10. Annie
I nearly swallowed my tongue when Josh said he could hear me. How stupid I was! I’d been taunting him and—heaven help me—I’d said he was cute. What an idiot.
Still feeling incredibly foolish, I agreed to get into his car and go for a drive. Maybe he’d turn out to be a serial killer, but I doubted it. He wasn’t a great Cupid from what I could tell, but he was still a Cupid. I seriously doubted a Cupid could also be a killer. That would have pushed the weird meter to its limits.
I squeezed into his car with my wings still on, not knowing whether to take them off or not and afraid he’d swipe them from me if I did. I stuffed the blowgun down the front of my shirt and let my bra hold it in place. I was caught and in his custody, sure. But I wasn’t quite ready to give up his toys yet.
I folded my hands in my lap and stared at the road ahead. “So. You want to know about my matches from yesterday.”
He nodded. “It would be even better if we could go wherever you were and backtrack. It won’t take long.” He held up his arm, showing a black band on his wrist that resembled some sort of a fitness tracker. “I just need to take a reading to see if the match is good or not.”
“What is it?” I reached out to touch it with one finger, then changed my mind and pulled my hand back. “Does it count steps?”
“No. It monitors, I don’t know, love health? It’s called the Love-Meter Deluxe. I think of it as an ‘un-fit-bit.’” He flashed me a charming smile. “Because I think I’m funny.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Sure. Hilarious.”
He chuckled. “Tough room.” He signaled at the light and turned right. “So, I suppose I could drive around all day, but it would be really helpful if you told me where you were spreading the love yesterday.”
“So you can undo it all.” I folded my arms across my chest and sat back, crushing my wings and not caring.
“No, not at all.” He pulled into an open spot on the curb, put the car in park, and turned to me. “You made some good matches today. I’ll be honest. My boss actually told me you have better instincts than I do. But you’re also overly enthusiastic and made a few mistakes.”
I scowled. “True love is never a mistake.”
He groaned. “You think you’re making true love happen?” His eyes narrowed and his voice grew cold. “True love is a myth. People fall in love all the time, but they fall out of love just as fast. There’s no such thing as true love. What we do here is give people a chance at happiness for as long as they can hold on to it.”
Tears pricked the back of my eyes, but I refused to let him see me cry. “That’s a terrible, terrible thing to say.” Despite my best efforts, my eyes filled, and a few tears escaped. I wiped them away with the back of my hand. “You have to be the worst Cupid in your department. Shame on you.” I turned away, trying to gather myself together so I didn’t fall apart.
“Look. I’m not saying love isn’t real. Just…that whole true love and soulmate thing is a product of Hollywood and the greeting card industry.”
“I don’t like you.” It wasn’t true. I liked him very much. But what he was saying not only shook my core beliefs, it also meant he wasn’t thinking about me romantically. I hadn’t realized it until that moment, but I’d kind of hoped he was The One. That my long wait was over. Obviously, he wasn’t it and I wasn’t done waiting.
He frowned and his voice softened. “I’m very sorry to hear that. Because I like you very much.” He put the car in gear. “So, let’s get this over with, so you don’t have to see me anymore. Apparently, there’s an elderly couple you matched who are in some serious trouble if we don’t unmatch them. They could even die. I need you to tell me where we’re going.”
I snapped my head around to look at him. “Seriously? What the hell is wrong with you?” I waved at him to take a left at the corner. “Your priorities are messed up. Next time, rather than starting the conversation with true love isn’t real, try leading with people’s lives are in danger.”
I knew exactly who he was talking about, and with every mile we drew closer to my apartment complex, my stomach grew tighter.
Some Cupid I turned out to be. I may have killed somebody.
~*~
Mrs. Browning was in Mr. Kingston’s apartment when we arrived in the hallway outside his door. We knew she was in there because there was a female voice yelling along with the male voice. The yelling was occasionally punctuated by the sound of something slamming against the wall and shattering.
Josh and I glanced at each other in alarm.
“What should we do?” I still had my wings, so I could go inside, but once I was there, I couldn’t do much.
He shrugged. “We need to get them out here, or at least open the door for me to go in. I can’t go through the door, and you can’t take off the love spell.” He held up his arm to show me his Love-Meter Deluxe. “It’s vibrating so hard my teeth are rattling.”
I flinched when another projectile hit the door. “I could give you the wings and you could go in and fix it.”
He shook his head. “You imprinted on them. They won’t work for me, now. Thanks for that, by the way.”
“Sorry.” So, technically the wings were mine, now. I wondered what else he hadn’t told me about all this. “I can’t knock on the door like this. Why don’t you start with that?”
He stepped closer, rapped hard on the door, then took a few steps back and one to the side, in case something other than a person came through the door. “Worth a try.”
The noise never paused. They obviously either couldn’t hear the pounding on the door, or they were too involved in their argument to care.
“We’re going to have to work together.” I moved toward the door.
He held his arm out. “Be careful. Don’t do anything stupid or brave.”
“You have to get in there.” I patted his arm. “I’ll be okay. I’ll go in, take my arm out of the elastic, unlock the door, and come out. I’ll be quick.”
“You’ll be in the direct line of fire.” He shook his head. “It’s not safe. We’ll call the police and wait for them to break down the door.”
Mrs. Browning screamed.
Mr. Kingston yelled something that sounded like a war cry. Behind us, two dogs whined from the other apartment.
At least the dogs were safe.
A thunk came from Mr. Kingston’s apartment, something much larger than a knick-knack or a plate. Possibly human-sized.
“We can’t wait that long.” I headed for the door.
“Wait!” Josh grabbed my hand as I marched past and pulled me toward him. His eyes were filled with worry. For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. He stared into my eyes, holding my hand, his expression so intense I felt like the only person who existed in the world. “Please be careful.”
I nodded. “I promise.” I slipped away from him and went through the door.
Careful wasn’t enough to prepare me for what was inside that apartment.