by C. R. Jane
Her head cocked to the side at his words, like she was surprised at the way they recognized her but didn't really want to show it. That or she was debating how to kill them. I wasn't particularly worried which one it was since we were cupids after all.
"How did you..." She took her sunglasses and wig off, letting her lavender hair spill down her back.
"Your aura?" Alistair mumbled while waving his hand in the air.
"You guys into all that new age stuff?" she asked, her head tilted ever so slightly to the side once more.
"Some more than others," Ezio said as he came in from the kitchen carrying two cups of coffee.
I reached for the other one, but he walked straight past me and offered it to Sage, who accepted it with a smile. "I don't think I got chance to meet you two last night. I'm Sage," she said as she most likely melted into Ezio's brown eyes, before looking around him to me. I was honestly surprised she remembered I was there. Women had a tendency to fall hard and fast for him. I had always thought it was something to do with the Greek god/hero vibe he had going on with his olive skin, long wavy hair, and pouty lips. The guy was hot enough to make me feel insecure, and I had always thought I was decently attractive.
"I'm Ezio and that's Maddox," he said gesturing over his shoulder with his now free hand.
"So how did you find us?" I asked before we could get sidetracked. As far as we had known the twins woke up to an empty bed this morning and no sign of their lady lover, but now she showed up at our apartment door? Red flags and alarms were gearing up to blare in my head based on her response.
"Oh, I put a tracker on Lysander's phone this morning," she said nonchalantly before turning to the twin whose phone she used. "You should really keep that thing locked like your brother's. I mean it wouldn't have really stopped me, but it was way too easy with your phone."
"What?" Lysander asked, confusion and awe battling it out on his face while his twin just scowled.
"Your phone was easy to access because you have no sense of security with it. I put a tracking program on it while you were sleeping. Then when I found this after my shower, I used it to find you so I could get some answers. So, who wants to tell me what's going on?" she said as she pulled the collar of her jacket wide open, baring part of her shoulder to us. Thick, red, raised areas covered her skin. It looked like she'd been burned, which wasn't a good thing in anyone's book, but we couldn't help it. When she didn't get a response, she said, "Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?"
With a huff she stomped past us and went into the kitchen. I watched with amusement as I wondered what the hell was actually going on. The tap in the sink ran for a moment and she came back out with her shoulder wet and the burn mark had changed. It glowed and shimmered in the light.
She had taken off the jacket and was standing there in a tiny tank top that made her breasts the center of attention, and I was definitely not complaining about that. The only thing that was distracting me from the sight in front of me was the stuttering coming from Lysander. When I couldn't stand it anymore, I turned to him and said, "What's wrong?"
"That's the mate mark. Don't you ever listen?" Alistair hissed at me.
"The fuck?" Sage asked as she pulled her jacket back on like a shield.
Lysander groaned and went to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink. Two fingers of bourbon most likely. When he turned around he handed a drink to his brother, tequila, and had poured another one for himself. "Drink?" he asked Sage, while we all migrated toward the couches and sat down. I had a feeling that this was a conversation we all needed to be a part of although Ezio looked like he'd rather be watching paint dry. As I watched the other man his eyes kept flicking to Sage. He didn't want to appear interested, especially if the brothers were, but one thing we were all forgetting was that Sage was our mark.
We had been sent here as our final challenge before we got our wings as cupids. One of Eros's flunkies had assigned us this area and said we would know the target when we saw them because they would be so closed off to love that it would feel like a vacuum which is exactly what I felt when I'd seen Sage at the club. She had been there alone, been dancing alone, and had left with two men she'd barely exchanged two words with, so she clearly wasn't looking for anything serious from them. It made the mate mark that much more ironic.
"When we find our mates they are marked so that other cupids know they are taken," Ezio said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
My jaw dropped and I just stared at him. Was the man really that oblivious?
"Cupids?" Sage asked, one eyebrow quirked to match the tone of her question.
We. Were. Fucked.
All because Ezio had to open his damn mouth. Rule number one of being a cupid? Don't let anyone find out what you are. Rule number two? Don't fall for your mark. Rule number three? Don't let your mark fall for you. So far we had managed to break two of the three rules in less than twenty-four hours. At this rate we'd be back on provisional duties where we weren't even allowed to use our powers before the end of the week.
Lysander, Alistair, and I all glared at Ezio. He opened this can of worms, and he could damn well finish it. He stared back at us as though he had no idea what he'd just done. "You didn't tell her?" he murmured, the penny finally dropping as he realized he'd just stepped in the biggest pile of shit possible.
"Not so much. You know, we were trying to be good boys and follow the rules and all," Lysander snarked clearly unhappy with Ezio's overshare moment.
"Oh," he said quietly as he ran a hand through his hair only to get stuck when he hit his man-bun.
"Someone tell me what's going on, or I'm going to start getting really pissed off, and trust me, you wouldn't like me like that," Sage said. The thunder on her face illustrated the point perfectly. I got the feeling she wasn't quick to anger, she seemed to have more control over her emotions than that, but that didn't mean that she was going to sit back and put up with all of our bullshit.
Alistair sighed and responded. "You might not know it, in fact, you probably don't, but there are supernatural beings that coexist alongside humans in this world."
Her brow furrowed, but she didn't freak out which was a good sign.
When she didn't respond, Alistair continued, "We are descendants of Eros and Psyche, a few generations removed, which is why we look so different."
"Prove it." Sage crossed her arms over her chest and gave us each the full force of her skeptical look, which I had to say was pretty damn sexy.
"You'll flip out and I don't want to deal with that," Alistair hedged. The man just didn't want to show her what we were working with. I got it, I just didn't care as much as he did. It didn't matter what happened now, Sage was officially a liability and needed to be managed.
I rolled my shoulders and stretched my arms, letting the ethereal sheer wings out from their hiding spot, and I relaxed the glamour that covered me from head to toe. When I cleared my throat Sage looked over. Her blue eyes widened and her lips formed a perfect, somehow still pouty, o shape.
"When we finish our final challenge our wings will become solid and we will actually be able to use them. Right now they are more of an indicator of what's to come," I said.
"Why? Are you in Cupid College or something?" she asked as her eyes kept darting over my shoulder to my wings.
"Basically, yeah. We each have our own talents, and we have to make sure we know how and when to use them to the greatest effect so that people keep falling in love. Not just romantically either, but so mothers and fathers love their children, so people love their friends. It’s all out there for a cupid to play with, and there are enough of us around that it's not a crisis, but that doesn't mean we can relax. Cupids have to train and be ready for their challenge whenever another cupid is out of commission."
"Do you each have a handler? Or do you work more as a unit?" she asked.
The questions this woman asked were not normal. Not that we had ever done this kind of thing before, but still. A handl
er? "We work as a unit until told otherwise."
"So you're all related?"
“Loosely.” I nodded.
"You should be freaking out," Lysander hedged as he watched Sage. I fully agreed with him; something was off about this woman.
"I've seen enough in my time to know that humans aren't alone out there."
"In your time," Ezio scoffed. "What are you? Twenty-one?"
I knew he guessed that age because it was the minimum to get into the club we had been in last night, at least unless she had a good fake ID. She didn't look that young to me though, there was a tiredness about her, like she had seen too much already.
"I'm twenty-five. Not that it matters."
"And what have you seen in your long years on this planet?" Ezio asked. There was a bee in his bonnet about something, I just couldn't figure out what it was. He'd been pleasant when Sage first came in, had even given her my coffee. Now though, it felt like there was a sharper edge between them, something I'd have to talk to him about later. Our Italian brother didn't get bent out of shape about nothing. In fact, he was usually one of the most relaxed people I knew.
Sage glared up at Ezio, who was leaning against the edge of the other couch. In a blink she'd launched herself from her seat and was pressed against him, a blade to his throat. "What is it that they say? It's not the years in your life, but the life in your years? Trust me when I say that my life is no walk in the park, lover boy."
"Where the fuck did you get a knife from?" Lysander asked as he pushed his hair out of his face.
"I'm always armed," Sage said simply, as though that should answer all our questions instead of making more.
"Who the fuck are you?" Alistair asked, his eyebrows pinched in concern.
"Why should I tell you?" Sage challenged.
"Because we just told you our most closely guarded secret, we fucked you senseless, and apparently the fates have a sick sense of humor because you’re our mate," Lysander replied, his Adam's apple bobbing against the blade which bit into his skin just enough to draw blood.
I sighed and said, "Can you at least put the blade away so we can talk without you accidentally slicing into our brother's jugular?"
"If I slice into his throat, there will be nothing accidental about it," she said as she looked over at me.
I could practically feel the chill roll over my skin. This woman didn't have an ounce of love in her life which was something we needed to fix not only to complete our challenge, but to prove to her that she was in fact Lysander and Alistair's mate.
Chapter 7
Sage
Rage was bubbling inside me. Mate. Who used that kind of word? Lovers? Sure. Friends? Definitely, well, people other than me anyway. No one talked like these guys though, and I certainly wasn't the mate of two guys I'd had a one-night stand with.
I pulled the blade away from Lysander's throat and returned it to its holster on my back, where it sat snugly with its brethren, before moving to sit on the couch. "I'm a girl who was forced to develop a love for knives," I said trying to skirt around around what they were really asking.
"Why?" Alistair asked as he stared down at me, arms folded over his impressive chest. My mind flashed with the image of him under me as I rode him the night before and I had to fight to stop myself from blushing.
"Just tell us what's going on. Maybe we can help?" Lysander suggested, while Ezio and Maddox just watched me with eagle eyes. I was surprised that the man I had just threatened was the one who offered help. It made me uncomfortable. A large part of me wanted to run and hide from this strange intimacy that was between us, but the niggling voice in the back of my head kept asking, what if they could help? The four of them watched me as my internal debate waged. My teeth pulled at the inside of my bottom lip. Finally, I blurted, "I'm working off my parents’ debts as an assassin."
Maddox, Lysander, and Ezio all sat down a little too quickly. I knew it was probably the last thing they had expected me to say, but I couldn't help that.
"You're an assassin?" Alistair chuckled. "Yeah, and I'm the Hulk."
"I'm serious."
"Um hum. Good try, sweetheart, but let's hear what's really going on," Alistair snarked.
I was out of my seat and moving before he'd even processed what I was doing. I flipped, yes, it was an unnecessary flip just to show off, over the coffee table and struck him in the side of the jaw with one hand while the other pulled one of my favorite garrote wires from my belt buckle. Before he could start to fight back I was swooping behind him, pinning him as I pulled the wire around his neck. The wire handles were perfectly molded to my hands after years of use and were as reliable as any of my blades.
"What were you saying?" I asked sweetly in his ear. My foot was digging into his calf and my knee was in his back while his hands scrabbled against the cord around his neck. I would never hurt someone I wasn't supposed to, but that didn't mean that I wasn't above a demonstration. After all, why should the only people who see my years of training be the people who are about to die? Or Family members, but I didn't like to think about that.
"Let him up," Lysander said, his voice low and quiet, cutting through the noise of Alistair's heavy breathing and the shuffle of Ezio's feet. Maddox hadn't moved. Evidently, he was the only one with any sanity. After all, an assassin is just the bullet; someone else has to pull the trigger, and no one had, or would, until my vacation was over.
I did as the other twin asked and Alistair coughed a bit and rubbed his neck, but I knew I hadn't drawn blood or even hurt him that badly. The man was just being dramatic. The tension in the room ratcheted down once I released him, and all four of them stared at me.
"Fuck, you really are an assassin," Alistair said between melodramatic coughs.
"I am." I wound the garrote wire back up and slid it into its storage space in my belt buckle.
After a moment's pause they all started talking over each other. Alistair asked, "Why?"
"I don't know why you didn't believe her," Maddox grumbled.
"Who do you work for?" Ezio asked.
"Is that why you're so cold?" Lysander wondered.
I groaned and fell back into the armchair behind me. I should have known it would only make more questions. Most people would be scared of an assassin, but not these guys. Being supernatural always made people think they were invincible when they weren't. I should know, I've killed more than my fair share of creatures as well as humans. No one is as invincible as they think they are.
With a sigh I raised one hand putting fingers down as I answered their questions. "First off, I'm not cold, I'm practical. Secondly, I can't tell you who I work for. Thirdly, I don't have a choice, and fourthly, thanks for believing me, Maddox." By the time I was finished the only finger left up was my middle finger. "Well, look at that." I grinned before folding my middle finger down into the fist I'd made and dropping it onto my lap.
"You are cold, you just can't see it yet, but we can help with that, can't we boys?" Lysander looked between his brothers or half-brothers or whatever they were and grinned.
"It's our job to help you with that, Sage, so I hope you'll let us. It will make it go easier and faster for all of us," Ezio said.
"I'm not sure I understand," I said cautiously.
"You are our final challenge. We knew that when we met at the club. All we need to do is open you up to each kind of love and we will get our wings. Should be easy considering these two are your soul mates," Maddox said from his spot on the other couch.
"How do you know it was me? There were hundreds of people there last night. It could be any of them."
"As cupids we can tell when someone is closed off from love, like a cold draft in a warm room. And you, honey? You're a blizzard in the middle of a Florida July," Maddox continued.
He seemed to be the most reasonable of the bunch and I wondered why that was, maybe his specialty? Maybe he was just driven more by his goals than his libido? Who knows?
"Well, as an assassin it's h
elpful not to feel mushy all the time. You think I can afford to love?" I scoffed before continuing. "I can't afford to show any weakness. None. The moment I do it will be taken advantage of, like someone hitting an open wound. I need to serve my time and do it as quickly as possible. I don't take sick days. I don't take vacations, or didn't until now, and that has done nothing but serve me well. I am careful to a fault not to add to my balance so I have to serve more time. The only thing that matters to me is paying it down and getting out of their clutches."
"And what happens after that?" Ezio asked.
"Then I'm free and I can do whatever I want, and I never have to kill anyone ever again," I said with a sigh as my dream flowed through my mind. I'd move to a non-extradition country and live on the beach with the small amount of cash I had. Maybe I'd make necklaces and sell them to tourists or something. It didn't matter so long as I wasn't stuck with the Family for the rest of my life.
"How are you going to support yourself?" Maddox asked.
Suddenly, I didn't like how reasonable he was. "I don't have to justify anything to you lot. I'm just trying to survive the next few years, then once I have my freedom maybe I'll let myself fall in love, but until that point it's not going to happen."
"You're right. You don't have to justify anything to us. Do you justify it to the people you kill?" Ezio asked.
"I'm just a weapon. I don't make the decision. Look, all I want to know is how to get rid of this handprint. That's it. If I don't before my vacation is over then it is very likely that it will piss my handler off, and that is not something I can afford," I said trying to steer the conversation back to the reason I showed up.
"The mark is permanent," Alistair said quietly.
"It's a privilege for a cupid to find their soul mate. It's something that's incredibly rare," Lysander added.
"I don't care. It's not something I can fit in my life right now, and if I don't get this mark off then I'm going to be punished, so thanks for that." My anger whipped about within me like a storm.
