“Sir?”
“Name’s Sev,” he tells me. “And I need to see this shite power stuff for myself. Why do you think you’re seein’ the second-in-command?”
I swear, if I had blood, it would be rushing to my cheeks right now and I’d die from blushing too hard. The last thing I want to do is demonstrate how much I suck, especially to someone as high up as him.
“I don’t think—”
“Oy, I ain’t got all day, get it? I got an orgy scheduled at three,” he says, tapping his watch-free wrist. “Let’s see it.”
“Oh. Well, I don’t wanna hold up your orgy,” I tell him dryly.
“Thank you,” he says emphatically.
I clear my throat. “Right. I guess I’ll just blow, then?” I ask nervously.
He smirks but doesn’t comment on my poor choice of words. “It would be a good start, yeah.”
I lean forward, concentrating as hard as I can despite my nerves, and blow out what should be a lovely exhale of Lust. I get a mustard-colored plume of disgustingness before my throat gets so itchy I’m forced to stop with a humiliating cough that sounds like a cat hacking up a furball.
Sev wrinkles his nose and waves a hand in front of his face at the yellow gaseous rank I just blew all over him. “What the fooking shite was that?”
“Uh, my Lust Breath?”
He shakes his pretty head. “Right. Well, hate to do this to you, but I gotta tell it to you straight.”
“What?” I ask nervously.
“You’re a dud.”
I stare at him for a second as his words try to sink in. “I’m a...dud?”
“Yep. A flop. A bummer. A lemon. You’re a total bust, luv.”
My heart falls. Just falls right down to my see-through feet.
“I know, but...I’m a cupid straight to my core. At least, I try to be one, it just… Can’t you do something?” I ask.
He tilts his head. “Like what?”
“I don’t know...fix me? Maybe when you guys made me into a cupid, something didn’t stick right.”
He shrugs apologetically. “Listen, this happens sometimes. Not a right lot, but it happens. You’re defective.”
I’d cry if I were physically able to produce tears. “But I want to be a cupid. I try so hard,” I say in a small voice, feeling like my world is crashing down around me. “What can I do?”
He grimaces a little. “You’re way behind on your quotas. Your partner has done all the Love and Lust Matches since you two started.”
Shame fills me, and I look down at my lap.
“It’s nothin’ to be embarrassed about,” he adds. “I’ve seen this kind of thing before, but you can’t get your Love Arrows up. You’ve got what we call a case of cupidile dysfunction.”
“It’s not my fault. It happens out of my control.”
“I know, luv. But the danger is, the Veil could pop ya in its mouth and swallow. And not in a good way.”
I gape at him. “What? What do you mean?”
He leans forward and taps his finger against my file. “The Veil’s got laws of existence, see? It doesn’t know what to do with ya. You’re a cupid not doin’ your cupid job. Even though the big boss of cupidity won’t terminate you, eventually, the Veil will take matters into its own hands.”