Crimes of Cupidity (Heart Hassle Book 3)

When we reach Princess Soora’s cell, Belren simply cocks his hand and clicks open the lock using his power. I rush inside to wake her.

“Princess,” I whisper as I gently touch her shoulder. “We’re here.”

Her purple eyes fly open, and she quickly sits up. She looks to me and then Belren, but upon seeing the king, she stiffens.

“No, it’s okay, it’s not really him,” I quickly explain.

Her mouth parts in surprise, but she doesn’t waste time with questions. She simply stands up and waits as Belren pops open the lock, and we rush out. She leans in and gives Belren a chaste kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for coming, old friend.”

Belren nods to her. “You’ve gotten me out of a few scrapes, now and then. It was the least I could do.”

“I told you to get a different profession,” she says as we start to make our way down the stairs.

“And if I had, I wouldn’t be good enough to rescue you now,” he points out with a smile.

Princess Soora’s lip twitches in amusement.

“Okay, so what does worm-king here have to do to make sure the prison lets her leave?” I ask.

“A touch from the king,” Belren explains simply.

Soora grasps the worm-kings forearm and then quickly drops it.

“That’s it?” I ask.

“That’s it,” Belren answers.

“Okay. Quick. Let the others out.”

“Fine. But remember. Many favors. A lot of debt.”

I wave a hand at him. “Yeah, yeah. Move it, Horny Hooker. We got prisoners to rescue, and I didn’t exactly leave the king on good terms…”

Belren narrows his eyes. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” I say with a defensive shrug. “I just…accidentally made him fall in lust with a bar of soap…”

Belren and Soora blink at me incredulously.

“You…what?” Belren asks, exasperated.

“Okay, first of all, I don’t like your tone. It could’ve happened to any cupid. Secondly, it was an accident. And thirdly, can we talk about this later? I don’t know how long he’ll be macking on that soap, but that thing’s gotta melt down eventually. He was giving it a lot of tongue. Like, a lot,” I stress.

Belren lets out a maddened sigh and then tugs the worm-king forward. “Let’s go.”

With every cell that we pass, Belren opens it and I act like some peppy flight attendant to get them to follow directions.

“Please step this way. Don’t push. Let’s move in an orderly fashion. Yes, you sir. Touch the fake king. Don’t worry, it’s safe. Yes, that’s right. Just give him a poke. Move along please.”

Belren mutters under his breath about, “difficult Veil females,” which is totally incorrect because I’m actually being super helpful. Which is the opposite of difficult. I point that out to him, but he just starts cursing instead.

We soon have at least a hundred prisoners in tow. Some of them are too weak to stand on their own, but the stronger prisoners help them out, sometimes carrying their entire weight.

I can see that Belren’s strength is waning. The worm-king’s movements become jerkier and even more unstable and unnatural than before. It seems our time is running out, and after having touched so many of the prisoners, the imitate power is draining away much quicker than we anticipated.

By the time we get to the bottom of the stairs, Belren has a sheen of sweat on his face and neck, and his face is drawn in discomfort and concentration.

“You okay?”

“Yes,” he snaps. “We just need to get the hell out of here.”

When we reach the corridor and start heading for the exit, Belren lets out a curse as the worm-king flops onto the floor.

Belren takes labored breaths as he braces his arms against the wall. He looks completely exhausted, and his eyes are bloodshot with the effort it’s taking to move the worm-king.

“Here,” I say, grabbing his arm and putting it over my shoulder to help support him. He doesn’t even try to protest, so I know he’s got to be seriously drained.

“We need to get out,” he says in a tight voice. “I can’t hold him much longer, and the magic is fading fast. He’s about to be a worm again, and I’m pretty sure those guards out there aren’t dumb enough to let that one go.”

“We’ll rush the guards,” One of the stronger-looking fae prisoners offers. He’s bulky, with blue skin and hair like moss. A few of the other prisoners offer to help, and they quickly form a plan.

“But you could get hurt,” I protest.

The mossy-haired dude gives me a level look. “That is a chance we are willing to take. You released us from our cells. We can do our part now.”

My mind runs through ideas, but the princess beats me to it. “Right. You two, take the imposter king so that he no longer has to be held up by magic,” she orders, indicating two fae. “You four will rush the door first, once we get the guards to open it. The rest of us will follow. The weakened fae are to be put in the middle with stronger fae on the outside. No one hesitates. I’ll lead the way once we get past the tunnel to the kitchens.”

Everyone nods in understanding.

Belren gets some slight relief when the two fae pick up the worm-king. Swiping a hand over his sweaty brow, he takes a breath before slamming his fist against the entrance door. “Open up,” he shouts to the guards on the other side to let us out. “The king is done.”

As soon as the door swings open, the fae rush past like a wall of muscle and wrath. I hear the guards shout, and then power and fists go flying. The prisoners are the ones using brute strength, because the iron in the cells has sucked out their ability to use magic, but Ferno and Blix are flinging fire and water at the prisoners with a terrible frenzy.

Prisoners cry out as flames and walls of water pummels them, all while we scream for everyone to keep moving. But then the fire fae surrounds the entire room in a ring of fire, blocking the entrance, and the prisoners get bottlenecked from the doorway, and everyone else is stuck.

“Nobody move, or I’ll fucking burn you all alive!” Ferno yells at the room. Everyone stops, the prisoners and Blix heaving with panted breath.

“Where’s the king?” Ferno demands, his smoke-hair wafting around his scalp.

When no one answers him, his fiery eyes blaze brighter. “I said, where is the king?” he yells, holding a fireball in his hand, ready to launch it at us.

“There he is!” Blix calls out, pointing.

Ferno stomps forward, finding the floppy king being held by two of the prisoners. Even from a distance, I can see that the imitating magic is rapidly deteriorating. His skin is sagging and his body keeps spasming.

“Your Majesty?” Ferno asks. The worm-king’s tongue lolls out of his mouth. It’s not a good look. Ferno burns with rage. “You’ll all be executed for this!” He spots the princess and stalks toward her. He wrenches her arms behind her back and pulls tight, making her flinch in pain. Even though she doesn’t make a sound, I can tell that he’s nearly pulling her arms out of her sockets, and my blood boils with anger.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Princess Rebel Leader.” He laughs at her. Then, turning to Blix he says, “Sound the alarm.”

And that’s when my feet start moving. Belren is nearly depleted of power. All the prisoners are too weak to fight back. We’re surrounded by flame and a stupid asshole fire fae who is seriously pissing me off.

It’s up to me to save us.