Twenty minutes later, Tabby was glaring at Todd over a mug of herbal tea, tapping her foot impatiently until she could get him alone. She could not believe that he had actually mowed down her best friend in the middle of the street and then brought her home. That was not the way Cupid was supposed to act!
“Do you two know each other or something?” Tara asked, glancing back and forth between the two.
“Sorta, in a past life,” Tabby muttered, then caught herself. Tara knew nothing about Tabby being a witch and didn’t believe in the supernatural at all; she had said it was all a ton of hogwash.
“Excuse me.” Tara lifted her eyebrows at her friend.
“We knew one another in high school,” Todd said, recovering nicely.
“Oh, I see,” Tara said, but Tabby could see she didn’t know what the hell they were talking about. “Anyway, I need to head home to get ready for work. I need a shower.” She laughed, looking down at her dirty jeans.
“How about I pick you up after work and we have coffee?” Todd blurted out, earning a killer glare from Tabby.
Tara looked shocked. Then, biting her lip in thought, she blurted out, “Yeah, that would be great.” She picked his cell phone up from the countertop and quickly entered her number. “Call me around six, and I should be ready.”
Tabby rolled her eyes as Todd grinned and blushed like a middle school kid with his first crush. She began impatiently tapping her foot again.
“Awesome,” Todd said, his excitement evident. “See you then.”
“What the hell were you thinking? Actually, what the hell are you thinking?” Tabby asked, tapping her temple with one of her bright red nails. “In case you have forgotten, you’re Cupid!”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Todd said, running his hands through his already tousled hair. “There’s just something about her.”
“There can’t be something about her, Todd. She’s one of your charges.”
Todd held up his hand to stop her from talking, a thoughtful look on his face. “Actually, no, she isn’t. You are the one who got me to shoot her with a love arrow, so technically she wasn’t on my list.”
Tabby saw that he was serious about pursuing her friend. “You really like her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I never believed in the whole love-at-first-sight thing, not naturally anyway, but as soon as I looked into those gorgeous green eyes…”
“You know you could lose your wings.”
Todd shrugged. “I know, but somehow, that doesn’t even matter anymore.”
“It will when you’re mortal and start to age.”
Todd hung his head and groaned. “Ugh, I forgot about the whole mortal-versus-god thing.”
“Is there anything you can do? Maybe a loophole?” Tabby asked, tapping her nails against the table, deep in thought.
“Who am I kidding?” Todd groaned again. “All this heartache may be for nothing. She might not even feel the same way.”
Tabby raised her eyebrows at her immortal friend. “Did you see the way she looked at you? She hasn’t been on a date in eons, and then just to accept you asking her out, just like that,” she paused to snap her fingers to emphasize her point, “is not Tara. Trust me, she feels the same way you do. The only problem is going to be who and what you are.” She laughed out loud. “I would love to be a fly on the wall when you explain that supernatural beings truly do exist.”
“What do you mean?”
“She doesn’t believe in any of that mumbo jumbo, as she calls it. If you can’t see it, it can’t be,” Tabby said, doing her best to mimic Tara’s voice.
“Oh boy, then this should be loads of fun.” Todd groaned, burying his head in his hands once again.
Two Weeks Later
Tara hummed to herself as she put up the decorations for the Easter Hop that would be taking place this weekend. For once, she was actually excited about the hop. She didn’t even crinkle her nose at the icky-sweet couples who walked through the park in front of the library anymore. She laughed when she realized that she and Todd were one of those icky-sweet couples; they had taken a stroll through that very same park after going out to dinner last night.
After glancing out the window and spotting the birdbath, a frown marred her face, causing her to nervously tighten the ponytail holder that held back her unruly red hair. She thought back to what had happened in the park last night. Todd and Tabby had been acting strangely at dinner. She wasn’t the only one who had noticed it. Tabby’s date had noticed it as well, to the point where he had begged off the walk and gone home. Tara had asked them a number of times what the problem was, but they had both laughed it off, told her she was being silly, and changed the subject.
It was while they had been walking through the park that she had known for a fact she was right and something was wrong. They had just rounded the bird bath in the square when a dark-haired man raced up to them, grabbed Tabby and Todd by the arms, and led them over to the other side of the fountain.
Wandering around the fountain, Tara had watched from a distance. They all had seemed to be arguing about something. When confronting them later, Todd had promised that he would explain everything tonight at dinner with just him, her, and Tabby.
Checking her watch, she realized that she had twenty minutes until the library closed. She was determined to get to the bottom of what had happened last night with her boyfriend and her best friend.
Todd paced the floor of Tabby’s spacious kitchen, worried that something was going to go wrong. He couldn’t lose Tara, but the word coming from the boss last night was that if he kept putting off telling her what he was, they would clip his wings and make him mortal, which would lead to death pretty quickly.
“Stop pacing. You’re wearing a hole in my kitchen tiles,” Tabby said, setting a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. “There. Like you need it with as jumpy as you already are.”
“What if she runs? What if she doesn’t want to be with an immortal?” He snatched up his mug of coffee and chugged it, handing it back to her. “Hell, she doesn’t even believe things like us exist,” he roared, pointing between the two of them.
“Hey! I am not a thing. A witch is not a thing,” She walked around the counter and put her hands on his shoulders, turning him to face her. “I know her. It may take some time, but once she gets over her disbelief, she’ll be fine with it.”
“That’s just it. We don’t have time. They’re giving me until Easter, and then all bets are off.”
“That’s not what they said when we went to talk to them. They said since she wasn’t technically your charge, they would overlook it and allow the two of you to be together and you would still be able to keep your wings.”
“Yeah, well they’re the bosses, and they changed their minds,” he said bitterly.
Tabby chewed on her bottom lip. “Well, then we’re just going to have to make her believe us.”
“How do you suppose we do that? You know I can’t show her my true form. It’s forbidden.”
“Leave that to me,” Tabby said, a slight smile on her face. “She just needs to know that magic exists, not exactly have proof that you’re Cupid.”
“She’s here,” Todd called out, peering out the kitchen window as Tara’s headlights shined across the driveway.
“Hold your horses. I’m coming.” She walked out of the bedroom in the robes she used when she was doing spellwork.
“What are you going to do? Cast a spell on her and make her believe us?” He scoffed and rushed to the door to open it before Tara could knock.