BREAKFAST the next morning was a busy affair. Besides Josh, Rachel, Adora, and the various members of the pack who popped in and out, there were also the assorted guests from the coterie: Tanner and Olivia and their infant son, Tanner’s mother Beth, and Olivia’s parents, Sander and Genevieve.
Someone in Jeannine’s family had fallen ill, and she’d asked for the day off so she could tend to them. Adora took it upon herself to make breakfast for everyone, as a thank you for Josh and Rachel’s hospitality. Considering she’d spotted Matt and Shay leaving the party together last night, she suspected her time there might be rapidly coming to an end, and she needed to express her gratitude before that point.
While she was in the kitchen whipping up omelets, French toast, slabs of thick Canadian bacon, and a bowl full of fruit (because she knew Rachel was partial to fruit), Matt wandered into the room.
“Good morning,” she said as she tipped the whipped egg and milk mixture into a small omelet pan and used her magic to flip the grilling toast in a pan on another burner.
“Hey,” he said as he stepped up beside her and began flipping toast with a spatula. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, admiring how comfortable he appeared in the kitchen, in his jeans and T-shirt, hair still damp from what she assumed was a recent shower. Whoever he ended up mated to would be a lucky, lucky woman, to wake up to this man each and every morning.
“So how did last night go?” she asked, unable to resist. How close had he and Shay gotten after they left the party?
Matt gave her a sideways look as he shifted the cooked toast from the pan to a plate. “Are you asking if I got laid last night?”
Adora flushed and he laughed.
“No, I didn’t. I walked Shay to her car, said good night, and didn’t really feel like going back into the party so I went home.”
Adora couldn’t decide if she was happy or disappointed. Actually, she could decide, but she knew which one she should feel. Something about Shay set her on edge, but she wasn’t entirely certain it wasn’t her own jealousy. Which was ridiculous, of course. Not to mention foolish and very, very dangerous. If Adora wanted to retain her wings—which she did—she needed to get over feeling proprietary about Matt.
He was an assignment, not a potential lover. Cupids didn’t take lovers. If they did, it was in the Procreation Chamber, with another Cupid, and it was perfectly understood that while the act might be pleasurable, there was a distinct purpose: to create life. To bear baby Cupids who would carry on the tradition of seeking love and happiness for everyone else in the world.
Not for themselves. That’s not how their world worked.
“I guess this one gets scratched off the list?” She nearly winced at the hopefulness in her own voice.
“Not necessarily. We’re going to get together later today. Going for a hike.”
“Oh. That sounds romantic.”
Matt laughed again as he pulled a tray of bacon slices out of the oven. “Really? Is that your idea of a fun first date?”
“Well, not hiking precisely. Flying, remember?”
“I remember. And yes, we’re still doing that. How about right after breakfast?”
Adora beamed at him. “That sounds lovely.”
They carried platters of food into the dining room and the occupants attacked it like vultures. The room fell quiet as everyone concentrated on eating. The two of them filled their own plates and headed to the long wooden dining table. With Matt seated next to her, Adora tucked into her food, until Rachel made a noise of distress.
“Oh no,” she said, using her fork to point at the newspaper laid out on the table in front of her. “There’s been a murder, not too far from here. An entire family, found dead in their beds.”
“Shifters?” Josh asked as he leaned over the newspaper to read for himself. “If it was someone from the pack, I surely would have heard by now.”
Adora felt Matt’s gaze on her, but she was too busy fighting off the nausea to acknowledge him. This propensity toward a weak stomach at the slightest mention of blood or violence could be terribly inconvenient at times.
She felt something warm and calloused touch her shoulder blade and then smooth up her neck. Glancing to her left, she noted Matt appeared engrossed in whatever Josh and Rachel were discussing, yet his hand was on Adora’s neck, massaging…soothing away the nausea. While she had no interest in eating anything at the moment, neither did she think she would lose her cookies, not anymore. Whatever it was about him, Matt’s touch managed to balance her, to ensure she wouldn’t puke all over the pack master’s dining room table.
“Humans,” Rachel announced, pulling Adora back to the conversation at hand. “Not shifters. It’s just shocking when it hits so close to home. Things like this don’t happen in this neighborhood.”
“Death doesn’t care where someone lives,” Tanner commented.
“No, but this sounds like murder. And stereotype or not, this neighborhood does not see a great deal of murders, and certainly not an entire family, all at once, while they’re sleeping,” Rachel said.
Josh furrowed his brow and scanned the rest of the article. “There’s no indication that shifters might be involved,” he said. “It says they all died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Shifters don’t make it a habit to carry around firearms.” He sounded distinctly relieved that the murders were likely not linked to one of his own.
“But they don’t have any leads,” Rachel pointed out. “Which means the murderer is still out there.”
“Which means you are no longer allowed to go anywhere alone until this person is caught,” Josh told her sternly.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “I’m constantly surrounded by big scary shifters. I hardly see a human looking at me as a potential target. They’d take one look at you or Matt or any of the other rather large, muscular men in my presence and run the other way.”
“Large muscular men?” Josh repeated. “You notice other men’s muscles?”
Rachel’s lips twitched as she said solemnly, “No, dear. Only yours.”
Olivia tried to cover a snicker by coughing into her napkin, which prompted a glare from her mate. Matt glanced at Adora, who offered him a weak smile.
“If you guys will excuse us,” Matt said, pushing away from the table and hooking his hand under Adora’s elbow. “We’re going to get out of here for a while.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rachel asked worriedly.
“We’ll be fine,” he assured her. “We have magic, remember? If it’s humans behind these murders, they won’t even be aware of our presence. We don’t plan on staying in human form for long,” he said with a wink for Adora’s benefit.
They walked into the foyer together and Adora said, “I need to go upstairs and get a coat. I’m not used to this cold climate.”
She hurried up the staircase and returned, her typical gauzy, short dress replaced with a pair of fleece pants, a ribbed turtleneck, and a fleece jacket. The heated look in Matt’s eye was one she might have assumed would be reserved for her cutesy, flirty dresses, and she tugged at the zipper on her fleece, uncomfortable with her own errant thoughts.
Thoughts that involved Matt stripping her out of the clothing she’d just donned.
“Much better,” she said, stepping outside into the cool autumn air.
“What’s it like in your homeland?” Matt asked as they walked across the lawn, heading toward the lake.
“Quite tropical, actually. It’s usually eighty degrees or so and the sun is almost always shining. When it does rain, it pours for a short time and then the clouds clear and it is immediately sunny again. Like the plants were all thirsty and demanding drinks, and the sun obliged them but was impatient to return.”
Matt returned the smile she gave him. “Sounds like a great place to vacation.”
Adora laughed. “If only. Unfortunately, only Cupids can reach Cupid’s Plain, and then only in this form.” And with that, she leaped into the air, her translucent wings appearing on her back, beating furiously, until she grew smaller and smaller and then faded into the form of a group of sparkling, glittering lights. The trail of lights wound round and round Matt until he laughed and shifted into the form of an eagle, beating his wings and soaring high in the sky.
A moment later, the trail of lights was by his side, dipping and dancing and having a jolly good time. The eagle let out a great screech and then gave chase, and the trail of lights obligingly zoomed away, staying just out of the bird’s reach.
They played like that for over an hour, letting go of their stresses and worries and undoubtedly giving any humans below an impressive show, as they likely couldn’t even see the sparkling lights, but could clearly see the eagle, which was a rare enough sight without watching it dip and dive and swirl and generally act like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn—in the sky.
Finally, with a nod at the dancing lights, the eagle nosedived toward the ground, and shifted into human form just as he was about to touch the earth. Adora shimmered into human form at his side a moment later, although her wings continued to flutter slowly, keeping her feet dancing an inch or so off the ground.
“That was fun,” she enthused.
“It was,” he agreed. His glowing eyes reaffirmed he had, in fact, thoroughly enjoyed himself. She was unaccountably pleased to have shared something so pleasurable with him.
“And just so you know, I could have caught you at any point.”
She laughed. “I don’t think so.”
They argued good-naturedly as they headed back toward the lake, and the house beyond. Suddenly, Matt grabbed her arm and pushed her up against a tree, effectively trapping her between his back and the tree trunk.
“Did you hear that?” he asked sharply, his gaze darting around, scanning the landscape.
“Yes. It sounded like a noise of distress. Like someone is injured. Over there,” she said, pointing over his right shoulder.
“Stay close,” he ordered, and he set out toward the sound, checking over his shoulder every few seconds to ensure Adora was doing exactly as he said. She was about to point out that she could transform into the shimmering lights again if that would make him feel better, when they came upon Shay, sitting on the ground, a grimace on her face and her hands wrapped around her right ankle.
“Shay,” Matt said in surprise as he immediately relaxed his stance and rushed to her side. “What happened?”
Her grimace intensified. “I fell. I think I twisted my ankle. I wanted to warm up a little, before our hike.” She blushed. “I’m not really into hiking, actually, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t make a fool of myself in front of you.” She waved at the offending ankle. “Now I’ve only made it worse.”
“You aren’t making a fool of yourself. And if you aren’t into hiking, why did you agree to do it with me?”
Her cheeks warmed even more. “Because I got the sense you liked it. And I guess I was trying to impress you.”
Adora stood a few feet away, observing the interaction. Matt, with his sincere concern for Shay’s injury; Shay, with her silk sweater and tight jeans, perfect makeup and hair looking as if she had just returned from the salon. She had been out here practicing for their hiking date? In the exact place where Adora and Matt had been flying and then walking through the woods?
In that getup?
“Why aren’t you wearing hiking boots?” Adora inquired. Matt glanced up at her and back at Shay’s feet, which were encased in a pair of designer boots with three-inch heels.
A flash of irritation crossed Shay’s face, before she smoothed it over and said, “Stupid choice number two, I guess. I’m afraid I’ve ruined our date before it even started.”
“That’s okay. We can figure out something else to do. Come on, let’s get you back to the house. Hopefully Tanner and Olivia are still there. Olivia’s a healer. She’ll have you set up as good as new in no time.”
Shay shrank away from him as fear skittered across her features. “N—no,” she said hurriedly. “I—Really, I just want to go to my brother’s house. Honestly, I don’t want to waste her time.”
“You’re afraid of her,” Matt said flatly.
Shay blew out a breath. “Okay, maybe a little. I’ve just never seen anyone get healed before. It makes me—it makes me uncomfortable, okay? I know that’s wrong and—”
“Don’t be hard on her, Matt. It is entirely normal to be hesitant around new species, especially if you have been raised to shun them. I can tell you’re getting upset about her opinion of Lightbearers—”
Spurred by an inborn inclination to try to ensure everyone got along, Adora found herself defending the hapless female shifter. It was abundantly clear she was interested in Matt, and Adora’s own irrational jealousy was just that—irrational, because she had developed something of a crush on her handsome assignment. But he was exactly that—an assignment, and she could never forget that. Otherwise, she would never be able to go home again.
“I’m not getting upset,” Matt argued, as if she had insulted him.
“You don’t agree with her reasoning,” Adora pointed out diplomatically. “So therefore you are upset.”
“I’m not—”
“It’s just a twisted ankle,” Shay interrupted. “A little ice and elevation and I’ll be as good as new. Maybe you could help me to your truck and take me to my brother’s house? I’ll be fine, I swear.”
Adora watched the emotions war with themselves on Matt’s face. It was fascinating, really, the array of expressions, each one more handsome than the last. He would make beautiful babies someday. Adora hoped his future mate realized how lucky she was—and she selfishly held out hope that Shay was not the one.
In truth, they were perfect for one another. They seemed to have a fair number of interests in common: They could talk comfortably with one another; Shay’s build even appeared to compliment Matt’s large, muscular stature. Adora glanced down at her own dainty, tiny body. As much fun as she and Matt had when they were not in human form, the truth was, he was massive, while she was itty bitty, and as this was the form in which they would connect intimately, it just didn’t make sense. They weren’t compatible. Even if she discounted the fact that she was a Cupid and Cupids were not supposed to connect with their assignments.
She gritted her teeth and watched while Matt wrapped his arm around Shay’s back and lifted her until she hopped on one foot. Trailing behind them as they slowly made their way across the lawn toward Josh’s house where Matt’s truck was parked, Adora mentally reviewed all the reasons she should not feel jealous of Shay, and should, instead, be happy that it was becoming more and more apparent Matt had found his future mate.
The mental activity did not make her feel better. Especially when, once they reached Matt’s truck, he lifted Shay into the cab and threw a distracted “goodbye” over his shoulder before climbing into the driver’s seat and cranking the vehicle to life. Adora stood in the circle drive and watched until the bright red taillights disappeared beyond the first hill in the narrow drive leading away from the stone mansion.
Arms hanging at her side, Adora wandered into the house and made her way to the library, where she found Rachel reviewing her emails on the computer. The human mistress of the house looked up when Adora flopped into the leather armchair on the other side of the desk.
“Something wrong?”
“Matt just took off with that shifter named Shay.”
“Is that bad? I thought that was what you wanted to happen?”
“I’m here to help him find his mate.” What she wanted was an entirely different story.
Rachel tilted her head to the side. “And you don’t think Shay is the one?”
Slumping further in her seat, Adora muttered, “I think she’s perfect for him.”
Furrowing her brow, Rachel said, “If that’s the case, why do you sound so…bitter?”
“I don’t know.” Yes, she did. Adora pushed out of the chair and paced to the window and back before dropping into her seat once again and thrusting out her lower lip. A childish, mulish act, but she couldn’t help it.
Rachel sat back in her chair as a look of comprehension dawned on her face. “I see.”
“What?”
“Tell me, Adora, when do Cupids get to take a mate? I mean, I have to believe you procreate, unless you all are immortal?”
Adora shook her head. “Not immortal. We do have to procreate, to keep the population up. Supply and demand and all that. Few creatures are adept at finding love without our help.”
“So how does it work? When do you have time to meet your own potential mate?”
Frowning, Adora explained, “When the Assigners determine it’s our time. I’ll get summoned one day, and then I’ll be sent to the Procreation Chamber.”
“What’s a Procreation Chamber? That doesn’t sound particularly pleasant.”
“I haven’t been yet, but those who have say it is actually incredibly pleasant. More than, even. As I understand it, it’s supposed to feel like having an extended stay in a resort. A hedonistic resort.”
Rachel furrowed her brow, and Adora reminded herself that humans had a very different way of life from most magical people. Or perhaps all other creatures had a different way of life from Cupids. So she explained.
“The Procreation Chamber is where we go when it is our time to produce offspring. It is said to be the most glorious, beautiful, perfect place you can possibly imagine. All your wants and desires are tended to. The pheromones we give off are so thick in the air, it’s impossible to resist…having sex.”
Rachel laughed. “Doesn’t sound so bad.”
Adora shrugged. “There is no emotion involved. You have sex with whomever is handy, or whomever you are attracted to. You do it over and over, until you are with child. And then the females are sent to another area of the chamber, or resort, as you will, and are set up in the lap of luxury while they incubate. When the babe is birthed, it is whisked away to the nursery. Most mothers don’t even get to see their child before it is taken away. I don’t believe any fathers have ever met their own younglings, at least not until they are old enough to socialize with others outside the chamber. And by then, there is no emotional connection. And, should you choose, you can do it all over again, as many times as you wish. We get as much leave from our jobs as Cupids as we want. Some love it, and stay almost perpetually in the chamber. Some do it once and never go back. It depends on your personality, I suppose. Me personally, I dread it.”
“I don’t blame you. I couldn’t imagine getting pregnant by a faceless guy and then never even seeing your baby before it’s taken away to be raised by strangers. Does this mean you don’t even know your own parents?”
“I know who they are, but I have no more than a passing acquaintance with my father, and basically a professional relationship with my mother.” Adora blinked back unexpected tears. “Do you think that makes me a terrible Cupid, because I don’t want to do something that is supposed to be natural for my kind?”
Rachel shook her head so fiercely, tendrils of hair sprang loose from the clip holding it to the back of her head. “Absolutely not. That doesn’t sound natural at all, and certainly not for those who are supposed to bring love to everyone else. In fact, I think it makes you a better person. Someone with compassion, someone who cares. You are one of the most wonderful people I have ever met. You aren’t terrible at anything.”
Adora smiled, sprang from her seat, and impulsively hugged her new friend. “Thank you.”
“And by the way, it is horrendous that the very people who are supposed to help the rest of the world find love don’t get to experience it for themselves. I can’t believe you don’t get to choose your own mate—or any mate, for that matter. You aren’t supposed to fall in love? That just seems…wrong.”
Memories of another time, another place hit her and Adora winced. She had thought she was in love once. The end result had been disastrous—and now she was a Cupid Level One, struggling to keep her wings and her livelihood.
Clearing her throat, Adora said, “Cupids are not meant to fall in love. We derive our joy from watching others find love.”
“Sounds like something you read in a textbook.”
Adora whipped around at the sound of the masculine voice she already knew so well. Matt stood in the doorway, his shoulder propped against the wooden frame, his arms crossed over his chest. Adora had the ridiculous urge to start panting like a dog in heat.
My job is to find him a mate, not satisfy some itch that has suddenly sprung up out of nowhere.
But she knew that was not the case. It hadn’t sprung up out of nowhere. Her attraction was completely justified. The man was eye candy, and a good person to boot. Exactly the sort of person…she should help mate with someone else.
Someone else.
“So, is that true? What you two were talking about? Cupids aren’t allowed to fall in love?” he asked, watching her with dark eyes that saw far too much.
“Usually, we just don’t. But yes, if, on the rare occasion it does happen…it is not acceptable.”
There was something in his eyes—a shrewdness Adora hadn’t expected. She could tell he wanted to ask for more detail, but refrained, probably because Rachel was there. Adora had no doubt he would hammer her with questions the next time they were alone together. She gulped and averted her gaze. There were few things Adora disliked speaking of, and she’d touched on two such topics today. It was time to guide the spotlight away from her and focus on her attempts at helping Matt find his mate.
“So you and Shay?” she asked, staring at his hiking boots.
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t get your hopes up yet, Cupid. We’re just talking. You’re still stuck with me for a while longer.”
She did not think that was such a bad prospect. “Talking is good. Talking often leads to…other things.”
“I know how this works.” He sounded irritable. No doubt his reluctance to admit she was right about his need for a mate. It wouldn’t be the first time. At some point, she knew he would express his appreciation for her efforts.
“I think that’s ridiculous,” Rachel announced. Adora and Matt both arched their eyebrows. She shook her head. “You—not being allowed to find love. It isn’t fair. You deserve it as much as anybody else. Probably more. How many people have you found happiness for? It doesn’t make sense that you can’t enjoy it for yourself.”
Adora kept a smile plastered on her face, while glancing at Matt out of the corner of her eye. He stared at her, a curious look on his face. Adora could no more change the ways of her people than she could keep her wings if she did not help Matt find his mate. There was no point in talking about it.
“It is what it is,” she mumbled weakly.
“I hate that phrase,” Josh said, coming up behind Matt and elbowing him out of the way. “I just met someone named Shay. She said you were supposed to grab her an ice pack and a couple pain killers?”
“Shit. Yeah, I gotta go. Ladies.” Matt nodded and slipped away, and Josh stepped farther into the room, perching on the desk next to Rachel and murmuring something Adora did not hear. She watched Matt leave and was surprised at the force behind which she wished…
But she couldn’t. That wasn’t how things were supposed to work. Besides, it was becoming clearer and clearer that Shay was the woman for him. And Adora should be happy about it.
She was going to retain her wings, after all.