*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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Crystal releases Cupid's hand and takes a step back from the waves that lap at our feet. As the sound of war drums mix with the roar of the ocean she raises her arm.
"Archers at the ready!" she shouts.
Behind us a swiping sound adds to the din. Cupid looks down at me, his eyes gleaming in the light of the moon. I see the question in his eyes.
Ready?
Yes.
We let go of each other and raise our bows and look out to the scene ahead. Cal and Charlie do the same.
My heart hammers against my ribcage.
There must be about fifty rowing boats in the water. The ethereal white glow from Charon's ship – temporarily halted at the barrier between the living and the dead – illuminates them. Each one has five or six sallow faced undead cupids spilling over it – each armed with bows and arrows of their own. We're outnumbered – and these cupids can't die. Not without Morta's shears that are on the ship itself.
Somewhere in the distance I think I hear the sound of a high pitched, little girl like giggle. It's manic. Familiar.
Venus.
My skin crawls and I block it out, trying instead to focus on the closer enemy.
Stood in the center of a wooden boat at the front – only about fifty feet away - as four pale, rotten looking guys pull it through the water, is Valentine. He sees me, stood in front of the Matchmaking Service army, and a grin spreads across his face.
He catches my eye then makes a little heart shape with his fingers.
I need your heart for what I'm to do.
Immediately I swipe an arrow from the quiver over my back. I feel its comforting coolness between my fingers, pull it back against the tension of the bow, and let the light feathers brush against my cheek. I narrow my eyes. I aim it at him.
Valentine is coming for me.
Good.
He has the key to the box of hearts around his neck.
If I can get it before he kills me, I can end this.
To my side I catch a flicker of movement as Crystal swipes her hand through the air.
"NOW!" she shouts.
I release the Ardor arrow. I watch as it joins the army of arrows sent by the other cupids. It slices through the night and slashes through Valentine's light blue shirt and into his chest. Through the noise of groans and sloshes of water as arrows hit their targets and cupids are cast into the wild ocean, I don't hear his reaction. But I see it and it makes my blood boil.
