Bonds of Cupidity (Heart Hassle Book 2)

I have no idea when I fell asleep or where I am now, but I can feel my guys nearby, so that keeps me from panicking. It looks like I’m in some kind of shed. Sitting up from the pile of furs I was sleeping on, I realize I can hear voices outside.

I open the door and slip out, immediately finding my guys sitting around a small fire. We’re deep in the woods and night has fallen.

When they notice me, the guys stand up. I make my way over to stand in the middle of them. “Where are we?”

“On Ronak’s land. We’re still on the island. We don’t have a safe way to portal off of it yet,” Sylred answers. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

I sit down in front of the fire and Ronak passes me a skin of water. “I’m proud of you for what you did,” he says, his gaze steady. “Knowing that my mate did not hesitate brings comfort to my animal. You were fierce, little demon. I could not be more pleased.”

I know he’s partly telling me this because he doesn’t want me to feel ashamed for what I did. I squirm a little. “Thanks.”

“You were badass,” Evert says, sitting beside me. “Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“I take it Sylred told you that I’m a soul sucker?”

Evert’s lip twitches. Of course he’d think it’s funny. “You’re just full of surprises. You also have a few new feathers,” he adds, tilting his head.

I snap a look over my shoulder and then groan. “White? Now I have white feathers sprouting up, too? What the hell?” I shriek. “My wings look like the freaking flag of Yemen! Like a bleeding skunk! Like a—”

“Chocolate.”

I screw my face up. “No, not like chocolate. Like—”

Before I can finish, Sylred is there, popping a truffle into my mouth.

It melts on my tongue. “Mmm. What’s in that one?”

“Coconut.”

“That’s yummy,” I admit. “What, are you guys just carrying boxes of chocolates in your pockets now?”

“Just me,” Sylred winks.

It’s not lost on me that he just thwarted another one of my meltdowns. With chocolate. I’m not even embarrassed about it. Chocolate is amazing.

Licking my lips, I manage to speak with a level head now. “So. Elephant in the forest. Those soldiers were wearing the uniform of Princess Soora’s personal guard’s. Like the kind Okot wears. And Okot is still gone.” I point out all these facts as if they’ll bring more clarity being said aloud.

“Yeah, bloody convenient if you ask me,” Evert says.

I frown. “I wasn’t insinuating that Okot had anything to do with it.”

“Well, I was.”

“Hey,” I say, getting angry. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“You’ve known him for less than a month. You have no idea what he’s like,” Evert counters.

But I shake my head. He’s wrong. I felt Okot’s sincerity every time he was with me. I smelt it through his mate scent. He wasn’t faking this. There’s no way.

“You’re wrong. And you shouldn’t be so quick to blame him,” I rebuke. ‘Anyway, what I wanted to say is that we don’t know what the hell is going on. So I think I should go invisible and spy on the princess.”

Evert is already shaking his head before I can even finish that last sentence. “Absolutely fucking not.”

“That would be very dangerous, Emelle,” Sylred says with a frown. “What if something else changes with you or you can’t keep yourself in the Veil? Too much could go wrong and you’d be too far away from us to help. We’d have no idea what was happening.”

“I get all that,” I say, standing up. “I do. They’re all valid worries. But I still have to do this. We have to know what the hell is going on. If Princess Soora betrayed us, I want to know why. Obviously, something much bigger is going on here than we realized. Let me do this. Let me help.”

I’m also going to find Okot, but I don’t say this part.

Evert scoffs and shakes his head, while Sylred defers to Ronak. I meet the alpha’s eyes. He stares at me, calculating, considering everything. I stand before his assessing gaze without backing down.

Finally, he nods. “If you want to do this, I’ll support you.”

“You can’t be fucking serious,” Evert growls, leaping to his feet. “You’re okay with our mate going right into the lion’s den? You’re our fucking alpha. That’s the last thing you should be okay with!”

Ronak levels him with a stern expression. “She’s right. She’s our best chance at getting information. We have to know where our threats lie. She’s the perfect spy. No one will see her.”

“Well I’m not okay with this,” he fires back. “Not at fucking all.”

I grab his bicep and force him to look at me. “I’ll be okay. I can fly really fast in my invisible form. I’ll get to the palace, spy on the princess and the prince, figure out what’s going on, and come back. No one will see me. I’ll probably come back with rainbow feathers, but besides that I’ll be fine,” I smile, trying to boost his mood with my terrible joke. It doesn’t work.

Evert pulls out of my grip. “This is bullshit, and it’s on you,” he snaps, pointing a finger at Ronak’s face.

He turns on his heel and stalks away, disappearing into the shadowed forest. I watch him go, unable to think of what to say or how to fix this without backing down. I know that I have to do this, despite Evert’s feelings. I’m our best shot at getting information, which we desperately need.

I turn back to Ronak and Sylred with a sigh. “Sorry,” I mumble.

Sylred comes up to me and pulls me into a hug. “He’ll be okay. Just come back as soon as you can.”

“I will,” I say against his chest. “I’m an awesome super spy, remember?”

He smiles and kisses the top of my head. When Sylred pulls away, Ronak grips my chin and stares down at me with his dark eyes. “Be smart,” he says seriously. “Don’t trust anyone. Watch, listen, and then come back. Don’t reveal yourself, don’t confront anyone, and don’t lose your advantage. You have three days. Three days and then you come back to this exact spot, whether you have answers or not.”

“Okay,” I agree.

“If you’re not back in three days, we’ll assume the worst and we’ll come for you and confront the princess ourselves.”

“No, you can’t—”

His grip on my chin tightens. “Yes, we can. And we will. So come back before your three days are up.”

I sigh, knowing that arguing is pointless. “Okay.”

He kisses me full on the mouth, biting my lip gently before releasing me.

I consider going to find Evert to say goodbye, but I decide against it. He obviously needs space, although I wish it wasn’t space from me.

“See you soon.” I say with a small smile. Just before turning invisible, I pause. “Wait…which direction is the kingdom island?”

The edge of Ronak’s lip curves up and he raises a hand to point. “Head directly up. When you come to an island that looks like a desert wasteland, go north. It’s a straight shot from there.”

“Right.”

“Good luck, awesome super spy.”

With a smile, I turn invisible, and then launch myself into the air.

I’m barely past the tree line when I feel it.

An old familiar feeling of being yanked.

It’s what I imagine those super high rollercoasters feel like when you’re in the downward plunge.

Before I can blink, the fae realm is gone, and I’m being pulled through space and time.

In the next instant, I’m being spat out in the very last place I want to be.

Cupidville.

And there’s only one reason I’d be yanked back here.

Yep. I’m in big fucking trouble.

End of Book Two