Page 54 of Jace

Jace was not much for religion, but he understood many dedicated their lives to the gods. This church sounded no worse than many others.

“The land and the mansion were rented from a little old man, who had long ago retired and gone to live with his daughter on one of the higher Terras,” she went on. “Cupid’s Archers did nothing to maintain it, and it didn’t seem like they informed the owner about problems either. The house had ornate woodwork like the others, but the paint was peeling off it in strips. The roof had a tarp on it to cover the leaks. The Archers had an old hover bus they wanted to fix up. But they let it rust over until wild daisies were growing out of it.”

“Neighbors didn’t like that?” Jace guessed.

“And that wasn’t even the worst part to the neighbors,” she said. “Cupid’s Archers believed in love above all else, and they were constantly expressing it physically wherever they found themselves.”

Jace’s eyebrows went up. He could see Susannah’s eyes were twinkling as if she wanted to laugh at the coupling of her neighbors.

“Anyway, they didn’t follow the feeds much,” Susannah went on. “My parents did. And when the owner died, they sent an investigator to find the daughter and make her an offer on the house and land before the people living there even found out.”

“Wow,” Jace said.

“As soon as my parents took title, they started the process of evicting the Church of Cupid’s Archers,” she said. “It wasn’t hard. They hadn’t maintained the property the way the lease said they had to. But my parents didn’t give them time to move out or show them compassion of any kind. They even expedited the eviction based on public indecency. One day, the sheriff and his guard were suddenly there, ushering the Archers out. And the next day, the whole thing was being bulldozed. They hadn’t even had time to remove their holy relics.”

“That seems extreme,” Jace said.

“I thought so too,” Susannah said, giving him an approving look. “The Archers were always nice to me and my brother. We had nothing against them. But all the neighbors were delighted. They didn’t want to have dirty sex hippies nearby, and they wanted my parents to do something nice with that land. They threw a dinner party to celebrate, and my parents were like royalty there.”

She paused a moment, gazing down at Zeke, as if she needed to gather strength for the next part of the story.

“A week later, the Archers came back,” she said. “They all stood in the street in front of our house, and the high priest came and knocked on the door. My brother and I ran out on the porch before our parents could stop us. The high priest held out his hands, palms up and began to levy the curse.”

“What did he say?” Jace asked, hoping he didn’t sound as dubious as he felt.

“We ask the gods to bind this curse to your family, that none of you shall ever have true love,” she said, her face looking haunted. “Then they walked away. We never saw them again.”

“You and your brother must have been scared,” Jace said carefully. “What did your parents think?”

“They laughed,” she said. “They hadn’t loved each other in a long time, if they ever really did. All they cared about was their social position and money. So even if they believed in the curse, it wouldn’t have mattered.”

“But you believed?” he asked.

“Not at first,” she admitted. “Honestly, I kind of forgot about it. But then I got older, and horrible things happened every time I got close to a boy. Then I knew it was real.”

Jace stood and began to pace the room. He didn’t want to insult her, but what she was saying was ludicrous. No being had power like that.

“And now that you have a little space from it?” he asked. “You really believe those people had the power to call down the gods to curse you?”

“I just told you I can’t be your mate,” she said impatiently. “If I didn’t believe it, why would I do that?”

“It could be an excuse you’re giving me,” he suggested lightly. “Because you’re afraid to deal with your feelings. Or maybe you prefer the company of a pretty Vystian in a ten-gallon hat to the pleasures of accepting your true mate.”

He had messed up mentioning Wynyx, letting his jealousy get the better of him.

“I just opened up to you,” she yelled, leaping to her feet. “And this is how you react?”

Zeke began to wail before Jace could apologize.

His heart ached at having upset his mate and awoken his son. Shame fell over him like a blanket.

“Can I take care of him for you?” he offered.

“I’m his mother,” she said. “I can take care of his needs myself.”

She marched off to the kitchen to warm a cell of milk, leaving Jace standing there feeling useless.

But he wasn’t useless. All arguments aside, he had work to do.

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