*CUPID'S MATCH BOOK 2* FIRST DRAFT
Lila receives an ominous Valentine's Day card.
Cupid & Cal are keeping a dark secret.
Fate is being interfered with.
And a sadistic, and extremely powerful banished cupid is intent on stealing Lila's heart. Literal...
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My eyes widen and the pot slips through my fingers, landing with a thud on the white surface of Cal's desk. It rolls on its side but doesn't break.
"Valentine is your brother?" I say.
Cal exhales, suddenly looking weary. The corners of his mouth are downturned, and I again notice the light purple smudges under his eyes; somehow they don't look unattractive on him, instead they strengthen the silver flecks in his eyes.
He nods slowly.
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Valentine, the cupid that's going around killing Matchmaking Agents, and is now after me, is your brother?"
Cal – his head bowed forwards – looks up under his eyelids at me.
"Yes..."
"Wow – you really have a screwed-up family tree..."
He inclines his head slightly.
"And so you can see how that makes all this the more complicated?" says Cal.
I hold his gaze. I remember our discussion in the car; I'd thought that if we knew who the killer was we could just go after him.
It's not that simple he'd replied.
And now, I think I understand why.
"If Valentine is your brother, does that mean he's...?"
"An original cupid, yes," says Cal.
We hold each other's gaze.
"So, he can't be killed," I say quietly.
Cal exhales then nods again.
"He's immortal, he's powerful, and as sadistic as Venus," he looks at me darkly. "He was always our mother's favourite child."
He looks at me and sighs.
"He's coming for you, Lila."
Around us – through the glass walls of Cal's office – I can see the Matchmaking Agents bustling about their everyday business. But inside the air feels very still.
My pulse is racing, my heart pumping cold blood through my veins.
"Why?" I say quietly. "He said he needed my heart. Was he being literal?"
Cal meets my eyes.
"I don't know."
"Why? Why is he coming for me?"
"I don't know."
He puts his head in his hands a moment, a more emotive gesture from Cal than I think I've ever seen, and when he removes them his usually pale cheeks are slightly flushed.
