Page 9 of Incurably Cupid

I found the waiting room for emergency surgery and sat in one of the tan plastic seats, gazing blankly at the other occupants of the room. After a few minutes, when I felt steadier, I touchedthe gel tech in my ear. “Leo, Mesmer was shot. I’m staying at the hospital tonight. Can you get a substitute for my class tomorrow?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Leo’s warm voice responded. “I’m sorry, Indie.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Thank you.”

A few minutes later, a nurse approached and gently led me to a cleaning station, where she cleaned and disinfected my bloody hands. I hadn’t even thought about it. The blood had crusted over, getting underneath my nails and sinking deep into the lines of my palms. I watched as she efficiently finished cleaning and sanitizing my hands, then returned to the waiting room to sit. And wait. A few minutes later, King Draven, Consort Mia, and ten guards entered the ER area. King Draven immediately moved toward me, his security flanking him, while his wife clutched the vampire king’s hand like a lifeline.

I would have bet a dragon’s hoard that more of his security were around the perimeter of the hospital, and they hadn’t wanted their monarchs to come, but King Draven and Consort Mia had insisted.

“What is his status?” King Draven asked, sitting in the plastic chair next to me and drawing his wife down onto his lap.

“Critical, I think. At least, I’m inferring that because his heart stopped. They had to resuscitate him, and then they took him immediately to surgery.”

Consort Mia began to cry, leaning her head against her husband’s chest. King Draven closed his eyes, kissing the top of her head. A single tear traced down his cheek.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

King Draven nodded but kept his eyes closed. I leaned back in my uncomfortable chair and curled my wings around myself again. For maybe the first time in my life, I cursed the fact that I was alone.

Chapter 4

Mesmer

“Love makes sacrifices.”

Cupid Inc. New Recruit Training Manual

The anesthesia wore off in layers. First, I became aware of sound: machines beeped nearby, indistinct voices murmured in the distance, and a television blared further away. Then came smell—disinfectant, metal, plastic, chocolate, strawberries, iron, and Consort Mia’s light perfume. Finally, pain arrived. I shuddered as it overwhelmed all my senses at once. It was relentless, digging like sharp talons into my chest and back, tearing and ripping. Sweat broke out on my brow, and my stomach churned.

For the first time in my life, I wanted to retreat—to hide from the pain and sleep again. But I couldn’t. My lieges needed protection, and I would not abandon my post.

The rapid breaths sawing in and out of my lungs felt like fire. I held my breath for a moment, fighting to shove the pain down to a place deep within me. But my head was spinning, and I couldn’t focus enough to push it away.

I gritted my teeth.You will not win.

“Mes?” Consort Mia said. “You okay?”

Her hand touched my arm, but I couldn’t open my eyes yet. I was struggling to regain control. I could hear a monitor beeping frantically nearby, making my sensitive hearing ring and my aching head pound.

An irritated sigh sounded near me, and someone reached over my pain-locked body to push a button beside me. Liquid entered my veins, and the pain immediately began to soften enough for me to unclench my muscles. My breathing leveled off.

“Stop being the asinine macho guy who doesn’t show pain,” a female voice growled.

I almost laughed before I opened my eyes, already recognizing that voice. She’d used nearly the same tone when expressing her displeasure over Mia and Draven snuggling and kissing. I wondered what she had against what seemed to be a pleasant activity. I’d never experienced it myself, but it looked nice to snuggle on a couch with someone who loved you, holding them close to your double hearts.

Though she seemed grouchy and oddly uncomfortable around two people in love for a cupid, I was grateful for her because she was trying to find my mate.

She’d first appeared a little less than a year ago, silently observing me and trying to gauge where my mate might be. I had worried that the events of the past year would affect her, given all the assassination attempts, but I later learned that a cupid nestled in the ether was essentially untouchable. It shielded them while they did their jobs.

My cupid stood at the foot of my bed, her pink wings drooping, her clothing rumpled as if she’d slept in it. She looked exhausted, both in body and mind. Her face was unnaturally beautiful, even for a fae. I wondered if that was the reason for her grouchiness. If I were constantly being propositionedbecause of my looks, I would probably stab someone. I preferred my rugged, gargoyle handsomeness to the beauty that vampires, fae, and elves possessed.

I gently craned my head towards my lieges. Consort Mia had a hand resting on my arm. She was seated on King Draven’s lap and appeared to be in pain herself. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, her lips trembled, and her skin was alabaster pale. Much of her appearance was likely due to what had happened to me—Consort Mia and I were good friends, even though I worked for them—but some of it was probably a result of being in a hospital filled with paranormals in various states of pain, illness, and distress. I was surprised that King Draven had allowed her to come. A hospital was a terrible place for an empath.

I met the King’s gaze, and he dipped his head, relief washing over his expression. “Good to see you among the living. That was too close a call.”

“How close?”

“You went code blue several times,” the cupid said, picking up the remote for the TV, studying it, then setting it back down. I wondered absently whether the technology among the fae was more advanced than ours. I didn’t know many fae; they tended to stay isolated among their own kind. And since cupids were kissing cousins to the fae, they naturally shared technology and scientific advancements with one another.

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