spells. You probably learned even more while staying with the Crone. What I don't know is how good you are with simple seduction," Delilah stated smugly, almost as if she didn't think Blaise could do it.

"Simple seduction. I like it."

"Two weeks then?"

"Two weeks."

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