*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 all sit around a table in the Cupids Matchmaking Service resident cafeteria, with the exception of Mino who is down in the dungeons with Valentine. It's almost empty, but a few white suited cupids on the night shift pause as they chatter into their headsets to look at us – clearly noting the formal dress of Cupid, Cal, and Charlie juxtaposed with fresh blood.
"Wanna take a picture?!" says Cupid, stretching his arms behind his head lazily as a guy stares at him. "I can autograph it too if you like..." The matchmaking agent picks up his pace – swiftly averting his eyes.
I look at Cupid and he grins at me. I roll my eyes.
He's not as badly injured as last time he faced Valentine – the extra strength obtained from the dance obviously did him good. But the bright white lighting of the cafeteria emphasizes a dark pink patch on his left cheek where Valentine must have landed a particularly hard blow to his face.
Crystal leans across the round table with a jug of coffee and tops all our mugs up. I take mine gratefully.
Thanks to adrenaline, I'd been pretty hyper for the journey back as we'd traveled in pairs in separate cars; Valentine and his four dormant zombie cupids piled into the back of Mino's cop car. Now I feel like I'm on some kind of comedown. My bones aches from where Valentine and I crashed to the ground, and my whole body feels heavy with exhaustion.
I know something that you don't.
Valentine's words come back to me and I shake them away.
I check my cell – remembering to send dad a quick text to tell him I'm safe at Charlie's – and catch the time. It's one in the morning. No wonder I'm tired. Then I greedily take a few gulps of the strong black liquid.
"What now?" I say.
Crystal sits back down in her white, metal seat.
"Now, we wait," she says. "Mino might be able to safely get inside Valentine's mind and find out where he's storing the hearts. If he can do that easily, there'll be no need for any of us to go into Valentine's Sim to force the information out of him. And once we know where the hearts are – we can find them, restore Charon as captain of his ship, and send Venus back to where she belongs."
She flicks her blonde hair over her shoulder and gives us a weary smile.
"Do you really think that Mino can do this?" says Cal – a somewhat sour look on his face. "Because if not we're wasting time. I know my brother. He'll take a while to crack."
He's taken off his jacket and now sits somewhat scruffier than usual, with the top couple of buttons of his white shirt undone – a small blot of red blood under the collar.
Crystal looks at him and raises an eyebrow.
"I know you and Mino don't get on," she says. "But it's no reason not to let him try. He's one of our best resources here."
