Can't Fix Cupid

Oh, shit.

I hop up onto the counter and whirl around so that my back faces the mirror. I press my fingertips along the tattooed wings on my back, and my eyes widen in shock when I don’t just feel slightly raised skin of a tattoo, but soft, downy strands of real feathers.

Shit shit shit shit.

One feather near my shoulder blade is particularly pronounced. When I tug on it, I feel a sharp pain again as the feather plucks out of my skin.

Shock filters into me as I sit here, holding the evidence of my returning cupidity in the palm of my shaky hand.

It’s happening.

I’ve been successfully using my powers, so I’m turning full cupid. Last night at the casino, I made a lot of Lust Matches.

What’s going to happen if red wings snap out of my back? I can’t be seen like that. But even more worrisome is the fact that I know my time is running out.

The more cupid I am, the less human I become.

Dropping the feather like it’s fire in my hand, I quickly shimmy into the denim dress, grimacing slightly as the fabric ruffles and chafes against some of the feathers starting to poke out of my skin. With my short hair and the sleeveless dress, I know I need some different clothes to hide this predicament.

I poke my head out into the bedroom, but Warren is still gone, probably taking that cold shower. I quickly grab his pants from last night and pluck the wad of cash I won from the casino, shoving it into my cleavage for safe keeping.

I rush out of the room and down the hall, stopping when I see one of the guest rooms ajar. Not wanting to seem weird, I walk in to tell him goodbye.

“Okay, I’m leaving! I’ll stop by your work later!” I call from the threshold of the bathroom, keeping my eyes averted. I know his delectable body is visible through the glass wall of the shower, so I put a hand up to shield my eyes.

I hear him chuckle. “I’m pretty sure you’ve seen me naked already.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want your dick to tempt me. I know his tricks.”

Warren laughs again. “Fair enough. He is very tempting.”

I grin and start to back away, just in case he notices my feathers. “XOXO! Gotta go!”

Once I’m all the way out into the hall, I turn and rush down the stairs.

For now, I shove aside all the worries about my wings. I’ll deal with that problem later. Hopefully this won’t spread more, and hopefully I still have a few more weeks like Sev thought. At least, that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself.

I’ll slow down on the Matches. I’ll use my powers sparingly. That way, I’m doing my job enough that the Veil won’t make me go pop, but not doing my job enough to go full cupid again.

Seems like a plan.

When I make it out of the house, I talk to the driver before slipping into the car and watching out the window as we pull away.

First item on today’s agenda: Buy some clothes to cover my wings. Second: Go back to the commune and get my stuff. And third: Go to the college. Because today is Wednesday, and that means it’s Professor Sokolov’s mythology class.

Today, I’m going to own that slacker Katie Asspants Welsh.

Chapter 28

Trix

Warren’s driver takes me to the closest clothing department store there is, where I quickly buy a couple bags of clothes, and then he takes me to the commune where I grab my other stuff before heading to the college.

It takes a lot longer to get to the university than I’m used to. Instead of flying my incorporeal ass downtown, I’m forced to take the roads filled with traffic, and I finally understand the concept of road rage.

By the time I get there, I’m ridiculously late. I rush past the quad, run into the building, down the hallway, and then fling open the door.

I forgot how this lecture hall can echo. My overenthusiastic flinging causes the door to slam shut behind me with a deafening bang.