For the Love of Cupidity: A Valentine’s Day Novella (Heart Hassle Book 4)

The restaurant is a super fancy genfin establishment, and the place is packed. The building, like all the others, is dome-shaped and made out of polished wood. When we walk in, the lighting is low, and I can see into an exclusive bar area in the back, while there’s a set of spiral stairs that go underground to the restaurant below. Like the outside, everything is made of smooth, polished wood.

As we approach, a genfin host comes forward. “Covey Fircrown,” he greets us. “Right this way. The rest of your party is already waiting.”

The host leads us to the spiral stairs, and like everything else, they’re wooden, polished, and while very nice craftsmanship, they’re narrow and steep. I take a deep, fortifying breath to prepare myself for this formidable journey.

“Okay, Emelle. You can do this,” I say, cricking my neck side to side to really amp myself up.

The host and my other mates turn around and look at me expectantly.

“Are you giving yourself a pep talk?” Evert chuckles beside me.

“Do you see those stairs? It’s like a deathtrap.”

“We would never let you fall, my beloved,” Okot reassures me.

I walk forward, and the host begins his descent down the death stairs. Ronak keeps his steady gaze on me. “I’ll go in front, and you can hold on to me,” he says. Then he turns his head to Okot. “You walk behind her,” the alpha orders.

Okot nods, and then Ronak turns and heads for the stairs. He doesn’t start descending until my hand grabs his forearm that he’s holding against his back just for me. You wouldn’t think walking down stairs would be such a big thing, but since I’m a big thing, it is.

With one hand on his arm and one hand on the railing, I carefully start to make my way down, but it’s dark and daunting as hell, since I can’t see my feet or even the steps. I feel pretty badass, to be honest. Every stair that I manage to make it down is like winning a championship.

I’m nearly at the last step when my foot misses the stair completely, and I start to freefall. I barely get a little shriek out before I feel Okot pluck me up effortlessly, his hands under my arms.

I look over my shoulder. “Oh my gods. My life just flashed before my eyes.”

Okot smiles and sets me down at the bottom of the steps.

“I totally rocked those stairs,” I say.

“You tripped,” Evert deadpans.

“Yeah, but not until the end,” I argue.

He just chuckles.

I step up beside Ronak, whose arm is crooked and waiting for me.

“You okay?” Ronak checks.

“Yeah, it was just a little fall. Like, a tenth of a fall. I knew it was gonna happen, so I was already mentally prepared. Just like I knew I was gonna fall off that obstacle course you made me train on after Amorette was born. Remember? I nearly died.”

Ronak rolls his eyes. “You were three feet in the air, and there was a safety net under you.”

“Yeah, but those three feet were terrifying.”

“I caught you,” he reminds me.

“Specifics aren’t necessary for this story,” I wave my hand dismissively.

I grab his arm and look around at all the dark, round wooden tables and plush sofa-like chairs. The space is lit up by candles and twinkling fairy lights, and nearly every table is full with genfins dressed in fancy clothes.

When the dessert tray rolls by, I start salivating so much that I kind of choke on my spit. Evert pats me on the back unhelpfully.

“Right this way, Covey Fircrown,” the host says, leading us through the room.

Everyone we pass looks up from their meal to stare at us. My covey and I are kind of famous since we took down the prince. Since Ronak and I have matching cupid wings, Sylred and I have matching pink hair, and I have a huge lamassu mate, we kind of stick out. Evert is the only one who can somewhat fade into the background, but he doesn’t anyway, because he’s Evert. Which means he’s usually cursing louder than what’s appropriate for polite society.

Ronak strides forward effortlessly, his chin up, looking fine as hell. I try to do my best to glide next to him, but there’s just no gliding in my current form. When we near a large table near the back, my eyes fall on a group of seven older genfins.

They all stand as we approach the table, except for one. Ronak’s mother, Resha, stays sitting down at one end of the long table. This doesn’t bode well for a fresh start.

She has dark gray hair swept up on her head, familiar black eyes that match Ronak’s, and a formidable expression. Stopping before them, our eyes lock, and I watch as she takes me in from my toes to the top of my head. Her eyes linger on my cupid wings, shifting from mine to the pair on Ronak’s back. She sniffs and raises her nose in the air. I plaster a smile on my face.

“Hello, Resha. How are you?” I step forward and go in for a hug. Except I have a hard time bending down right now on account of being middle-heavy. So I kind of fall on top of her where she sits in her chair. My smiling face smooshes against her cheek, and I get a little spit on her. “Whoopsies!” I laugh nervously, trying to pick myself back up. I can’t. I’ve totally lost my balance. Ronak comes to my rescue and pulls me back so that I can stand again.

“Whew! Sorry,” I smile down at her. She just glares at me and swipes a hand across her cheek were my slobber and some of my makeup rubbed onto her.

“Mother,” Ronak nods at her.

“Son.”

They do some intense eye lock, where neither of them back down. It gets tense, so I quickly intervene. “So, Resha. I love what you’ve done with your hair.”

Resha sniffs and lifts her glass of water. “I haven’t done anything to my hair.”

My smile starts to waver, but I keep that sucker locked in place, because I’m on a mission, dammit. “Well, it still looks super awesome.”

She gives my pink hair a long look, letting me know that she doesn’t trust my judgment.

Ronak’s fathers, Hesh and Gullen, come forward and shake my hand. They look similar with gray hair and brown eyes. All three of Ronak’s parents have brown tails and wings that have gone slightly silver with age. I haven’t seen them since the last mishap with Resha, because Ronak banned them too.

Evia, is already hugging Evert and trying to straighten his clothes. She always dotes on him. She’s a short little thing, only coming up to his sternum, and while her face is lined with wrinkles, she has a pair of dimples that she obviously passed down to her son. “Look at you! Not eating enough. You’re practically skin and bones,” she says, pinching him on the stomach.

He flinches slightly and rolls his eyes. “It’s called training. I’m not a flabby son of a bitch like father,” Evert jokes, laughing at the male who comes up to clap him on the back.

The male, Welk, pats his sizable stomach. “What, this? This is pure muscle.”

Evert laughs and shakes his head. “Sure it is.”

Behind me, Sylred is greeting his fathers as well, Yored and Perel, and I can tell by their shy and quiet demeanors that that’s where Sylred got his level-headed peacekeeping ways from. The parents have all been travelling together, so we haven’t seen them in months.

Evert’s mother comes up to me next. I start to hold out my hand in greeting, but she just throws herself forward and wraps me in a hug.

“Fucking hell, Ma. Go easy on my mate,” Evert chastises.

Evia is a good head shorter than me, and her arms can’t reach all the way around my middle, but she doesn’t seem to mind because she just starts to rub my belly like it’s a genie’s lamp.

“Look at the home you’ve grown for my grandbaby!” Evia says excitedly to my belly. “I haven’t seen you in ages!” She looks me up and down and nods approvingly. “I’ve told you before, you’ve got good hips, Emelle. That’s important, you know. Good hips can make all the difference in labor. How are you feeling? Any lightning crotch?”

I blink at her. “Ummm…”

“Ma, don’t get fucking weird and talk about my mate’s crotch,” Evert cuts in.

Evia rounds on him, putting her hands on her hips in a very motherly fashion. “Evert, I really wish you wouldn’t swear.”

He just leans in and pecks her on the cheek. She melts instantly, and her scowl turns to a beaming smile. She smacks him on the arm. “Oh, I just can’t stay mad at you!”

“Let’s sit,” Ronak says, leading me to the table.

I move to the left, so that Ronak can sit at the other head, directly across from his mother, but he stops me. In a deliberate move, he sits me down at the head of the table, so now it’s me and Resha facing-off.

When Resha narrows her eyes at me, I make a face at Ronak, but he just sits down on the chair to my right and places a hand on my thigh. I don’t know if it’s to offer comfort, or to make sure I don’t bolt.

He’s really messing up my Operation: Make Resha Love Me mission.