Cupid’s Match

“Where are they?” I ask.

“Romeo’s,” says Cal. “Just around the corner. Come on, we need to go. Now.”

He turns on his heel and heads back out of the Love Shack. I race after him, feeling Cupid fall into step beside me. I try to push my feelings of anger away; I need to focus on Charlie.

“Will they be okay?” I ask Cupid, trying to keep my voice even.

“Charlie will be fine. Crystal . . . I don’t know. After this amount of time, well, it’s hard to say what state she’ll be in.”

We catch up with Cal in the alleyway and burst into Forever Falls square. The run-down diner stands there as usual in the corner. It looks unusually dark inside.

“Weapons?” asks Cupid.

“Three black arrows and a Capax in my backpack,” Cal says.

Cupid nods and we head toward the building. When we reach the diner, there’s a sign on the door reading Closed for Maintenance. I recall James saying earlier that it would be closed all week. It would be the perfect place for the Arrows to set up base without being detected. The phone signal has always been bad there, which is why it took Charlie so long to get in touch. I wish I’d thought of it sooner.

“You don’t have to come inside with us,” Cupid says. “What we see in there . . . it might not be pretty.”

Cal looks at his brother sharply. “Well, we can’t just leave her alone out here. What if one of them comes out to find her? She’s safer with us.”

Cupid looks at me awkwardly. “Sorry, scrap that. Looks like you’re coming along after all.”

“Of course I’m coming. My best friend is in there.”

Cupid takes a quick look around to make sure no one is about, then puts his hand on the door handle. “Lila,” he says, his eyes burning into mine, “about before . . . I really am sorry.”

“This isn’t the time for that,” I say quickly, heart pounding. “Let’s just get Charlie and Crystal back.”

He nods then throws his shoulder into the door. There’s a cracking sound and it flies open. The three of us walk into the empty diner. The last time I saw the inside of this place was when I was in the Sim. I think back to the training and the black-eyed demons within. My hands shake slightly and I stuff them into the pockets of my jacket. I managed to fight the fake Arrows, but can I fight real ones?

Cupid passes the booths and makes his way to the door behind the counter. Cal and I follow. We enter a narrow hallway that smells of damp. There are wooden stairs leading upward, and a murmur of voices comes from above.

Putting a finger to his lips, Cupid slowly leads us up the rickety staircase. My heart pounds as the steps creak below my feet. We emerge into another dank hallway lit by a flickering bulb. There is one door at the end.

The voices are louder now.

Cupid moves forward. Despite his size, I notice the lightness in his steps. When Cupid stops by the door, Cal silently unzips his backpack and slips out a black arrow. Realizing my eyes are on him, he raises his pale eyebrows in question.

I nod. I’m okay.

He smiles thinly and we move toward Cupid. We wait outside the door, trying to listen to what is being said.

“She’s made it pretty clear where it is,” says an accented male voice. “I’ve let the other Arrows know; they’ll go collect the Finis. Our job is done. Let’s just dispose of her.”

I notice Cal’s grip tighten on the black arrow.

“No!” I hear Charlie say and my heart leaps in my chest. There’s an awkward pause. “I just mean, well . . . what if you’re wrong?”

There’s a murmuring.

“She’s right,” comes another voice, this one sneering and female. “Our people can’t get the Finis now—there’ll be too much security. They’ll head there at midnight when there’s a shift change. If it really is where she says it is, then we’ll kill her. If not, we can ask her some more questions.”

As Cupid turns to say something to us, the floorboard beneath him creaks. Silence suddenly falls on the other side of the door.

“There’s someone outside,” the first voice announces. “Get Crystal out of here.”

Cupid barges through the wooden door. Instantly, Cal jumps forward and throws the arrow like a spear over his brother’s shoulder. I hear a grunt as it hits its target, then a thud.

One down.

Cupid grabs another arrow from his brother’s bag as Cal moves into place. I rush into the room behind them. Charlie leaps to her feet, catches Cupid’s eye, then swipes a gold-and-red Ardor from the floor. She jams it into the nearest Arrow’s shoulder, causing her to scream in pain.

“Lila!” shouts Cupid. “Get Crystal!”

My eyes dart about, logging five Arrows: one fighting Charlie, three on their feet by a tattered-looking couch, and a fifth—hit by Cal’s arrow—on the floor. I search the shadows for Crystal as the two brothers rush forward and tackle an Arrow each, Cupid jamming his weapon into the neck of a woman in a sleek, tailored suit.

The last Arrow, dark haired and wiry, turns around and leaps over the sofa, rushing toward the far wall of the room. I follow him with my eyes and see Crystal slumped over a wooden chair, unconscious. Without hesitation I run toward her, racing the Arrow. He gets to her just before me and turns, a sneer on his face. He doesn’t seem to have any weapons, but he is a good head taller than me.

“I’ll be back for you later, Lila Black,” he says, his accented voice dripping with disdain.

Then he scoops Crystal off the chair and makes his way toward the door. I look about frantically, trying to find assistance, but Cupid, Cal, and Charlie are all fighting a small but fierce Arrow who has picked up an arrow and has Charlie pinned to the ground by the couch.

I stand frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do. Then I notice something shimmering by the wall. Stacked in front of the peeling wallpaper is a bow and a quiver full of red-and-gold arrows.

Ardors.

They must have been using them on Crystal, I think with a wave of nausea.

I grab the bow and an arrow, pulling back and aiming at the back of the cupid carrying Crystal. He’s moving quickly and I can’t afford to miss. I take a deep breath then let go. There’s a whoosh as the arrow hurtles through the air, then a thunk as it plants itself in his back.

I feel a wave of satisfaction as the male lets out a strangled cry and falls to his knees, dropping Crystal unceremoniously onto the floor. Cupid, having just knocked out the remaining Arrow with a swipe of his fist, looks up at me, impressed.

The four of us rush toward Crystal and the screaming Arrow. Cupid places his fingers against Crystal’s throat, checking for a pulse. He nods to himself, satisfied.

She’s alive.

“It’s too late. We know where it is!” shouts the Arrow in his thick accent, his words laced with agony.

Cupid reaches into Cal’s bag and pulls out the pink-and-silver Capax. He jams it into the already tortured male.

“Where is it?”

The cupid only laughs. “You really think the truth arrow can make me talk?” he pants against the pain. “I’m a trained . . . Arrow. I serve Her. I’ll never tell you where the Finis is. More of us are coming, and you’ll never get away.”

Cupid sighs and scoops up Crystal. “I believe him. He won’t talk. Time to go.”

Cal looks down at the writhing Arrow and gives him a contemptuous look. Then he punches him square in the jaw.

“That’s for Crystal,” he says as his target thuds backward against the floor.

Cupid raises his eyebrows. “Nice punch, Brother.”

Cal nods rigidly, but I notice the half smile on his face. “Thanks.”

Once we burst out into the square, we don’t stop running until we reach Cupid’s car. Piling inside, Cupid lays Crystal down over Charlie’s and my laps in the backseat. He starts the ignition and we race toward his house.

“Are you okay?” I ask Charlie.

She nods but I notice her trembling hands and smudged makeup. She’s still wearing her magenta evening dress but the fabric is creased. Her jet-black hair is no longer in its updo, but messily tumbling down her bare shoulders.

“I kept trying to make excuses to leave but they weren’t having it. They clearly didn’t trust me. I couldn’t tell whether they knew I was on your side. I thought they would kill me.”

I squeeze her hand then look down at Crystal. Her skin is clammy and there are red smudges around her swollen eyes. Her closed eyelids flicker and every few moments she moans. “Will she be okay?”

Cal looks over his shoulder, his brow furrowed. “I hope so.”

Cupid catches Charlie’s eye in the rearview mirror. “So, where is it? Where is the Finis?”

Charlie shakes her head. “I don’t know,” she says, looking momentarily queasy. “Crystal just kept saying the same thing over and over again. It was like she was trying to tell me something without telling the rest of them, only they must have figured it out.”

“What did she say?” Cupid asks.

“The same thing she said to me back at your place: ‘I wasn’t always a receptionist.’”