Page 40 of Incurably Cupid

I rubbed my hand across my velour sweatpants nervously. “I came here because Leo said he’d calculated a small chance that one of your possible soulmates would be here, living in this town.”

His jaw tensed, but his face remained unreadable. “Did you find her?”

I shook my head. “No. I looked, but of course, I couldn’t search everywhere. I’ll keep coming back and checking, okay?” I patted the leg closest to me. I knew how badly he wanted this—how much he wanted someone to love, therightperson to love. “I won’t give up.”

“Thank you, Indie,” he murmured.

There was something in his voice—an almost imperceptible sadness. Did he think Iwouldn’tfind her? Or maybe… he didn’t believe she was out there at all.

When the credits rolled, I grabbed a deck of cards I’d just purchased to help us get through the next few days without going crazy, tore off the packaging, and started shuffling.

“Up for a game?”

Mesmer raised a brow. “Depends. Are you a sore loser?”

I smirked. “Wouldn’t know. I don’t lose.”

We played a few rounds of hearts before Mesmer started to look like he was going to faceplant onto the table, despite Lance adjusting him every so often. I nudged his arm. “Alright, lightweight. Time for you to head back to your room and get some sleep.”

He groaned but didn’t argue as Lance wheeled him toward our connecting door. “Fine. But tomorrow, your winning streak ends.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure, sure.”

He gave me a lazy smile before opening the door. Just before he rolled through, he turned back. “Goodnight, Indie.”

I hesitated, then murmured, “Goodnight, Mesmer.”

The door clicked shut behind him, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

The room felt quieter without him.

Chapter 14

Indie

“Love trusts, and is trustworthy.”

Cupid Inc. New Recruit Training Manual

We arrived atThe Fiery Phoenixjust after ten. The pub didn’t open until early evening, so we had several hours to observe where Felix, Dieter, Yvette, and Astrid were with their social and dating skills.

Mum and Dad were already there, sitting at a table and talking with the others. Mum was patting Dieter on the shoulder; Dieter had what looked like a pitcher of liquid spilled on his shirt, Astrid was staring off into space, Yvette appeared nervous, and Felix looked weary.

“Soo... things seem to be going well,” I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

Mesmer and Leo chuckled.

I lingered just inside the door, using my cupid powers to assess each of them for a moment, studying Dieter, then Astrid, then Felix and Yvette. This was my first cupid look at two of them, and I was a little surprised by what I saw. “Huh.”

“What?” Leo asked.

“I’ll tell you later. If I say it now, Felix will hear me.” In a voice no louder than what I had just been using to speak to Leo and Mesmer, I said, “Felix, can I meet you over there?” I gestured toward the area behind the bar, on the other side of the room from where the group was sitting.

He nodded and bowed to the table. “Please excuse me.”

I hustled to meet him.

Felix was a handsome vampire with dark auburn hair and dark green eyes. His clothing was from a different era; the early 1800s was my guess, but I was by no means an expert in historical costumes.

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