Bonds of Cupidity (Heart Hassle Book 2)

“Alright,” Evert says, tossing another drink back. Seriously, how are they not even tipsy? “We need to figure out what the hell happened to Scratch. We should’ve seen her by now, or she would’ve passed on a message. Maybe we should try tracking down that lamassu asshole. If he even is her mate. Fucker’s probably faking it.”

“Really?” I roll my eyes.

Sylred frowns. “I doubt it. Lamassus are very reverent toward their mate match. He would find it a grave disrespect to lie about it. And anyway, why would he?”

Evert tosses him an incredulous look. “Because she’s hot. Obviously.”

“Can we get back on topic?” Ronak interjects.

“What? She is,” Evert shrugs, making me smile.

He thinks I’m hot. The feeling is totally mutual.

“I agree that something isn’t right. No way she wouldn’t have been here to see us by now,” Sylred says.

Evert’s face grows stony. “Fucking lamassu. If he did something…”

“We’ll find her,” Ronak replies, all confidence.

“I’m right here!” I say desperately.

If only there were some way to get through to them. To let them know I’m here.

“What was with her disappearing arm trick?” Evert asks.

The other two shake their heads. “Now that I think about it, I can’t feel her. I usually have some sense of her,” Sylred admits.

Ronak frowns. “So did I. Now that you mention it, I haven’t felt her since…”

“Since the end of the culling.”

“Yeah. I wonder what that means.”

“Nothing fucking good,” Evert replies.

I groan. “Ugh, I should’ve told you guys what happens when I get too far away from you.”

“Do you think the prince recognized her?” Sylred asks.

I nod. “Yes, yes!”

“No way of knowing,” Ronak says, cutting his gaze to the prince where he sits. “It’s not like we can ask him.”

“If he recognized her, and she told him about us…” Sylred trails off.

“She wouldn’t,” Evert replies.

“No,” Ronak agrees. “Besides, if the prince knew we hid her from him, we wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

“But if they do have her, they will try to force information out of her,” Sylred says.

The idea that I could be imprisoned and tortured seeps into their horrified expressions.

Evert curses. “Fuck. If he hurts her…”

“The prince is watching. Like he’s waiting for something. We can’t give anything away.”

I wish there was some way I could communicate to them. But how can I do that when my only ways to pervade the physical realm is to…

I gasp and snap my fingers. Well, you know, not really.

“That’s it!”

I get close to them, waiting for someone to ask another question. I don’t have to wait long.

“Do you think she’s back on the culling island still and that’s why we can’t feel her?” Sylred asks.

I fly up to him and trail a Flirt-Touch down his face. He cocks his head in confusion but doesn’t say anything.

“Could be,” Ronak replies.

“Or maybe she’s here and we just can’t sense her,” Evert says. “She could’ve made it back.”

I fly over to him and blow a big puff of Lust-Breath in his face. His blue eyes grow sharp with sexual hunger and he shifts his legs. “What the fuck…” he mutters.

“She’d like this party,” Sylred muses, unaware of Evert’s sudden change. “Think she’d be over at the food table stuffing her face right about now?”

I blow a Lust-Breath into his face next. Now it’s his turn to be taken aback and look all hot and bothered.

When they both keep fixing the front of their pants and shifting, Ronak frowns at them. “What are you two doing?”

“I’m fucking harder than a rock right now,” Evert says, throwing me into a fit of giggles.

Ronak’s nose wrinkles in disgust. “Too much info.”

“No, he’s right. I mean, I’m feeling…strange, too,” Sylred says, blushing slightly.

“You’re adorable when you blush,” I tell him.

“Strange how?”

I blow a Lust-Breath into his face next. His head rears back in surprise, and his chest starts heaving. Now I have three very hot, very horny genfins in front of me, and I’m invisible. What a waste.

Sylred takes in his expression. “You feel it, too?”

“Like if Scratch were here you’d bend her over the drink table and fuck her ‘til she can’t walk?” Evert supplies.

Sylred groans and fixes his pants again. Ronak just nods, although it looks painful.

“Aww you’re all lusting after me?” I ask, ecstatic. “I knew it! You totally like me. Now be clever genfins and figure this out.”

“Wait a second…” Sylred begins.

“Lust-Breath,” Ronak adds with a nod. He would know.

Evert looks around. “She’s here. She’s right fucking here, isn’t she?”

I blow a big fat yes of Lust into Evert’s face. He groans and bends over slightly. “Fucking, Scratch. It is you. You’re killing me here.”

“Let’s, ahh, go somewhere a bit more private,” Sylred suggests.

They walk, somewhat stiffly, out of the ballroom until they find a quiet alcove.

“Okay, Emelle is here, but for some reason, she’s in the Veil again, and we have to assume she can’t get out. Is that right?” Sylred asks, a little uncertainly, like he’s embarrassed that he might just be talking to air.

I blow more Lust at him. Maybe I should’ve made the Flirt-Touches designated for yes… Oh well.

“Okay. So Lust is a yes, then,’ he strains to say.

“What’s a no?” Evert asks.

I trail a Flirt-Touch finger across his shoulder. He frowns.

“Well?” Sylred prompts.

He lifts his hands, at a loss. “I don’t fucking know.”

Sylred turns to Ronak. “What was her other power again?”

Ronak shakes his head. “I don’t remember. All I remember was the hard-on she left me with for four hours.”

I chuckle.

“Well?” Sylred asks Evert again.

“I don’t fucking know! It just felt…different.”

“Like what?” he persists.

“The Lust one makes me want to fuck her. The other thing she just did makes me think of stupid shit. Like writing her poems or getting her flowers or some pansy ass shit like that.”

“You really need some improvement in the romance department,” I tell him.

“Flirtation,” Sylred says, snapping his fingers. “That’s it.”

“Very good,” I tell him.

“Okay, so only yes or no questions, then.”

“If she answers yes many more times, I’m gonna blow a load in my pants,” Evert admits.

“That was graphic,” I tell him.

“Well, we need to figure out what the hell happened to her.”

“Okay, this is what we’re going to do,” Ronak cuts in. “We’re going to go back to the party, be seen for a little bit longer to appease appearances. Then we get somewhere where we won’t be overheard, and we can communicate with her without embarrassing ourselves, okay?”

Sylred and Evert nod reluctantly. “That work for you, Scratch?”

I blow a kiss of Lust at him. He covers his face with his hands. “Fuck. Sorry I asked,” he rasps out.

I dissolve into giggles. This is just way too much fun.

“Ready?” Ronak asks.

“I need a fucking minute,” Evert replies, looking pained. “Or a jump in a frozen lake.”

Sylred narrows a thoughtful look at him. “Prince Elphar. Delsheen. The snake monster from the culling. Your mother. My mother. That gnome with the oozing nose—”

Evert glares at him. “What the fuck?”

He shrugs. “Did it help?”

Evert tilts his head. “Yeah, a bit.”

Sylred turns and starts walking away. “You’re welcome. Now come on, Stiff.”

“It’s Stitch,” Evert bites back.

His growl doesn’t cover up the laughter that follows him.