Cupid’s Match

About an hour and a half later, we approach the exit to Forever Falls. My phone buzzes on the Aston Martin’s backseat. Charlie.

I shove it into my pocket.

I’ll deal with her and James later.

“Are you sure Selena can stop them from coming after me?” I ask.

Cal shakes his head. “She is just providing a deterrent to make them aim their forces at Cupid instead,” he says. “But this won’t be the end of it. Cupids cannot be matched. And we can’t watch over you forever.”

“You’ll be fine,” Cupid says to me. “The Arrows won’t risk a war with the sirens. And if we can get to the Finis first, then there’s nothing they can do to me.” He grins. “Simple. But maybe I should take Lila to my house tonight. Keep her safe. Just in case—”

“No,” Cal and I say in unison.

The roads get narrower as we drive into Forever Falls. Cupid is making so many twists and turns that I’m not sure he knows where he’s going.

“You’re going the wrong way,” I say after we take yet another wrong turn.

“Just making sure we’re not being followed,” Cupid says, peering out of the side mirrors.

Finally, we pull up to my driveway, and Cupid turns in his seat.

“Going to make sure there are no Arrows lurking. Stay where you are.” He jumps out, leaving Cal and me alone.

Cal twists around, his face apologetic. “I’ll sort this out, Lila,” he says. “He’s stubborn, with a complete disregard for others . . . but he can’t continue to put you in danger like this. Sooner or later he’ll either see sense or get bored. When he does, he’ll leave town and everything will go back to normal. I just need to make that happen before anyone gets hurt.”

“What’s the deal with the Arrows anyway? I know it’s against your rules and everything, but would it really be so bad if we’re matched?”

Cal frowns. Outside, Cupid appears to check for a person underneath a plant pot.

“Do you want to be matched with Cupid?” Cal asks finally.

“Of course not,” I say a little too fast.

A disappointed look crosses Cal’s face. “Your pupils dilated,” he says. “You find him—”

“Jeez, Cal,” I say. “What is it with you and eyeballs? It’s not that. It’s just . . .”

It’s just that despite the danger, and the Arrows, and James kissing Charlie, this is the first time I’ve really felt alive since Mom died. I bite my lip, annoyed with myself for thinking it.

“I don’t know,” I finish lamely. Then I look at him squarely. “Nothing will happen with Cupid and me, okay?”

Cal nods stiffly as Cupid’s face appears at the car window.

“Coast is clear,” he says, opening my car door.

“’Night, Cal,” I say as I step out, but he just makes a non-

committal sound.

Cupid walks me to my door. Inside, the light in the front room flickers as though the television is on. I hope that Dad has fallen asleep on the sofa; if he’s still awake then I’m in trouble—it must be nearing one in the morning.

Suddenly, I’m aware of how close Cupid is standing. I can feel his body heat through the wrinkled blue shirt, and as the fall breeze circles us, I catch his summery scent mixed with dried saltwater. His eyes blaze fiercely, and I take a small step away from him, my back hitting the front door.

Cal is right, I need to be careful.

A rustling comes from inside the house.

“Looks like Dad’s awake. All evening I was worried about the Arrows,” I say, “but this is how I’ll meet my untimely death.”

Cupid’s face brightens, the intensity of his gaze replaced by amusement.

“Well, I guess I’ll be off!” he says. Then he leans forward conspiratorially. “Parents don’t tend to like me.” He flashes me a grin and walks backward down the driveway. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“What—?” I begin, but he’s already getting back inside the Aston Martin.

As the engine starts up, I turn back to the house and take a deep breath. I slip through the door and make to tiptoe to my room.

“What time do you call this?”

I turn around. My dad is standing at the foot of the stairs in his robe, his dark, gray-streaked hair ruffled at the back, as though he’s fallen asleep on the couch. Though his expression is serious, I catch a glint of humor in his eyes.

“Sorry, Dad.”

He shakes his head. “Half past one in the morning . . . I’m guessing it was a good party then?”

“It was . . . interesting.”

He gives me a look. “Interesting, huh? Are you drunk?”

I shake my head.

“Good. Do anything you’ll regret in the morning?”

I followed a love god onto the balcony and now I have a group of cupids trying to kill me. But I shake my head.

A smile tugs at his lips though he tries to contain it. “Well, get to bed then. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

I hurry up the stairs.

“Teenagers,” I hear him mutter to himself as I disappear from view.

During the night I am awoken by a vibrating sound.

I jolt upright, my heart thudding, and creep toward my window. Have the Arrows found me? As I peer out onto the tree-lined street, something stirs in the shadows. I catch the glint of a quiver and the black of an arrow, and inhale sharply. But then the shadows shift, exposing Cal standing stiffly in the cold.

He has dressed entirely in black, camouflaged to match the darkness, though he can’t do anything about his blond hair, which catches the light of the streetlamps. His silvery gaze catches mine, and for a moment we are frozen, staring at one another. Then he takes a step back into the shadow of the nearest tree and disappears from view. I feel a smile tugging on the corner of my lips.

Cal is standing guard. Despite Selena’s promise, he’s still making sure the Arrows don’t get to me.

I consider bringing him down a hot drink, but he doesn’t seem exactly pleased that I’ve spotted him. I watch for a couple of minutes before turning away and getting back into bed.

As I settle back into the warm haze of sleep, my phone buzzes again. Eyes half closed, I fumble across the bedside table, almost knocking over an old glass of water, and pick it up.

“Hello?” I say.

“Lila,” says Charlie quickly.

My eyes jolt open as I inwardly curse myself for not switching my phone off before bed. I’m not sure I’m ready to talk to her yet. Nerves mixed with anger tangle in my stomach. I hate this. We never fight.

“Listen, Lila,” she says before I can hang up. “Something happened—”

“I know. You and James. I saw you kissing.”

Saying it aloud somehow makes it real and my body stiffens. She lets out a soft groan.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry, Lila—”

Something ignites in my stomach and I sit upright. “Have you ever kissed him before?”

“What? God, no! It’s just—”

“You liked him though, didn’t you?” I demand. “Is that why you were always telling me my relationship was boring? That I needed excitement? Is that why you were so interested when you thought I’d made out with Cal or something?!”

The words tumble out of my mouth, hot and angry. Words I didn’t even know were there. And I don’t even know if I’m allowed to feel this way. They kissed because of the Capax. It makes it worse, somehow.

“Lila, it was never like that. I swear!” Her voice trembles.

It only works if feelings are there to begin with.

“Wasn’t it?!” My mind is flying over the past year. It reinterprets every joke they shared, every time she called in at the diner without me, every time she mentioned him.

“Lila, you have every right to be angry with me. But it’s not what you think. It was—”

“Oh? I have a right to be angry? Thanks.”

“Lila. Please . . . it’s hard to explain it. You’ll think I’m mad.”

“Well how about you try to explain it because—”

“It was the arrow!”

I fall silent. All I can hear is her heavy breathing on the other end of the line.

“What did you just say?” My voice is barely louder than a whisper. My body is cold.

“It was . . . it was the arrow. I was hit by an arrow. So was James.”

Blood starts to pound in my ears. She saw the Capax that hit her? Neither of us speaks for a moment; my mind is still trying to process this information.

“I know it sounds crazy,” she says, “but there were these—these people, and they were shooting arrows, I swear it. I got hit. Other people got hit too . . . and then the arrows just disappeared. But after that, all these feelings that I’ve been trying to hide, they all just came rushing to the surface, and . . .” Her voice wobbles. “Oh God, Lila, I’m so sorry.”

As she starts to cry, something tightens in my chest and makes the back of my eyes hurt. I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what to feel. I don’t know what to do. She’s my best friend; we tell each other everything. And if she’s seen the arrow, maybe this is the perfect opportunity to talk about what’s been going on with someone who isn’t a paranormal matchmaking agent or a love god.

This isn’t her fault, the rational voice in the back of my head tells me.

Still, she didn’t have to kiss him, another voice demands.

I stare blankly at the reflection of my conflicted face in the ornate dresser mirror. Charlie continues to sob. I exhale.

“I know,” I say.

“You . . . know?”

“I saw them too.”

“It’s going to sound crazy, but I’ve been thinking,” she says, her voice quavering. “One of the new guys at school’s name is Cupid.”

“Yeah.”

“And then people got hit by disappearing arrows that made them all start making out.” I can practically hear the cogs working in her brain. “Like, some kind of love arrows. Cupid? Is it real?” she says.

“Yes,” I breathe out, feeling a weight lift. “You’re not going mad, Charlie,” I say. “Look, there’s a lot I have to tell you, but you have to keep it quiet. I’m serious. No gossip blogs or newspaper articles or telling anyone.”

“Okay,” she says with a sniffle.

As the dawn breaks, I fill Charlie in on what’s happened over the past few days—the Cupids Matchmaking Service, Cupid, Cal, the Arrows, the bar called Elysium, and lastly, Cupid’s plan to meet the Arrows in the town square with Selena. She exhales slowly as I finish.

“So, you’re Cupid’s Match?”

There’s something almost triumphant in her voice, and I feel a small spark of annoyance that it’s probably because she thinks the way is clear now for her and James. But then she continues speaking and I’m sure I imagined it.

“Dude,” she says in a low voice, “that is some serious . . . I mean, whoa.”

“I know.”

“And they’re meeting the Arrows later today? Are you going too?”

“There’s no way they’d let me come. But I wish I could. There’s something about this whole thing that just seems . . . weird. I mean, weirder than all the rest of it, even. Like there’s something they’re hiding from me.”

“It does all sound a bit far fetched,” agrees Charlie. “Maybe we should follow them, see if we can get some answers.” I can almost hear her grin on the other side of the phone. “We don’t need their permission, do we?”