It's all Cupid's fault (The Holidaze Book 2)

Chapter 24

Chapter 24
“I’m here now, so I think it’s time that I embrace my new existence,” Mia said as she faced Cupid with a smile.
Cupid eyed her with growing suspicion. Mia’s moods scattered all over the place, so he never once expected her to become so agreeable. He had just told her that he thought she’d never fallen in love making this a far too positive statement from her.
The memory of waking up holding her in his arms made him want to sigh. Of course, he then recalled her accusation that the cherubs had pricked her with their arrows. The woman struggled with anything overly emotional, which was why her sudden change of heart concerned him.
“Who are you and what have you done with the real Caramia?” Cupid asked.
Mia threw back her head and laughed. The embracing emotions thing had really begun working for her, if only she’d started it much sooner in her life. She hadn’t expected it to be as easy as what it was, but she enjoyed it.
“I am her and don’t call me that name, or I might start calling you Cupie. I thought you wanted me to embrace this new world of yours,” she wiggled her fingers around.
“From yesterday and then this morning to this does take a bit of adjusting too.”
“You need to get used to it, because were not only stuck sharing a job, but we’re stuck with each other.”
Mia had expected a suitably dark remark, so when he beamed a smile her way she stepped back. Something had definitely changed from the Cupid she first remembered, to the reminder of waking up next to him.
That still sent a thrill through her, which she tried to stifle. She wondered why she wanted to stifle that excitement, especially when this was her new embracing emotions self.
“I agree, we do have to work here together. As you’ve figured out how best to use your wings, I think we should practice transferring to the human dimension,” Cupid encouraged.
“These wings feel like a normal part of my body now. That should concern me, but it doesn’t,” Mia admitted.
“Then we’ll put them to work,” Cupid grinned at her and that flummoxed Mia.
“How do you transfer to the other dimension?” Mia couldn’t bring herself to say human dimension when she still thought of herself as human.
“Normally, we have a person or a couple as a destination in mind. All we have to do then is to concentrate on that person, blink your eyes three times at the same time as you flutter your wings three times, and you’ll end up at the person.
“After that you need to learn how to make yourself invisible, so none of the humans see you appear out of nowhere with your wings out. They tend to think that an angel has appeared if you don’t, and it gets complicated. The angels are not beings that you want to trifle with, if possible,” Cupid explained.
“You made that up, so I’d look silly,” Mia argued.
Cupid shook his head, “no, I didn’t. Let me show you.”
When he reached his hand out to clasp hers with casual ease, Mia didn’t know what to do. Why did Cupid make her feel like a teenager who’d never held a person’s hand before?
The warmth penetrated through her, and Mia let the joyful emotions embrace her. Touching Cupid was a spine-tingling enjoyment that she wanted to continued partaking in.
“You need to concentrate,” Cupid said and even his voice made her want to fall to her knees and worship him.
Embracing her emotions was turning into an addictive trend for her. She wanted whatever Cupid would give her now. The growing closeness between them expanded at a rapid rate washing away any of the earlier awkwardness.
“You really need to tone down that charm of yours,” she told him, and his grin only widened and became more appealing.
“I will if you will,” he winked.
Mia rolled her eyes, “I’m not trying to charm you.”
“And yet I am utterly in your thrall. Your charm engulfs me whenever I look your way,” he said as he squeezed her fingers.
“Right.”
“You don’t believe me,” Cupid pouted adorably.
“Not in this lifetime.”
“Here we were getting along so well, and you had to go and spoil it,” he teased, and Mia had to admit that their light banter thrilled her.
“Let’s just get to the other dimension.”
“In that case, get ready to blink those gorgeous green eyes and flap those wings. We’re going to that place we went to in Mexico. Picture it in your mind and then on three start the motions. One, two, three.”
Feeling like an idiot, Mia blinked her eyes and flapped her responsive wings three beats. It sure surprised her to open her eyes and see that bar where he had abandoned her in Mexico.
The heat engulfed her and for a moment a piercing homesickness flooded through her. This was the kind of heat she remembered from her human life.
“I’m going to miss that,” Mia said wistfully.
“Miss what?” Cupid asked.
“The heat of my home in this world.”
Cupid chose not to answer that, “you did the dimensional jump without any issues.”
“This does look like the place where you ditched me,” Mia agreed, and Cupid winced.
“Sorry about that. You took me off guard and I wasn’t ready to deal with it.”
“You did come back for me, so I guess I can forgive you for that one.”
“Do you feel like a breakfast burrito?” Cupid gestured inside and Mia nodded.
Once they sat down at one of the old booth seats, Mia found herself with a million questions flooding her mind. There was so much that she didn’t know about being the Goddess of Love and now that’s who she was.
“I feel so lost in this new role I’m in,” Mia admitted as they waited for the food to arrive.
“I know what that’s like. You’ll get the hang of it once you have fully accepted your Godly Status. The moment you do that, everything will just… be,” Cupid told her.
“Accept my Godly Status?” Mia stared at him perplexed.
“I haven’t always been the God of Love. Believe it or not but I started out as a lowly human too. When the Higher Gods told me if I wanted the God of Love position, I had to work for it, they meant work. You’ve had it easy in comparison. They’ve just dropped you in the job and expect me to teach you. The only difference is I’m not going to make you suffer like they did to me.”
“How exactly did they make you suffer?” Mia wasn’t keen on what he’d just told her.
“I always had my Godly Status, just as you do. They wouldn’t tell me that. They made me work until they pushed me to the limit and my Godly Status appeared,” Cupid explained.
“Okay, how do I get my Godly Status to appear?”
“It’s like your wings that you didn’t know were there, your Godly Status is the same. Once you accept it the way you accepted your wings, it will all fall into place.”
Mia considered his words as she began to eat her food. The wings on her back were a physical manifestation that she couldn’t ignore. This Godly Status sounded like something different entirely.
“Do I just shout out that I accept my Godly Status?” Mia asked with a quirk of her brow.
Cupid chuckled and shook his head, “its inside of you like a manifestation of something so brilliant… it’s hard to explain. Imagine a giant wave coming towards you and all you do is raise your hand to hold the water back.”
“That didn’t help at all. Imagining a tsunami is only going to scare me.”
“But you have control of it. That’s what the Godly Status is.”
Mia chewed another mouthful thoughtfully. She frowned down at her food before realising that she hadn’t asked a single question that she wanted an answer to.
“I’ve got so many other things that I want to know, so let’s stop talking about this whole Godly Status thing,” Mia insisted.
“With the Godly Status, all of those questions will have an immediate answer.”
“That doesn’t help me,” Mia grouched.
A noise distracted her, and she glanced over to the bar area. Mia noticed a group of men had surrounded a woman who had just walked in. The men formed a tight knot around the woman. All Mia could see was the terror on the woman’s face as she saw she had no escape. Mia was on her feet before she realised.
“Get your meaty hands off her!” Mia demanded.
“Oh, yeah, who’s going to stop us? You can come and join us if you like,” one of the men smirked.
An intense tightness swirled in Mia’s chest; it was something so powerful that she’d never experienced before. A second later, she thought she heard the harps of the cherubs playing into a crescendo of delight.
The moment she picked up one of the offensive men and tossed him out the door was when a blinding shaft of light surrounded her. Mia only had to eye the other men for them to back away and scurry away from the scared and now grateful woman.
Before she could do anything, or embrace this new power, Cupid had approached her with the broadest and most appealing grin on his face. Mia stared at him, mostly because he had his wings out and had started to glow.
“That was a lot easier than mine ever was. If the Higher Gods gave me that test, I wouldn’t have been stuck for so long figuring out what they wanted,” Cupid told her with a happiness that she’d never seen from him, and it buoyed her already light heart.
“What are you talking about?” Mia asked.
“That was a test to put you in touch with your Godly Status. Look down at your hands,” Cupid gestured to her excitedly.
Mia looked down and found her hands glowing as much as Cupid stood there glowing. She closed her eyes briefly and quickly opened them when she saw something unexpected.
“Keep your eyes closed. It will help the Godly Status envelop you and your understanding of it will emerge. It will be one of the most divine moments of your life. It will also change everything you’ve ever known,” Cupid encouraged.
Mia drew in a long breath as she considered this change in herself. Did she want to merge with this weird Godly Status thing when she wasn’t even sure about being the Goddess of Love?
“Trust me, after this you will know and see so much more than you never expected. You are about to receive the world. Close your eyes.”
Mia took another deep breath, released it, and then closed her eyes. The last thing she saw was Cupid smiling at her, which set her heart to racing more than the thought of embracing her Godly Status.
The intensity of the white behind her eyes would’ve blinded her if she didn’t already have her eyes closed. Images flashed around her mind. She couldn’t focus on any of them, but each one imparted a new piece of knowledge into her mind.
Mia wasn’t sure if a minute passed or whether it was as long as a lifetime, but time was of no consequence. She saw everything clearly now.
When she finally opened her eyes, she blinked and saw Cupid standing directly in front of her. She was no longer in Mexico; she was back in the Love Holidaze.
“Welcome, Goddess of Love,” Cupid chanted the words in a bright rhythm.
A welcoming wave of cherubs flew towards her, and their harp song was the happiest that she’d ever heard. Cupid leaned in and kissed her on both cheeks. His delectable aroma surrounded and mesmerised her. Those blue eyes were all she could focus on, and a sigh escaped her.
“How do you feel?” Cupid asked.
Mia paused before answering. How could she explain what she felt in that moment? Exuberant, exhilarated and magnificently powerful. They were all things she experienced now but had never felt before in her life.
“What is your purpose here?” Cupid asked another question.
“I am the Goddess of Love. I am here to provide love to the human dimension. My goal is to spread happiness, joy and love to all of those who need it within the human dimension,” Mia answered automatically.
“You have found your Godly Status,” Cupid said as he reached out and pulled her into a warm hug.
Mia hugged him back when she realised what he meant. She really was the Goddess of Love. From the tips of her fingers down to her toes, she knew that this was her destiny.
This was who she was and who she had always been. Mia hugged Cupid even tighter as she realised the most important thing, she had finally found a place where she belonged.