*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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We walk back down the cobbled alley, Cal striding purposefully ahead.
"How long will it take to get to the loom, brother?" Cupid calls.
"A while."
"Wait a second," he says.
Cal stops, turning to look at his brother with a puzzled expression on his face as we emerge into the main square. Cupid hurries past me, momentarily engulfing me in a wave of heat and the light scent of cologne – and disappears into the battered looking convenience store past the fountain.
"What are you...? We don't have time for...?" Cal starts. He shuts his mouth and breathes sharply out of his nose. "If he comes out with snacks I'm going to be seriously annoyed..."
I go to stand beside him as he leans against the stone fountain. I give him a sideways look.
"I think that's probably what he's doing, Cal..." I say.
He nods, an exasperated look on his face.
"I know..."
He turns to look at me, the morning sunlight brightening his pale features.
"Are you OK, Lila?" he says.
I'm momentarily taken back. He looks genuinely concerned.
Since when does Cal ask how I am?
"Um...Yeah...fine," I say.
He raises his eyebrows – his eyes unmoving from mine.
"Seriously?"
I sigh, leaning back against the stone fountain, my shoulder briefly brushing against his.
"Morta said the match was made. She didn't say that me and Cupid should have been matched. She didn't say whether or not Valentine made it so that me and Cupid matched," I hesitate – not knowing how much more of my inner most thoughts I should divulge. He watches me closely and I shake my head. "What would have happened if Valentine hadn't put Cupid into the system?" I sigh again, then answer my own question. "We would never have met. Charlie would never have been turned into a cupid. Everything would be...normal."
Cal looks at me curiously. He says nothing for a moment.
"Would you want everything to be normal?" he says.
"I...uh..." I pause.
Would I want everything to be normal? I'm unsure. It's a big question. Would I want to not know about cupids, and arrows, and goddesses? Would I want to never have felt Cupid's embrace, to never have tasted his kisses mixed with the rain?
I don't think I want normal. I don't think that's me.
I open my mouth to answer but Cal jerks his head away from me back toward the store. Cupid bounds over, two huge bags of chips, a bottle of coke, and a stash of candy shoved under his arms.
