Bonds of Cupidity (Heart Hassle Book 2)

Everyone is staring at me. But not in like an, oh, they’re checking me out because I look hot as hell, kind of way. Not even in a curious, I wonder if she’s fun to hang out with kind of way.

For the record, I am fun to hang out with. Ask anyone.

Or, I mean, actually, just ask the only three people that I know—the three very hot genfins currently being held prisoner.

Okay, fine. Ask two out of three of them. Ronak probably wouldn’t classify me as fun. Mostly because he wouldn’t know fun if it put on lipstick and kissed him on the ass.

But Evert and Sylred for sure think I’m fun. Usually. Most of the time. Like, at least half the time.

Anyway, back to the dozens of fae currently staring at me. I try to ignore them as I walk down the town square with my head up high. My pink hair trails down to my waist, but it was definitely a mistake to tuck it behind my ears. My very non-pointed, non-fae ears.

Not only do I not have pastel-colored skin like the high fae, but I’m also too short. The fae don’t really know what to make of me. I don’t really look like any one type of fae.

One of them, hell if I know what kind, steps forward to block my way. He (or she?) towers over me like a tree, even taller than the high fae. He has shiny skin that looks like copper, fur all over his arms and legs, and teeth like iron spikes. Super attractive.

“What are you?”

Psh. Like he’s one to talk.

“Emelle, nice to meet you,” I say, holding out a hand.

I sort of have to hold my hand up like I’m ready to give him a high five, because that’s how tall he is. He doesn’t make hand contact, though. I have to drop it back down like a loser.

Awkward.

“An Emelle?” he asks, his coppery skin pulling in a crinkly frown. “I have never heard of this Emelle fae. Are you a mutt?”

“Hey, who are you calling a mutt? You’re the one with fur, buddy.”

I hear someone gasp. Looking over, I realize that I have spectators gathered around us. Apparently, the entire crowd has stopped to watch our exchange. They’re all interested to see what my answer will be.

Which honestly is a little offensive. I don’t look nearly as weird as some of them. That guy over there has a nose that looks like a sponge. Those nostrils are just way too porous to be hygienic.

Copper fur man looks angry at being called a dog. He straightens up to full height and crosses his arms in front of him. And he has four of them.

My irritation immediately deflates as I take in his limbs. “Gosh, four arms!” I exclaim. “That must make things super helpful. I’d love to have four arms. Sometimes, I’ll be carrying something, and then this itch will crop up,” I say, pointing to a spot on my right arm.

That spot is where my original itch lasted for over fifty years, and I had no way to scratch it while I was non-corporeal. Can you imagine having an itch for fifty years? Yeah, it was torture.

“Anyway, I’ll be carrying something, right? So both my hands are full and I don’t have any way to scratch this spot. It makes things really inconvenient. But four arms—that’s just plain handy. Pun intended. I’ll bet you carry stuff and scratch things simultaneously all the time, am I right? That must really be something. Seriously, congratulations.”

He stares at me and blinks.

I get that reaction a lot. I kind of have this condition where my mouth just spews word vomit. It’s chronic.

I sidestep around him. “Okay then, you and your arms have a good day.”

Before I can take two steps, another fae steps in front of me, and this one looks like he’s half octopus, because he has eight arms. Seriously, they’re just rubbing it in now.

“What kind of fae are you?” he asks.

I’ve been trying to avoid this question but I know it’s inevitable. They know I look differently than any other fae they’ve seen, and that’s because I’m not really a fae. I don’t belong in this realm at all. I’m a cupid. All that attention I wanted? Yeah, I’m getting it right about now.

My wings are currently hidden from view, and thank the gods, because if I were to let them out, the jig would really be up. My wings are completely unlike the wings of any other fae. They’re bright red and feathered, and downright lovely if I do say so myself.

But I can’t wear them here. Not when Prince Elphar is looking for me and there’s a bounty on my head. Someone would recognize me with my wings for sure. If I keep drawing unwanted attention, I’ll surely have the palace guards come down on me even without my wings. I need to give the crowd some sort of an answer, so I lie.

I clear my throat nervously, looking around at the staring crowd. “Umm, I’m half high fae,” I say, indicating my pastel pink hair that could certainly pass for one of their traits.

“Half high fae?” he asks dubiously. “I’ve never known a high fae to have mutts. They’re too good for us other fae,” he says with disdain, looking around at the crowd as they nod and make noises in agreement. “What’s the other half?”

I cough a little and answer at the same time, “human,” I try to dart around him. Of course, the crowd doesn’t let me pass, so I get trapped by a wall of nosy fae.

“What did she say?”

“Did she say half goblin?”

“I think she said Huaca.”

“Can’t be Huaca. Her skin’s not made of stone.”

The crowd keeps tossing around commentary until I finally clap my hands to get their attention.

“I’m half human, okay?” I shout.

The dozens of fae shut up immediately to balk at me. Yeah, humans aren’t very common here. Or popular, apparently, based on their sneers.

I take advantage of their shock and bend down to sneak between the arms of two fae, managing to break through the circle. I definitely don’t want to know what their reaction would be if they found out what I really am. That would be a disaster.

I don’t need any more attention, but my handmade fur outfit isn’t helping me blend in at all. Most of the people who live here on the kingdom island are really wealthy, and they wear expensive fabrics and always dress to the nines. Beast fur that smells like a wet dog is not exactly on trend.

I loose my hair to cover my non-pointed ears and try not to make eye contact with anyone. When I look down, I remember my feet are bare, too. Yeah, I probably should have planned this better.

I hoist up the quiver that’s strapped to my back, hearing the comforting sound of arrows shaking around. It’s not my cupid set, but it’s still nice to have some kind of weapon at my disposal. I lost my set when the fae prince blasted me with magic at the palace. Who knows what the jerk did with it. I’d love to shoot him with some non-Love Arrows this time around.

And yeah, I’m a badass with a bow and arrow. I am a cupid, after all. It’s kind of my thing.

When the guys were taken from the banishment island and escorted here, I followed them, flying at a safe distance away. I can’t be too far away from them or I’ll start getting sick and I’ll go invisible again.

They’re my anchors to the physical world—although they don’t know that. They have enough on their plates already with facing the trials of the royal culling. I can’t let them face that with the extra burden that my life depends on theirs, too.

I’ll just have to find another way to anchor myself before something bad happens. Somehow.

I watched my guys get taken over the stone wall surrounding the castle and then escorted toward the prisoner’s towers. I can see the towers from here. They’re not far away.

I just need to find a way to get past the wall, or at least keep watch so I know where they’ll be taken next. But I can’t stealthily find my guys if fae are constantly stopping me.

I don’t make it very far through the crowd before the shouts and hollers follow me, and I’m surrounded by meddlesome fae again.

I let out a frustrated sigh and look around. They’re all talking about me, staring at me with way too many eyes and voices. I don’t like feeling cornered. I also don’t like being stared at like I’m about to have tomatoes thrown at me.

Note to self: I’ve been invisible way too long to deal with this crap. And, being a somewhat unprofessional cupid, there’s only one way I know how to work a crowd. A smile curves my lips.

“You wanna make a scene? Then let’s make a scene.”

I take a deep breath, filling my lungs as full as they’ll go, and then I blow out a huge trail of pink Lust-Breath into the crowd’s faces.

It takes me a few breaths to get them all, but when I’m done, their eyes are glazed over with burning desire and they’re looking around in search of a favorable partner.

A couple of them take an interest in me, but I redirect their amorous attentions to someone else. The shift in the crowd is almost laughable. Now that the crowd isn’t focused solely on me, I walk around, trailing my finger along some of the people that seem to need an extra push, and hit them with some Flirt-Touches to really seal the deal.

That seems to do it. By the time I circle back around, everyone has forgotten about me. Ladies are giggling, men are putting on the moves, tongues are tangling, hands are petting, and several groups have wasted no time and seem to be getting down to business right in the middle of the street.

Huh.

Orgies are way easier to start in the fae realm than they were with humans.

I nearly trip over a couple on the ground, where a female is straddling a guy. She rips his shirt down the middle and starts attacking him with her boobs. I smile to myself and dust off my hands. Now this is what I call crowd control.

I weave through couplings until I get past the chaos. Hopefully they’ll be distracted for a while and won’t remember me once the lust-haze lifts. I reach the market stalls, where people are too busy buying and selling to pay me much attention.

I keep going until the lust scene I ignited is far behind me. I may have redirected the crowd’s attention for now, but it won’t last forever, and I can’t just keep using my cupid powers to create street orgies. The fae may be sexually open, but even they’d catch on that something was off. I need to blend in better.

I search the stalls until I find the perfect combination. A man selling clothes. I slip inside the tent and take a look around. There’s fancy fabric and shoes everywhere, as well as several full-length mirrors.

“Good day.”

I whirl around to look at the fae man who greeted me. He’s wearing a silk tunic and hat and has bright blue wings. Pixie.

He’s thin and only slightly taller than me, with pointy ears, chin, and nose, but he’s not one of the scary-looking fae, and for that, I’m grateful. If my plan is going to work, I need to be able to seduce him. Let’s hope he’s attracted to me. Time to turn on the charm.

“Hi there,” I smile coyly at him. “Ooh, I love this color shirt on you,” I say, carefully trailing my finger down his chest, letting my Flirt-Touch sink into his skin.

It comes out in a silvery wisp. He doesn’t notice a thing; he’s too busy staring at me.

He blushes and clears his throat, and when he looks down at my finger, I take the opportunity and quickly blow out a burst of Lust. The pink color quickly dissipates before he can see it, and he breathes in slowly before raising his large eyes. When he looks at my face again, his gaze is hooded with desire. Bingo.

I remove my finger from his chest and instead use it to twirl my pink hair. “I so love these silks you have,” I say, looking around his tent. “Do you think any of these colors would look nice on me?”

I turn around in a full circle, letting him look my curves up and down. There’s not much that this fur outfit leaves to the imagination. My midriff is showing, my boobs are pushed up, and my skirt is fairly short. He notices.

He clears his throat and smiles. “You would look good in any of these colors, I assure you. Allow me to dress you and you can see for yourself.”

I put a hand on my chest to draw his eye down to my cleavage again. “Oh, I couldn’t possibly. I’m just visiting today, you see, and my mother won’t allow me to buy anything. She says I don’t deserve to wear such lovely things,” I say with a sad sigh as I look longingly at a dress.

The man frowns. “Nonsense. A unique flower such as yourself deserves for her clothes to match her beauty.”

“If I bought anything, my mother would surely punish me.”

He takes a step forward and puts his hand on my bare shoulder. “Then it will be a gift from me to you.”

I flutter my lashes and smile up at him shyly. “A gift? You’re too kind. I really shouldn’t.”

“I won’t take no for an answer.”

I smile. These cupid powers are awesome. Good thing he isn’t into only guys, or a specific type of fae, because this could’ve gone very differently. The people I use my magic on have to at least be willing for my powers to give them the push they need.

“Well, if you insist…”

“I do,” he says quickly, turning around. “And I’m the best. So I already know your size. Go behind that curtain there, and I’ll pass you garments.”

“This is the most fun I’ve had in ages!” I say, skipping to the dressing room.

I carefully set my quiver and bow aside and then strip out of my fur. I pull on the clothes he passes over. A corset that laces up in the front is first, along with matching silk panties.

They’re both a soft pink color that matches my hair. Next is a pale purple dress that fits like a glove and flares out at the hips, letting the soft fabric trail slightly at the floor.

I step out of the room and turn around for the Pixie to inspect. He eyes me up and down like he can see the undergarments he chose for me. “Beautiful.”

“You really are the best,” I purr.

It’s all about using a mix of my powers with a side of ego stroking. I can feel the pulse of his desire and I can smell it, too. It nearly makes me sneeze.

“Is there something I can put my old things in?” I ask, motioning toward the pile of furs and my bow and arrow on the floor. This dress wouldn’t exactly go with it.

“Hmm, I have just the thing.” He comes back holding a box in one hand and a shoulder bag in the other. “You can put your things in this,” he says, handing me the bag.

I stuff my quiver and bow inside and then pick up my old clothes to add them to the bag as well. I can’t just leave them behind. Sentimental reasons and all. I pull the strap over my shoulder and let the bag rest on my other side. It fits comfortably, and it’s not too awkward considering what’s inside.

“Here,” he says, handing me the box he’s still holding. I open it and find a pair of lovely silk silver slippers. “May I?” he asks.

I nod, and then he kneels down and puts the shoes on my feet with tenderness like I’m Cinderfreakingella. I almost feel bad for using my powers on him, because he seems like a real sweetheart. When I have some money of my own, I’ll have to come back here and pay him properly.

“There,” he says, straightening up. “Now you’re perfect.”

I beam at him as I look in the mirror. I look much more fae now. As long as no one looks too closely at my subtle differences, I should be able to walk down the street without sticking out so much. My fur clothing was what made them first look, and then the rest of my appearance was what made them keep looking. I won’t make the mistake of showing my ears again.

“Thank you!” I exclaim, planting a kiss on his cheek. He nearly turns beet red. “Oh! That’s my mother calling me,” I say, pretending to hear something.

His face grows worried. “Can I see you again?”

“I don’t know,” I say, hurrying to the exit. “My mother is very strict. But if I can slip out, I’ll try to look for you tonight before you close!” I feel a stab of guilt when his eyes light up. Poor guy. I hope he doesn’t wait for me too long. “Thank you again!” I say with a wave, before stepping out of the tent.

I make my way out onto the street again and soon get lost in the crowd. No one even bothers looking my way this time, and I’m able to breathe a little easier. Whew. Now all I have to do is get to the tower where my genfin guys are without any of the palace guards seeing me.

Somehow.