Cupid’s Match

Twilight paints the dusty road as Marcus, Charlie’s older brother, drops us off at the outskirts of Forever Falls. We get out of the car at the foot of Juliet Hill and he leans out of the open window.

“Be good,” Marcus says, giving us a wink.

Charlie rolls her eyes as Marcus drives away. We set off along the footpath lined by palm trees and dominated by the scent of dry grass.

Charlie chatters and stops every few seconds to pull down her short black dress. I look down at my own outfit—Charlie said that I could borrow some of her clothes, but I’d settled on the dark skinny jeans, boots, and black tank top I had worn to school beneath my shirt. Charlie has about a million dresses, but they’re not really my style.

As we reach the top of the hill, I suppress a grin as Charlie attempts to gracefully navigate over dry twigs in her heels. Her mouth drops open when she reaches the summit. I hurry to see why.

Below us is a clearing surrounded by blossoming plants and trees, all lit by white fairy lights that wink from the branches. The grounds are already full of people. Many have congregated around the pool to the side of the house, while others sit on decorative garden benches or linger around the stone statues dotting the grounds.

“Oh my God!” whispers Charlie. “It’s amazing.”

Silently I agree as I look past the crowds at the large house in the center. It is modern and cube shaped, with a huge glass entrance that offers a glimpse of the party going on inside. It must have cost a fortune.

So this is where the god of love lives.

There’s a large second-floor terrace that looks down on the pool. A solitary male figure stands there, leaning against the decorative terrace railings as though surveying the scene below. Even though his face is partly hidden in shadow, I know immediately who it is.

As I watch, he slowly turns his gaze to the top of the hill and jerks his head backward—it’s subtle, but I know what he is silently communicating.

He wants me to come to the terrace.

He wants to speak with me.

Something clenches in my stomach as Charlie turns to me with a wicked grin. “Well, let’s get going then!”

My eyes are still fixed on Cupid as she makes her way down the hill. I’m frozen with indecision. This is a bad idea. I should go back. So why do I want to go forward? I close my eyes, the scent of beer and grilled burgers wafting toward me. Then I start to move.

“Did you say James was meeting us here?” Charlie calls as I follow her.

“Yeah. He should be here already. He was heading down with Tom after soccer practice.”

We stop at an elegant black gate, thrown wide open. Music blares from the poolside speakers and I can see a number of kegs dotting the lawn. Charlie smooths down her dress again. There is a buzz of anticipation in the air. A small town like Forever Falls doesn’t usually have much excitement, and in the space of five days, we’ve had two new guys join the school, a student jump off a roof, and a huge party.

And they don’t even know about the paranormal race of cupids.

We walk toward the glass front of the house. The path is lined with marble statues that remind me of the one I saw back at the Cupids Matchmaking Service. The one Cal seemed to want to avoid.

“Bit extravagant,” I say, staring up at a stone woman with snakes for hair.

Charlie laughs. “His parents must be loaded.”

I recall Cupid’s strange comment about his mother being out of town and wonder if it is just a cover story. Even if cupids have mothers, one clearly doesn’t live here. This is Cupid’s house, no question.

As we reach the crowd by the barbecue, a couple of girls from the party planning committee catch sight of Charlie and wave us over—probably to talk more about next Friday’s dance.

“You go ahead. I’m going to go find James,” I say, unsure whether I mean it. James is waiting for me. But so is Cupid. He is on the terrace. He is waiting too.

“Okay,” says Charlie. “I’ll come find you both in a bit—but first stop, burgerville.” She grins and bounds off to her friends, grabbing a cheeseburger en route.

I take another deep breath and head into the house, weaving through the crowds milling about the large granite island in the open-plan kitchen. It has fancy undercupboard lighting and large glass windows that let in the light shining from the pool area outside.

I say hi to a couple of girls from the cheerleading squad as I pass by, but my thoughts are elsewhere. I recall the storm behind Cupid’s eyes when our fingers touched and his words: It’s you I want to get to know better, Lila Black. And I think of Cal’s terrible plan to lead him away from me.

He knows. I’m sure of it. Cupid knows.

I keep an eye out for James and Cal as I edge into a white-tiled hallway leading off from the kitchen, peeking in doorways as I make my way to the winding black staircase at its end. As I place my foot on the first step, I tell myself that James is upstairs and that’s why I’m heading in this direction, but part of me knows who I am really looking for. The terrace has to be up here somewhere too.

At the top of the stairs I find myself in another hallway from which a number of open archways lead into other rooms. Modern prints hang on the walls between them. I take a closer look at one; in it a man with the head of a bull stands in front of hundreds of colorful intersecting lines that make my eyes feel funny. It’s silent up here, the noise of the party seeming far away.

At the end of the hallway is a large glass door that leads to a dark terrace; that leads out to Cupid. I halt, my breath catching in my throat.

What am I doing here? He’s dangerous. He’s come here for me. And I am walking straight into his trap.

Then suddenly, the sound of angry voices coming from one of the rooms breaks me out of my daze.

“Yes, well, your assignment directly conflicts with mine.”

It’s Cal. I frown and creep to the doorway to listen.

“I’m just doing my job,” comes the irritated female reply. “I have a match to make and I’m going to make it.” The voice is familiar.

“Like you did your job looking after Jack?”

There is an angry splutter. “That assignment was to make sure no harm came to the girl,” says the female, “and last time I checked, Laura was absolutely fine.”

“Try telling the poor soul who jumped off the roof.”

I’m just about to peer inside when someone grabs my shoulders. “Hey!” a voice says from behind. “I’ve been looking for you.”

It’s James. The two figures arguing in the room spin around toward us. Cal’s angular face is etched with rage. I see immediately who the female figure is. Beautiful, blond, and immaculate in a glittering blue evening dress, it’s Crystal, the receptionist from the Cupids Matchmaking Service.

She looks straight past me to my boyfriend standing behind me.

“Hi, James,” she says, smiling sweetly.

“Hey, Crystal,” he says.