Cupid’s Match

So much for hiding that I’m Cupid’s Match.

Selena takes a seat next to me and leans back on her hands, allowing her long hair to brush the gingham blanket.

“Hello, Cal,” she says.

Cal is standing rigidly on the rocks. He nods sharply, his expression clearly indicating his discomfort. “Selena.”

The siren’s eyes twinkle. “Still a barrel of laughs, I see. You going to be joining us?”

She looks pointedly at the blanket and he finally sits down, although he keeps his back ramrod straight.

Selena grabs an apple from the spread before us and takes a bite. “I’m guessing you haven’t had time to eat,” she says to me. “Help yourself.” Then she focuses her attention back on Cupid. “So, how can I help? You know I don’t see just anyone at such short notice.”

As she’s talking, I grab a few sandwiches and try to work out how old she is. She looks around my age, but then so do Cupid and Cal.

“I think you know why we’re here,” Cupid says.

She nods. “I do. But I would rather hear it from you. As far as I see, there is a very simple solution to your predicament,” she says, sliding her heavily lashed gaze over to me.

I look at her, then the brothers, my mouth full of bread and brie. “Huh?”

“We’re not handing Lila over to the Arrows,” Cal says sharply.

Selena looks briefly surprised. “Oh, it’s like that, is it? Cal! I never thought it possible!”

“It’s not like anything,” Cal snarls. “We’re just not handing her over to the Arrows.”

She smirks, taking another bite of her apple. “’Course not, honey. I wasn’t going to suggest it. I’m merely wondering why your brother doesn’t just leave town.” She raises a questioning eyebrow at Cupid. “If you left and assured the Arrows you would not pursue this . . . endeavor . . . perhaps they would leave you both alone.”

“How did you know Lila was my Match? I thought the Arrows didn’t know yet.”

“Why else would you have brought a human girl here?” she says. “Probably not the smartest move, sweetie. The word is out that you have a Match, and the Arrows aren’t the only ones against it happening.”

Cupid frowns. “What about you? Are you on our side?”

Selena tosses the apple away. “Your company’s policies and its consequences are of little concern to me. I will flourish under either outcome, as I have done in the past. For your own sakes, though, why don’t you just leave town?”

I briefly wonder what she means by “either outcome,” but Cupid interrupts my thoughts.

“I think it’s a little late for that now.”

“Yes, you’re probably right,” Selena says. “So, you want our protection? You know our price.”

Cupid raises his eyebrows. “You’ve helped us without cost before. Do you remember the time in France? Before we dated? The Arrows were after the girl Cal was trying to prevent from matching.”

Selena claps, delighted. “I’d almost forgotten about that. Cal broke the rules!” She glances at the matchmaking agent, and then at me. “It is probably hard to believe, but he can be a sweetheart sometimes.”

Cal steadfastly occupies himself with a cheese tartlet, a flush of color on his usually pale face.

“There was a price, though,” Selena says. “He didn’t tell you?”

Cupid throws a questioning look at his brother, but Cal only shakes his head.

“Okay, we’ll pay,” Cupid says. “But maybe you could throw in a little something extra, for old time’s sake. We need protection for Lila. I don’t trust the Matchmaking Service to keep her safe, and Cal and I can’t take on the whole force of the Arrows.”

Selena nods. “Do you have a long-term plan—beyond getting the Finis, that is? Because without eliminating the entire group, they’ll keep coming for you both.”

Cupid grins. “I have the best plan ever.”

“Whoa, let’s back up a minute,” I say, noticing Cal has tensed beside me. “They’re not going to stop coming after me? Why don’t we just tell them we’re not going to get together and be done with it?”

“She’s right, Cupid,” says Cal slowly. “We can put Lila into protective custody at the Matchmaking Service, and you and I will go to meet the Arrows at the fountain and sort all this out. No one needs to get hurt.” His eyes flash silver. “Cupids cannot be matched.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that I might be doing something for the greater good, Brother?” Cupid snaps, a storm suddenly behind his ocean-colored eyes.

“No,” Cal snaps back, “it hasn’t. Because you don’t do anything unless it benefits you. What good can possibly come of this? We’ve had to expose our kind to a human, the Arrows are back in town, and now we’re all in danger. You’ve had your fun, you’ve met your Match, now please see reason.”

They stare each other down, energy crackling between them. Selena coughs.

“Sorry to interrupt the domestic, boys,” she says, “but do you want my help or not?”

Cupid raises an eyebrow at Cal. Cal stares at him a few moments, cold fire brimming in his gaze, then reluctantly nods.

“Good,” says Selena. “I’ll send out the message that Cupid’s Match is under our protection—and that if anyone harms any human on our territory, we will come for them. It should be enough deterrent for the Arrows, at least.”

“Excellent,” says Cupid.

She looks at him. “You know if they can’t get to Lila, they’ll go straight for the Finis.”

“Counting on it,” he says, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Which leads to the second thing I want: its location.”

She says nothing for a moment then shakes her head. “Sorry to disappoint—I don’t know where it is. But I do know it’s documented in a book: The Records of the Finis. It’s probably a good place to start.”

“Wasn’t that the thing you were talking to that Curtis guy about?” I ask Cal. He’d mentioned it during his phone call when he’d driven us to the Love Shack.

Cal’s shoulders tense.

“You’ve been looking for it, Brother?” asks Cupid.

“’Course I have.”

Cupid’s expression hardens. “Right. And what exactly were you going to do when you found it?”

“That hardly matters now, does it? I didn’t find it.” He looks up at Selena. “It’s not in the Cupids Matchmaking Service archives.”

“No, sweetie, it’s not,” Selena replies. “The original copy was destroyed. But one of my sirens had a little . . . fun . . . with one of your cupids about twenty years ago. An archivist.” She licks her lips and smiles. “It’s not common knowledge, but he was digitizing some of the older volumes before he became so consumed by the song of the sirens that he went mad.”

Cal gives her a cool look. “I knew the guy. Carter Matthews. He left the Service after your lot got their hold on him.”

She inclines her head. “Still comes here sometimes.”

“The Records of the Finis was one of the volumes?” asks Cupid, tearing a piece of bread from a baguette and putting it into his mouth. He’s clearly less bothered about the whole siren-driving-someone-mad thing than his brother is.

“I believe so,” says Selena. “If you can access his login on the Cupids Matchmaking Service server you should be able to find it.”

Cal pulls out his cell. “I’ll message Curtis now.”

The baguette flies past my vision and hits Cal in the side of the head.

Cal’s eyes flash. “What are you doing?”

“Are you really that sure of Curtis’s loyalties, Brother? The Arrows are in town, Lila is in danger, and everyone knows we are brothers. What if he decides to find the Finis first and make different arrangements?”

Cal sits, still and silent amid the low lull of chatter within the lagoon. Then he scowls and shoves his phone back into his pocket.

Cupid grins. “Looks like it’s up to you and me. Just like old times, eh, Brother?” he says. “Although you’ll have to get it for me. I’m banished. I’ll never get into the building.”

Cal fires him a dirty look. “Yes, please, allow me to be your personal assistant.”

“Can’t you just log in from here?” I offer.

Cal gives me a scathing look. “Of course not. The Cupids Matchmaking Service has details of every single human in the world. The system can only be accessed from inside the building.”

I raise my hands. “Sorry. For a moment I forgot a dating service needed CIA-level security . . .”

Selena smiles as the three of us squabble. “Now, the small matter of my payment,” she interrupts.

“Money?” I ask.

Selena laughs. “No, honey,” she says. “We deal in information.” She looks at me, her brown eyes burning into mine. “I want a secret. I want a secret about Lila. Something no one else knows.”

I feel a bubble of dread in my stomach. A secret? I don’t want to tell her anything.

“Of course,” Cupid says. “The deal is done.”

“You can’t just . . .” I begin angrily, but then stop when he whispers something into Selena’s ear. Selena’s eyes twinkle hungrily. Cal looks from me to Cupid, his expression unreadable. Discomfort twists in my stomach.

When Cupid leans away from Selena, she looks at him for a moment before letting out a low whistle. “Well. I didn’t see that coming.”

I fire a glare at Cupid. “What did you tell her?!”

He looks at me, suddenly serious. “That’s between me and Selena now,” he says. “Sorry, Lila—we have to keep our end of the deal.”

“That’s ridiculous, if it’s about me—”

Selena clicks her fingers, signaling that our session is over. Instantly, the male attendant who led us here emerges from the mist swirling about the pool.

“Please lead my guests out through the back exit,” she says. Then she looks back at Cupid. “I take it you’ll be meeting with the Arrows in the town square tomorrow?”

Cupid grins wickedly. “Of course—no one threatens me and gets away with it.”

“I’ll come too,” she says. “It’ll be a good way to emphasize the message—Cupid’s Match is off-limits.”