Signs of Cupidity (Heart Hassle Book 1)

I’m up a tree, watching the sun fade. I went through my flying exercises nearly all day. Okay, that’s as lie. It was just for an hour, and then I mostly lounged around and ate fruit from the garden. What? I got tired, and my muscles are still learning how to do this whole walk and move thing. But hey, baby steps, right?

The guys were off doing their own thing, so I had the day to myself. After practicing flying, I decided to climb up here and watch the sun fade away. It’s different than in the human realm. In the human realm, their sun lowers in the sky, taking all the light with it. Here, where there’s not just one sphere of earth but a ton of floating islands, it works differently. The sun sort of drifts further and further away, until it’s just a pinprick in the darkening sky, and then the stars peek out and the moon comes closer and closer. It’s like a dance, where one partner moves in as the other glides away.

   It’s peaceful here on the island, but I can’t help but wonder again why the guys were banished. I want to ask them about it, but with the way Evert reacted, I know I need to tread carefully. They may not want to kill me anymore, and they may believe me about what I am, but I don’t have their trust. Not yet.

   “Have you learned nothing about climbing up trees?”

   I look down and see Evert and Sylred looking up at me through the branches. I hadn’t realized before how far up I am, but they’re quite a ways down from me. “But it’s such a nice view from up here,” I tell them. “Don’t worry, I promise not to fall this time.”

   Evert rolls his eyes. “Come down, Scratch. It’s time to eat.”

   They know I can’t resist food, even if I did gorge myself on fruit for most of the day. I quickly get up and launch myself off the branch. I hear a shouted curse below me. A rush of air greets me as I fall, and I flap my wings three times, landing on the ground in front of them with a soft thud. “Fucking hell, female, don’t do that.”

   I point my thumbs over my shoulders. “I have wings,” I remind them.

“Which you just confessed to never using before this,” Sylred points out. 

   Evert points in the direction of the house. “Go.”

   I roll my eyes but do as I’m told. I like food too much to stand around and argue. When we get inside, Ronak is already there, sitting at the table. I haven’t seen him since this morning when I used my powers on him. I pick up a plate and fill it up with food with a smile on my face. Ronak is doing his best to ignore me, but I’m not going to let him off that easily.

           “So. How are you feeling?”

   Ronak pins me with a murderous gaze. I smile back.

Evert laughs and sits down next to Ronak. “Don’t worry, Scratch. We all believe you now.”

When I’ve piled on as much food as I can fit on my plate, I take my seat on the floor and start digging in. Between mouthfuls, I ask, “So, now that you realize how wrong you were, not to mention rude, assholish—yes I’m making up a word—unkind, arrogant, thickheaded—”

“That’s enough adjectives,” Evert cuts me off.

“Anyway, now that you realize how terrible you were to me at first, when I in no way deserved it, and am in fact, completely innocent of all idiotic accusations, are you going to tell me what the hell you are and why you were banished on this island?”

The guys exchange a look, but it’s Ronak who answers. “That’s not your concern.”

“Well that’s hardly fair. I told you mine, so you should tell me yours. What exactly are you? You’re not like any other fae I’ve seen since I’ve been here. And if you tell me you’re some sort of demons, I am seriously going to throat punch you.”

Sylred and Evert laugh. “We’re genfins. Not demons. This island is demon-free, apparently,” Sylred says. “Well, unless you count those devil-spawned beasts that attacked us.”

I give an involuntary shiver. “Those things were horrible.”

“Yeah, the island used to be filled with them. We were nearly mauled to death the second we landed on this island, but luckily we managed to thin their numbers down substantially over the years. We usually know where their dens are, too, but that pack caught us off guard. They aren’t normally so close to the cabin.”

“What if they come here?” I ask, trying to keep my tone calm and cool but failing miserably. I can’t help it. Those things nearly killed me and took my foot off.

“They won’t. Ronak took care of them. We’ll be eating the bastards from now until we leave.”

I wrinkle my nose at that, but can’t ignore the relief that floods through me. “So…genfins. I don’t know anything about that type of fae,” I say, fishing for answers.

Evert crosses his beg arms in front of him and leans back in his chair. I see his black tail swishing behind him. “Not surprised. You wouldn’t see many of us. Our population is pretty pathetic. Plus, we tend to stick to our main island, which is about thirty islands that way,” he says, hooking a thumb over his shoulder.

“I can’t imagine why, you’re all so friendly to outsiders.”

Evert uncrosses his arms and leans forward, his blue eyes alight with mischief. “I’ll show you exactly how friendly I can be.”

Good gods, I think my lady bits just rolled over and drooled. Down girl. “So does this mean sex is back on the table?”

Sylred starts choking on the water he’d been drinking, and Evert slaps him on the back, which doesn’t help at all.

“I’m good with sex on a table,” Evert says with a smirk.

I laugh throatily. Now this is fun. This is what I’ve been waiting for since…always. Flirting, playing, desiring. My skin tingles with delight, and I can feel my cupid powers hovering just beneath my skin, begging to be released. My feathers ruffle, drawing Evert’s gaze.

“Maybe you are,” I say, “but I’m not on the menu yet.”

Evert’s lips spread out into a wide, wolfish smile. “Hmm. I’ll have to remedy that.”

“If you can.”

He points a finger at me. “But no cupid magic.”

“Psh. Like I even need to use it.”

Ronak shakes his head and stands up. “Enough.”

Evert snorts. “Please. Like you don’t want to tip her over? She’s hot as hell, and you know it. But if your limp dick is too hung up to perform, I’m happy to take one for the team.”

He thinks I’m hot. He’s totally in first place now.

“You’ll do no such thing,” Ronak says. He’s such a cock block. “Just because she’s not a spy, doesn’t mean we can have anything to do with her. We don’t risk our covey link.”

“Oh, fuck the link. We’re trying to break out of it anyway,” Evert snaps.

Ronak’s jaw grinds and the room grows tense. They’re trying to break their covey link? What does that mean?

Ronak finally turns back to him. His eyes are black with anger. “Yeah, but not until after the culling, Evert. We need our link to get through them, and you know that. Which means we can’t fuck it up yet. Which means you can’t fuck her. Neither of you can.”

I bristle and get to my feet to face him. “Excuse me, don’t talk to me like I’m not here. And did you not hear me? I’m not on the menu!” I retort haughtily.

Even though I’m totally on the menu. I’m just not going to make it that easy on them. “I haven’t waited over fifty years to just sleep with someone who don’t deserve this,” I say, motioning up and down my body with my hand. All three sets of eyes follow my hand, taking in the curves hiding behind Evert’s shirt. “And you guys definitely don’t deserve this yet. You shot me and tied me up, remember?”

Evert gets hung up on one word. “Yet?”

I blow out a flustered breath, making a strand of hair move out of my face. “Are genfins known for being thickheaded?”

Evert cocks a brow. “Depends. Which head are you talking about?”

I try to fight the laugh that wants to break through, but a smile slips out despite my best efforts. “You’re a pig.”

“You like it.”

I really do.

“Evert, enough,” Sylred says. “You know Ronak’s right. We need our covey link intact if we’re going to survive the culling.”

Evert rolls his eyes. “Fucking royal culling. I can’t wait to be done with this shit.”

They all nod at that. It’s the first thing they’ve all agreed on.

“What exactly is the culling?’

Surprisingly, it’s Ronak who answers. Probably so he can make sure no one says more than he wants me to know. “The culling trials are a series of public competitions against other banished fae. We’ll fight to the death.”

My mouth drops open. “To the death?” I squeak out. “But why?”

“You aren’t the only one who’s pissed off the high fae,” Evert says, glowering at Ronak.

“So that’s why you were banished here?”

“Yep.”

“Why not just kill you? Why banish you and then send you to fight?”

Sylred looks at Ronak, maybe for permission, and then back to me. “Ronak would’ve been executed, and possibly the two of us by covey association, but high-ranking members of fae court cannot be put to death outright. Fae laws protect those in leadership positions.”

I look around at this ill-fitting group of guys. “And you three are in a high position?” I ask dubiously.

“Yes. We are just one covey of leaders for our people.”

“What? We don’t look noble enough for you, Scratch?” Evert taunts.

I press my lips together, refusing to let a sarcastic reply fly out. He likes it too much. I look back to Sylred. “So there’s more than one covey that’s in charge of the genfins?” I clarify.

“Yeah. One other. A group of elders.”

I tilt my head at them, taking in their appearances. Two of them shirtless (I’m not complaining), all of them with thick, scruffy beards, a shaggy head of hair, dirt under their fingernails, hardened features, sunned skin. They don’t look like members of the fae court at all.

I watched members of the fae court. For the most part, they were soft, pristine prats drunk on power and enamored with political games. These men in front of me are anything but soft and pristine. They are rugged and wild. They don’t look pretentious or snobbish. They just look…hot as hell.

I clear my throat, realizing I’ve been staring. “So…uh, you did something to piss off the high fae, and instead of executing you, they committed your covey to be banished for five years and then set you to fight in the culling,” I summarize.

“Yep, that’s the gist of it, Scratch. Now, if we’re done with story time, I’m going out to train. Any of you assholes coming?” Evert asks, getting up.

Ronak stands up, too. “We all need to train all day long from now on. We need to be prepared. The culling will be here before we know it.”

“Can’t come soon enough,” Evert mumbles, stalking outside.

I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t already been staring at Ronak, hell, I almost missed it, anyway. But I saw it—the flicker of pain in Ronak’s expression as he watched Evert walk out. It was there for an instant, and then he closed it off, fitting his usual cold and expressionless mask over his face once again. But it was there. I have no idea why Evert hates Ronak so much, but based on what I just saw, it hurts Ronak immensely. I wonder if Evert knows. I wonder if he cares.

“You can come with us to the training yard. You wanted to practice flying, right?” Sylred asks.

“Right.”

“Come on then,” he says, leading the way.

I follow the guys outside. We walk behind the garden and head into the forest. After a few minutes, we reach a clearing, and I stop in my tracks, my mouth hanging open.

I thought their handmade cabin and furniture was impressive. But this is just… “Whoa.”

Sylred turns back to look a me and then looks at the training yard, trying to see it through my eyes. He scratches the back of his neck and shows a sexy smile, bringing the eye crinkles out to play. “Yeah. We train a lot. Being banished gets boring.”

I look around at the large, immaculate space they’ve built. There’s a fence along the border, and inside there are several sections designated to practice different types of combat. Wooden dummies for sword practice, soft sand for javelin throwing, huge boulders that I realize Ronak actually uses as weights, chucking them across the yard like they’re nothing. There’s even an obstacle course. What’s equally as impressive is the open stall with weapons stacked inside. All of them wooden or made from sharpened stone, all of them handmade and deadly.

“You can practice on that far end,” Sylred says, pointing. “That’s where we usually do our running. The terrain changes, so it’s good practice. I know you like to use trees to climb and jump off of, but I have a small set of stairs I made that you can use instead. You’ll have more stability that way.”

Stability and me don’t belong in the same sentence. But hey, at least I’m not tripping over my feet every time I stand up anymore. I’m getting used to this whole physical body thing.

I leave Sylred to go where he pointed out. Ronak is still throwing those huge boulders across the yard. He’s taken his shirt off and tied his long brown hair back with a leather strap. Every time he picks up a boulder, his muscles flex and ripple with strength. I choke a little on my drool.

Evert is throwing spears, and I’m pretty sure they’re going much farther than should be possible. Sylred has gone on ahead of me as I looked around, but when I see what he’s doing, I let out an excited squeal, making the guys stop and look over at me. I don’t care, I’m already rushing toward Sylred. My hurried feet get tangled up and I trip and land on my butt. That’s what I get for getting cocky about not tripping lately. “I’m okay!” I say as I jump to my feet again and hurry over to Sylred.

“May I?” I ask.

He nods and hands over his quiver and bow. With a broad smile, I move to get a look at the row of targets set up. The first one starts at about thirty yards away, and the farthest one isn’t part of the training yard at all. I can see a line of wooden targets going further and further into the woods, hanging on tree trunks in succession, all at different heights.

I take the bow and nock an arrow in it. The bow is pliant but strong, made of a good, solid wood. It’s not what I’m used to with my cupid’s bow, but I can tell it’s been made with care.

The arrows are heavier than I’m used to, too, but that will work in my favor in the physical world, since I now have to contend with things like wind. With perfect form, I line up and aim. I take the shot at the nearest target and hit it left of the center.

I hear Sylred make an approving sound behind me. I just smirk against the bow as I pull out another arrow. I hit the next target, and I’m closer to the center this time. By the third target at about sixty yards away, I have it. I’ve adjusted to the bow, attuned to the wind and the tilt of the arrows.

I narrow my eyes on the next target and hit it square in the center. Then I move on to the one further away, and further, and further, and further. Each one hits exactly in the center, right where I want them to.

Yep. I’m a total badass.

I’m finally in my element. I might not be able to walk or run or fly very well, but I can launch arrows like a professional, because I am one.

When I’ve hit the furthest target I can see, I start hitting the different targets in rapid succession. As soon as I’ve let one arrow fly, I notch another and let that loose, too.

One after the other, I fire them off, quicker than the breeze that helps carry them. When I reach back and find that all the arrows are gone, I realize I’m breathing fast, my arm muscles are screaming, and my hands are cut and blistered from the bowstring. But I don’t care, because that felt damn good.

I turn around with the biggest grin on my face, only to find that the guys are now in my lane, staring open-mouthed at me.

I toss the empty quiver and bow to Sylred and shrug a shoulder. “What? I’m a cupid. The bow and arrow is kind of my thing.”

I give them a wink and then turn around, nearly skipping my way over to the track where I can practice my flying.

“What the fuck?” I hear Evert’s incredulous voice behind me. “She just hit every single center target without missing once, including the one over three hundred yards away!”

“Yep,” is Sylred’s quiet reply.

“She can’t even walk without falling, but she can shoot like that?”

“Yeah, so don’t piss me off!” I call over my shoulder.

There’s silence for a beat, and then, “Well, you’re fucked, Ronak.”

I tilt my head back and laugh. He’s not wrong.