by C. Gockel
Skye almost snorted. She could have told him that. She thought about what she’d read on the internet about the origins of the name Kamadeva. ‘But you’re still the God of Love?’ she asked doubtfully.
He let out a bark of laughter. ‘You’re prepared to accept I’m invisible but not that I’m a god?’
‘I’m not sure what I’m prepared to accept right now.’
‘Fair enough. I can assure you, however, it’s very true.’
Skye raised her glass to take another sip, realised what she was doing and placed it back down again. ‘You said you’re invisible because you’re being punished?’
‘My mother,’ Coop answered caustically. ‘She seems to think being isolated will encourage me to think more highly of love.’
‘You’re the God of Love and you don’t like love?’
‘“Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove. ”’
‘“Oh no! It is an ever-fixed mark,”’ Skye finished.
‘Exactly.’
She frowned. ‘I don’t get it.’
‘Neither did Shakespeare,’ he commented drily. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll show you later.’
This was getting stranger and stranger. ‘So if you’re Cupid, then your mother is…’
‘Aphrodite, yes.’ He watched her carefully. ‘You still don’t believe me.’
‘No, I do, it’s just…’ Skye’s shoulders sagged. ‘Okay, you’re right, I don’t believe you.’
‘Not to worry,’ Coop said cheerfully. ‘You will.’
Skye mulled everything over in silence for a few moments, chewing on her lip. Eventually, she tilted her head up. ‘So why am I here?’
Coop looked into her face. He didn’t want to tell her that he’d only brought her here to piss off Apollo. All of a sudden his actions seemed rather petty and he didn’t want her to think badly of him.
‘Well,’ he prevaricated, ‘Zeus ruled that no-one from Olympus is allowed to come and visit me. It’s meant to make the isolation problem harder for me to deal with. Except he never said humans couldn’t be here so I employed you.’
‘Zeus? As in the Greek god? The one who’s in charge of everything?’ Skye couldn’t keep the scepticism out of her voice.
‘Hey,’ he said, punching her lightly on the arm and making her jump. ‘I’m a Greek god too.’
‘This is so strange,’ she said.
Coop eyed her. ‘You don’t believe just yet. Even with the evidence of my invisibility right in front of your eyes, you can’t accept what I’m telling you.’
‘Is that really surprising?’
‘I’ll prove it to you,’ he said, jumping off his chair. He took her hand and pulled her gently in the direction of the front door.
‘Where are we going?’ Skye asked warily.
‘To get some proof.’
Skye let herself be led. The feeling of his skin against hers was warm and the pressure on her hand was light. If he was taking her outside where she might have more chance of escaping, then he couldn’t be entirely bad. But this was all still bloody strange.
Chapter Thirteen
As soon as the door behind them closed, Skye realised something was very, very wrong. Instead of the leafy driveway, lined with orange trees and the sweet scent of honeysuckle in the air, they were standing in a large lobby. She felt a tug at her hand.
‘Come on,’ Coop urged.
Skye resisted, staring open-mouthed at her surroundings. Someone wearing a white coat pushed past her, clearly in a rush to get to wherever they were going.’
‘What in hell?’ she murmured.
‘We’re in a hospital,’ Coop said with a trace of impatience.
‘But…’
‘It’s a god thing,’ he explained. ‘I need to be here on orders of my mother, so I can transport just by stepping out my door.’
‘Where’s here?’ she asked baffled.
‘Malaysia,’ he answered pulling on her hand again and this time succeeding in getting her feet to move in the right direction.
‘Malaysia?’ she squeaked.
A woman walked past her, giving her a very strange look. Skye snapped her mouth shut, and let herself be yanked into an elevator. As soon as she was sure they were alone, she spoke again. ‘Malaysia?’ she repeated. ‘But that’s on the other side of the world!’
‘I told you, it’s a god thing.’
Skye blinked rapidly. This could not be real. It simply couldn’t.
‘We need to hurry,’ Coop murmured, when the elevator doors pinged open. ‘There’s not much time left.’
‘Not much time for what?’ Skye asked.
She didn’t get an answer. Instead, she found herself jogging down a long sterile corridor, trying to keep up with the invisible force in front of her. They passed several rooms that she peered inside as they went. Each one appeared to be a ward, filled with beds and sick-looking people hooked up to all manner of machines.
‘Ah, here it is,’ Coop said finally, coming to one door which was only slightly open.
He entered, with Skye still clutching onto his hand. Inside there were eight beds, although only three were occupied. Coop ignored the first ones and headed straight down the room and towards a large window. Skye looked outside, gaping. There was a large car park – no surprise there – but beyond that she could see palm trees, bushes and exotic flowers. A sudden movement drew her eye and she realised there was a small monkey leaping from a branch down to the ground. It jumped along the car park to an overflowing rubbish bin, which it leapt onto.
‘We really are in Malaysia,’ she breathed.
‘As I said,’ Coop replied, giving her a gentle shove so that she was half obscured behind a curtain. ‘Now, stay there and watch.’
‘Watch what?’
‘My job.’
‘But I can’t see you,’ Skye protested.
‘It’s not me you need to be looking at.’
His hand left hers and she spotted a Chinese nurse walking in her direction. For a second, Skye stopped breathing, wondering how on earth she was going to explain herself and how she’d suddenly ended up hiding in a Malaysian hospital without any identification. Fortunately, the nurse paid her no attention; she didn’t even notice her behind the curtain. Instead, she pulled across another curtain revealing a bed with a man on it. He had on a neck brace and his face was covered in scratches. One arm was hooked up to an IV line, while the other was swathed in bandages.
‘Mr Tan?’ the nurse asked, bending over the patient.
He murmured something.
‘How are you feeling? It was a nasty car crash you had there. That road is particularly dangerous, you know. We get many patients coming in who’ve had accidents on it. You are one of the lucky ones, lah.’
Despite her banter, the nurse’s tone was professional. As Skye watched, she busied herself around the bed, replacing the IV bag with a fresh one and checking the man’s blood pressure and heart rate.
‘It was raining,’ he muttered. ‘I lost control.’ Then he switched to Chinese, saying something Skye couldn’t quite understand.
Still not sure why she was there, Skye looked out of the window again. The monkey had disappeared. Disappointed, she returned her glance to the nurse – and her mouth dropped open. The nurse was sitting on the edge of the man’s bed, holding his hand. Ignoring the pain, he had pushed himself up onto his elbows and was looking into her eyes.
‘My name is Wei Li,’ the nurse said softly. She reached down and brushed the man’s cheek.
‘I’m Jun,’ he responded. His cheeks coloured. ‘I know I look a mess right now but I promise you I’m actually a good-looking guy.’
She smiled at him. Except it wasn’t the usual professional smile you’d expect to see a healthcare professional bestow on a patient; it was one which even Skye could recognise was filled with happy promise. ‘I can tell. Because you are already handsome, even with those wounds.’
Skye felt Coop’
s hand slide into hers. He leaned in towards her, his breath hot on her cheek. ‘Let’s go,’ he murmured.
Skye couldn’t take her eyes away from the couple. ‘But…’
‘Now, Skye.’ His tone was firm.
She let herself be led away. Coop kept hold of her hand so she knew where he was as they walked back down the corridor and into the elevator. Skye couldn’t tear her mind away from what she’d just seen. One minute it was just a patient and a nurse, then the next it was as if… She blinked. That was unbelievable.
The pair of them emerged back into the hospital lobby and headed for the large glass doors. Before she knew it, she was back in the familiar surroundings of Coop’s house, the front door closed again behind her.
‘Well?’ asked Coop’s voice. ‘Now do you believe me?’
‘They fell in love,’ she said wonderingly. ‘Right in front of our eyes, they fell in love.’
‘If you can call it that.’
Skye didn’t hear the note of cynicism in his voice. ‘What did you do?’ she asked.
‘I have a gun. It used to be a bow and arrow but they became rather cumbersome so I modernised. When that couple looked at each other, I shot them. And then they fell in love.’
‘That’s amazing. The look on their faces was so―’ she paused, searching for the right word; unable to find it she settled on something more mundane, ‘―so happy.’
‘Mmm.’
‘Why them?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Why those two? Do you just pick people at random and shoot them? Is it just luck they get chosen?’
Coop snorted. ‘Oh no. My mother would have you believe it’s written in the stars. That Fate decides they should be together.’
Skye’s brow furrowed. ‘So why do they need you?’
He laughed. ‘I knew there was a reason I liked you. That’s my point entirely. If they need me, they’re not meant to be together. But according to my mother, some people need a nudge in the right direction.’
Skye sighed. ‘It’s beautiful. You’re so lucky getting to do that. To make people happy has to be the best thing in the world to do.’
‘But it’s fake. I’m forcing them to feel something by shooting them in the heart. I’m taking away their free will.’
‘They didn’t look as if they were being forced into anything.’
‘If love’s not natural, then how can it really be love?’
‘Coop, didn’t you see the look on their faces? I’ve never witnessed anything so magical.’
‘You quoted Shakespeare. That love is an ever-fixed mark. How can it be an ever-fixed mark if I create it in the first place?’
‘But it will be ever-fixed now, won’t it? They’ll love each other for the rest of their lives. I could tell that just by looking at them.’
‘“Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,”’ he quoted again.
‘That’s not what Shakespeare meant and you know it. Besides, you didn’t alter love, you just helped encourage it along.’ Skye wrapped her arms around her body. ‘They’re so lucky,’ she whispered.
Coop’s lip curled. ‘That’s what you want?’
‘Isn’t that what everyone wants? To fall in love? To be needed and desired and wanted by someone?’
‘It’s a house of cards, Skye. It’s simply not real.’
‘It looked real to me.’
He shook his head disgustedly. ‘I thought you’d understand.’
He dropped her hand. Until that point, Skye hadn’t realised he was still holding it.
‘I’ve been doing this job for hundreds of years. You’ve seen it in action once, for a couple of minutes. Put yourself in my shoes and maybe you’ll get it.’
‘Your job is to change people’s lives, Coop. Do you have any idea what I’d give to be able to do something like that? The only jobs I can get are bringing people drinks or tracking down stupid cars.’ Skye realised what she’d just said and blushed.
Coop leaned in towards her and cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing against her skin. He pressed the length of his hard body against hers, and Skye gasped. Then she felt his lips touch her own, feather light. He took one hand away from her face and trailed it down her body, cupping a breast.
‘What are you doing?’ she squeaked.
‘Shhh,’ he said softly, then kissed her again, but deeper this time.
His mouth became more insistent and Skye could feel her heart thudding in her chest. Her body relaxed and, without thinking, her arms reached around him. He has broad shoulders, she thought faintly, as her fingers traced the muscles on his back. Somehow the fact that she couldn’t see him made her bolder, and she could feel herself pushing away from the wall and into him. His tongue flicked at her mouth, then his teeth nipped her lips. She moaned slightly, then suddenly he pulled away.
‘Do you love me?’ Coop asked with a casual tone.
‘What?’ Her senses were swirling and she struggled to make sense of the question.
‘It’s a simple question, Skye. You wanted to kiss me. You were enjoying kissing me. But do you love me?’
Befuddled, she searched for an answer. ‘I . . . I hardly know you.’
She felt him take a step back.
‘Exactly,’ he said, sounding smug. ‘You enjoyed the kiss and you desired me. But what you felt was lust, not love. You know why?’ He didn’t wait for an answer. ‘Because love doesn’t exist. Not real love.’
She reached out to slap him but misjudged where he was; her hand flailed through thin air.
‘You’re a bastard. That was a shitty thing to do.’ She turned and stalked off, leaving Coop to watch her departure.
He raised his fingers to his lips as his eyes followed her. His heart was racing and he realised he’d been more affected by the kiss than he’d intended. He only felt that way because Aphrodite had pretty much curtailed any opportunity to satiate his more physical desires, of course. It might have been a shitty thing to do but Skye had needed to learn that lesson, even if it was a painful one. True love did not exist.
Chapter Fourteen
The next morning, Skye sat in the kitchen waiting for Coop. Judging by the empty bottles that stood on the side, it would probably be some time before he emerged. She’d been shaking with anger after his ‘lesson’ the day before, and it had taken her a long time to calm down. But she was feeling better now, and prepared to meet him. Just because she was quiet didn’t mean she didn’t have opinions of her own, she fumed. And just because she was quiet didn’t give people like him carte-blanche to walk all over her.
Unfortunately for Coop, she’d also realised something else in the middle of the night. Suddenly everything was starting to slot into place and Skye was far from a happy girl.
It was almost midday when she heard a thud. She looked up from the article she’d been reading and saw one of the kitchen stools move slightly as Coop sat down on it.
‘Get me a drink, would you, Skye?’ he groaned.
She ignored his request. ‘So you finally managed to get out of bed, did you? Exactly how much did you drink last night?’
Good grief, she sounded like his mother. ‘I’m a big boy. If I want to drink, I’ll drink.’
‘Well, bully for you,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Because clearly your godly powers don’t include being able to avoid hangovers.’
‘Skye, this really isn’t the time.’
‘Oh, I think it’s the perfect time. Because you’re going to tell me all about a certain man, or should I say god, called Apollo.’
Coop felt his heart sink. ‘Oh.’
‘Did you really think I wouldn’t put two and two together? You did that to him, didn’t you? He hated me then all of a sudden decided I was his one true love. It was because of him I took this job! You screwed with him and you screwed with me!’
Coop sighed. ‘It wasn’t about you. He just needed taking down a peg or two.’
‘Listen to yourself!’ Skye snarl
ed. ‘All high and mighty about how you hate your job because you’re forcing people to fall in love with each other. And then you go and force him to fall in love with me. To take him down a fucking peg or two.’
He blinked. ‘You’re angry.’
‘You’re goddamn right I’m angry. I had a good thing going. I had friends and a job and I was starting to have fun. By shooting your mate Apollo, you messed all that up for me. Why couldn’t you pick on someone else?’
‘You were,’ Coop swallowed, ‘convenient.’
‘And you’re a prick.’
He rubbed his forehead. ‘I deserved that. But you didn’t really have a good thing going, Skye. You shouldn’t be working in a nightclub and serving drinks. You’re better than that.’
‘It wasn’t your decision to make!’
‘Which is my point about shooting people to make them fall in love,’ he said tiredly.
‘You do realise that makes it worse, not better? You hate forcing people into love and yet you did it to Apollo. You hate making life decisions for other people and yet you did it to me.’
‘I didn’t force you to take this job.’
‘You didn’t leave me with many other options.’
Coop felt as if the layers of his soul were being peeled away. Suddenly contrite, he looked up at Skye, wishing she could see his face and recognise the truth there. ‘I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. It seemed like a good idea at the time and obviously it wasn’t.’
‘Obviously,’ said Skye sarcastically.
He looked down, spotted her suitcase and looked back up again, alarmed.
‘You’re leaving?’
‘Do you really expect me to stay?’
Coop stared at her, his eyes raking her face. ‘I don’t want you to go.’
‘For once, this isn’t about what you want. I’ve barely known you for twenty-four hours and all I’ve seen is someone completely self-centred. You treat people like garbage. You’ve treated me like garbage! I’m not your prisoner, Coop.’
‘If this is about the kiss―’ he began.
‘It’s about the lies,’ she interrupted. ‘All you’ve done is lie to me.’
