Signs of Cupidity (Heart Hassle Book 1)

I’m vaguely aware of voices as I wash up to shore after swimming for so long in slumber. The voices are waves at first, steady, low, constant.

            When I open my eyes, I find myself back in the cabin, in yet another bedroom. The first one I’d awoken in was plain and bare, but that’s the complete opposite of this one. This one is full. I sit up carefully and stare.

       There are wooden…things. Everywhere. Things carved with a blade and polished to shine. Some creations are as small as my hand, and some are as tall as my body. I have no idea what they all do, but they’re beautiful. They’re stacked on handmade shelves, tucked into every corner. I want to touch them all, I want to figure out what they’re for.

But then I remember. The high fae. Hiding in the outhouse. Bathing the filth off of me. The guys coming to bring me back. The beasts attacking us. Ronak…

I lift the blanket away from me to look at my ankle, expecting to see a bloody mess, but my leg is smooth and as unblemished as before. I can’t tell that anything ever happened. Evert must have awoken and healed me.

I remember how badly it had looked. With muscle and bone visible through the gaping slash in my leg. If it’s healed like this, Evert must be responsible. I sigh in relief to know that he’s all right. I carefully stand up, and the steady sound of voices pulls me forward, so I tiptoe to the door to listen.

   “I’m telling you, I felt her.”

   It’s Ronak. I frown as I push my ear closer to the door. Felt me? What does that mean? He better not have felt me up while I was unconscious, or it’ll be my foot that felt his balls with a swift kick.

   “I knew exactly where she was. I felt her fear and her pain.”

   My mouth opens in surprise.

   “That’s not possible,” Evert says in with a condescending drawl.

   “No, I felt her, too,” Sylred admits.

   So not only Ronak, but Sylred, too? I don’t know what to make of this revelation, and I have no idea how it’s happened, or what exactly has happened.

   “But what does it mean?” Sylred asks. “How did she do it?”

   I can only hear mumbles in response and then, “It’s the magic that attacked us when we first touched her. It has to be,” Ronak says.

   “What, like some sort of protective spell?” Sylred asks.

   “I don’t know,” Ronak answers, stupefied.

   “You’re both fucking tipped in the heads,” Evert says.

   “You’re saying you’ve never felt that slight tug toward her?” Sylred asks.

   “Oh, a part of me is tugging toward her, all right. It just has nothing to do with magic.”

   I snort silently. What a horndog.

   “Can you think without your cock for one godsdamned second?” Ronak snaps.

   “I don’t know, can you not ruin our lives with yours?” Evert retorts.

   Whoa. Arguing ensues. There’s a lot of swearing.

   I’ve heard enough. I may not know what the hell is going on, but I know that once the arguing dies down, Ronak will figure out how to blame the “tugging” thing on me. Everything gets blamed on me.

            Before he can get around to that conclusion, I open the door and walk out, doing my best to stand tall when all three heads swivel to look at me.

   I hold up my hands and take a deep breath. “Okay, Look. I have no idea why you can feel me. I’m kind of creeped out by it, to be honest. I swear, that magic that touched you when I landed on the island wasn’t mine. But before you say anything else…before you start yelling at me about the magic, or calling me a demon spy, or threatening to kill me, or just…generally start acting like assholes and decide to tie me up again, can I say something?”

   They all stand perfectly still, and I swallow under their intimidating watch. Ronak doesn’t say yes, but he doesn’t deny me, either, so I figure this is as good as I’m going to get. I look at Evert and Sylred first and take a breath. “Thank you. If you hadn’t come to get me, I could’ve been alone in the woods when those beasts attacked, and I wouldn’t have escaped.”

“And thank you for carrying me back and calming me, Sylred. I don’t know what you did…but I know it was you. Whatever that was, it helped. Like, a lot. Because that bite hurt.”

   “I’m glad it helped,” he says with a soft smile. “They have venom in their bites. It’s why it hurt so much.”

   That makes sense. I never want to be bit by one of those beasts again.

   Finally, I lift my eyes to Ronak. I tilt my head to study him. I wonder what would have happened if we’d met under different circumstances. This huge mass of muscle and scowls. This man who exudes raw strength. The one I first saw, the one I first wanted to feel.

This is the same guy who didn’t hesitate to shoot me down and tie me up, but who also hid me from the high fae and then saved me from a terrible death. After what I saw him do with the high fae and the beasts on my behalf, I feel like there’s been a shift between us.

The problem is, I have to make him admit to that shift, too. And with someone as stubborn as Ronak, that means I have to play this just right.

I let a soft smirk spread on my lips as I continue to look at him. The smile immediately sets him on edge, I can tell. Me smiling at him is the last thing he expects, and he frowns at me, his brown tail twitching in agitation.

Ignoring my pounding heart, I walk toward him, feigning calm. He tenses, but I keep going until I’m right in front of him. I have to crane my neck to look up at him, because my head only reaches him mid-chest, but I know that eye contact is crucial in this moment.

I can feel the others nervously watching the exchange, wondering what I will do. It’s like a stray wolf approaching an alpha. I’ll either be accepted into the pack, or be attacked.

   The more he frowns down at me, the more my smile stretches until I’m practically beaming. It really freaks him out.

   “You saved my life,” I say in an accusatory tone. He catches it and narrows his eyes on me. “Yeah, so?” he asks defensively.

   “You’ve been threatening me since I got here. You’ve been nothing but mean and distrustful. You shot me out of the sky just for falling over your island. You could’ve let Chaucel take me. You could’ve let those beasts kill me, but instead, you protected me both times,” I say.

          I stand up on my tiptoes and lean closer to him, so that my face is right in front of his. “You want to know what I think?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. “I think you saved me because you wanted to. I think that you know I’m not your enemy. You don’t hate me, Not-first. Admit it.”

   I swear, the color drains from his face. Some people are afraid of snarling beasts in the forest or the threats of beheading, but nope, not Ronak. No, he’s afraid of feelings and a smiling girl.

  “Yes, I do,” he says gruffly, shifting on his feet.

   “No, you don’t. Deep down, you know that I’m not really any of those bad things you keep accusing me of being. You don’t hate me,” I say, crossing my arms stubbornly, daring him to admit it.

   He waves a hand at me dismissively, but I catch it in mine and he completely freezes up. I’m talking water-turns-to-ice freezes. The fact that I’m touching him has him in a full-blown panic. It’s hilarious, but I don’t laugh at him. If I laughed at him now, it would ruin everything.

           “You don’t trust me yet, but I’ll change that. I’ll prove to you that I’m not a threat to you or your covey, and then I’m going to break through this whole gruff exterior thing you have going on,” I proclaim as I hold his hand, tracing the rough calluses along his palm with my soft fingers. He honest-to-goddess shivers from my touch. I’m going to count it as one of my greatest accomplishments. “I’m going to wear you down until you admit it.”

   He grunts and starts to turn away. He really wants to escape me. But I stop him, not with strength, but pure surprise factor. I let go of his hand and fling my arms around his middle, squeezing him tight. His whole body seizes up like he’s under attack, instead of just receiving a hug.

         “I forgive you for shooting me with an arrow. I forgive you for tying me up. I know you were just trying to keep your covey safe. And thank you, Ronak,” I say against his chest. “Thank you for saving my life.”

  The words hover between us, sticking between us like beads of sweat. He still hasn’t moved, so I take pity on him and drop my arms and back a step away. All he can do is stare down at me in shock. When he’s not scowling at me, he looks so incredibly handsome.

I’ve rendered him speechless. It’s a nice change on him. Plus, now I know that when he’s running his mouth, all I have to do to shut him up is hug him. It’s good arsenal to have at my disposal. He closes his mouth with a click and then turns on his heel toward the door. He practically runs out of the cabin.

   I listen to his fading footsteps outside before turning to the other guys. They’re all staring wide-eyed at me, like I’m some rare animal they’ve just discovered. Then, all at once, they burst into uproarious laughter.

   Sylred bends over, clutching his stomach while his laughs escape him. Evert has his head thrown back, letting his boisterous laugh echo off the ceiling. I join in, too, because their laughter is completely contagious, and also because I can still see Ronak’s terrified face after I’d hugged him. I soon have tears running down my face from laughing so hard and my stomach hurts.

   “Did you see his face?” Evert asks. “The bastard was petrified of her.”

   Sylred chuckles. “Who knew the one with the strength power would be so fragile against a pretty girl? Poor guy didn’t stand a chance.”

   “He didn’t stand a chance because she cheated.”

   I scoff and put my hands on my hips. “What? I did not cheat. It was a hug. I was simply showing him the sincerity of my gratitude,” I say, pressing a hand to my heart. “Besides, I’m right. He saved my life. Twice. On purpose. He definitely likes me.” This sends the guys into another laughing fit. “Keep it up,” I warn them with mock seriousness. “You’re giving Not-First a chance at being first.”

   They shake their heads at me, smiles still plastered on their faces. “I haven’t laughed this hard in…” Sylred trails off. “Gods, I don’t even know when I last laughed like that.”

   Evert pats me on the head. “Come on, Scratch. Let’s feed you. You need to eat.”

   “Yes! Feed me,” I say enthusiastically. I love eating. They can feed me all day long if they want to.

   The guys move through the room and start gathering up food for me, setting it all on the table. Together, we each make a plate. The guys settle into their chairs, and I sit on the floor again with my legs crossed.

   “Why are you sitting on the floor?”

   “Her wings,” Sylred answers over a mouthful of food.

   I nod. “Yeah. My wings don’t fit in your chairs, but it’s okay. The fur rug is soft,” I say, settling in. I start to eat the meat, and once again, I can’t contain my moans as I bite into the delicious food. “This is so good,” I say with a full mouth.

   “At least we’ll know if you don’t like something,” Evert smirks. “You’ll be quiet.”

   “Don’t make fun of me for enjoying food. You would too if you hadn’t eaten in decades.”

   They both stop moving. Stop eating. Stop talking.

  Whoops.

   I desperately try to chew up the huge piece of meat in my mouth to fix my statement. “Umm, I mean…” Dammit. Why did I take such a big bite, and why can’t I shut my big mouth?

            I finally swallow the huge piece, only to start coughing and choking on it. I flail my arms around in a panic. Oh gods, I’m going to be the first cupid to die by choking on meat. Yeah, I know how that sounds. I definitely don’t want to die this way. I’ll never hear the end of it in the afterlife.

Sylred pops up from his chair and rushes over to me. He delivers several hard slaps against my back. A piece of chewed up meat flies out of my mouth and lands on the floor with a slick slap. Eww.

   “Took in a bigger one than you’re used to, eh Scratch?” Evert says with a wink.

   I pick up a berry from my plate and launch it at him. I miss. He laughs.

   Sylred clears his throat. “Right. Well. I think it’s time you give us the full story, Emelle.”

   I know it’s time to tell them everything, so I sigh and then nod. “Okay.” The guys exchange a surprised look. “What?”

   “That was…easier than we thought it would be,” Sylred says.

I shrug. “I’m not unreasonable. And I don’t really have anything to hide. I was just keeping it to myself mostly to irritate Ronak because he was being an ass.” I say, making the guys chuckle.

   I take a bite of fruit and nearly forget my name because of its juicy taste. “Oh my gods, what is this? It’s delicious.”

   “It’s called Red Wings,” Sylred says.

   I stop eating and look up at him. “Seriously?”

   He nods with a smile. “When it grows, the red flower looks like wings. I’ll show you sometime.”

   I smirk and take another bite. I think it’s my new favorite food. “Does Ronak like it? Or does he call it Demon Wings?”

   They both laugh again and shake their heads at me. I like making them laugh. It fills me with something I can’t describe. Who knew I’d go from being tied to a tree to this? I feel accepted for the first time in my existence. This must be what it feels like to have friends. I don’t want to give up this truce between us. I don’t want to mess anything up.

But I still have a lot to tell them—a lot to explain, and I don’t know how they’re going to react when I tell them what I am. But for now, I eat and I talk and I laugh with them, because every moment I get to is awesome, and I don’t intend to waste it. Something changed for all of us in the forest when we were attacked. Or maybe it was when they banded together and hid me from Chaucel and the guards? Whatever it was, something significant changed between us.

   “Whose room was I in?” I ask as we finish up our food and start cleaning up. They have a pitcher of water and a bowl set up on a kitchen worktable, and they use the food remains for a compost heap outside.

   “Mine,” Sylred answers, collecting fresh water.

   “What are all those wood carvings in there?”

  “They’re instruments.”

   This surprises me. “Musical instruments?”

   “Yeah, I make all kinds. I invent my own.”

   “That’s incredible. Will you play for me sometime?”

   He shoots me a smile, and the eye crinkle is in full effect. “Sure.”

   “So your gift is music,” I say. He looks at me with surprise, so I hurry to explain. “After I was bitten, I was pretty out of it and in a lot of pain. But I heard music that calmed me down and made me sleep. That was you, wasn’t it? That’s your power?”

   Sylred just nods slowly. “Yeah. I’m a Sound Soother.”

   “He can do more than just calm people, too. He can cause a lot of emotional responses.”

Sylred nods. “Anger, violence, happiness…” he trails off.

  “Impressive,” I say.

   Sylred just shrugs, looking embarrassed by the attention. “Let’s have that covey meeting,” he suggests, moving the conversation away from himself.

  “Already?”

“Scratch…” Evert warns.

I huff. “Fine. I’ll call Not-First.” I skip over to the door and call out as loudly as I can. “Ronak! I need you!”

   When I turn back to the guys, they’re laughing again. “What?”

   Evert chuckles at me. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” He turns to Sylred. “Sixty seconds, tops.”

   Sylred takes the bet. “It’ll be forty, but he’ll threaten to wring her neck as soon as he gets here and realizes nothing’s wrong.”

   We wait, no doubt all of us counting, until Ronak’s hurried steps rush inside. Fifty five seconds. I smile at him sweetly.

He shoots me a dark look and stalks over to me. “Unless you’re dead or dying, don’t call me like that, or I’ll push you over the edge of the island next time.” Ronak snaps.

Sylred shoots me a wink.

“What do you want?” Not-First demands.

“Covey meeting, of course. I’m ready to tell you everything.”