Page 76 of Sequel to the Easter Bunny

“There will be. I do not see time as you do.” They turn back to me, sadness in the set of their mouth. “There is nothing you can say to get me to go back to that wretched place.”

“She will hand me over to Death.”

“Why? What have you done to incur her wrath?”

“I took her son without asking permission.”

“I thought I heard a godling in your belly.” They let out a long sigh. “She cannot kill you if you stay here. It would be a decent place to raise your child.”

“But it would mean I never see Jack again.”

“There are worse fates.” Cupid looks at Ari. “You know how Ari treats the world a two hundred years after she was forced to give up the god she loves.”

She watches the floor blankly.

“I believe Jack would fight for me in ways Heim didn’t.” Glancing a Ari, I apologise. “I’m sorry. I don’t know the relationship you had before you were banished. I’ve never met Heim. But Jack isn’t like the other gods I’ve met. I’m not a toy or a pet to him.”

“Loving your Easter Bunny will not save you from the other gods’ callousness.” Cupid’s wings flutter, the sound like static. “The gods don’t understand love. They covet it, they play at it, but only a very few have ever felt it. Fewer still have managed to recognise it for what it is.”

“Are you saying Jack doesn’t love me?”

“No, he is among those few…”

“Heim fought with the other principal gods while my lifeless body was cased in an icy coffin.” Ari says, her gaze unfocused. “I would still be there, a frozen memorial, if Cupid hadn’t released me, revived me, and smuggled me back into our world.”

But I remember the bitterness she spoke with in that cell.

“Death is natural for your kind.” Cupid says, their voice void of all emotion. “But if any of the others had felt love for even a moment in their lives, she would still be with Heim, and he would not be the biggest prick in their realm.”

It feels like cotton fluff has been stuffed under my skin, but I have to ignore it. Cupid is my only hope.

“I don’t have to make that sacrifice.”

A smile slants across their face. “Why do you think you love Jack? You’ve spent so little time together in the scheme of things.”

“I don’t know how I can love him, only that I do. And I will do whatever it takes to get back to him. I will make whatever deals required and I will play by Juun’s rules until I have another choice. So I am begging you. Don’t take this away from me when I am so close. Getting you back to them is my final chore. If you come back with me, I’m free of her.”

Cupid studies me for a long moment, all their eyes blinking at random. Their scowl is deep and sad.

They’re about to tell me no.

“Juun thinks you want the Power.” They laugh and shake their head. “What a ridiculous notion. Still….”

Swallowing, I stay as silent as I can. I wait and hope and pray even though it’s already clear no god will listen.

“I could take the Power from you. Ester won’t be happy with me for it, but it would at least prove to Juun you aren’t the grasping little creature she thinks you are.”

“Take it.” I feel like I should hold out my hands or offer some other conduit for them to pull it from me. “I don’t need it to fix the things Jamus messed up in the Valley. It makes it easier, but it’s not necessary.”

“Take the Power from me. I will have this child, I will raise it to understand what needs to be done when I am gone, and then I will surrender myself back to the old gods’ realm when it has reached twenty-five and can rule on its own.

“I don’t know how many more times I will have to tell you and your kind this: I went to Ester looking for a way out. For an escape from Jamus. She gave me the option of casting him out of the tower. We both know that the Power was the only way to get rid of him that was available. But I would give that all back and just take Jack. I’m selfish in that way. But I’m not so selfish that I don’t understand that disappearing and leaving the Valley to its own devices is a bad idea. Jamus is still out there. If he claws his way to the top of the tower again, things will get worse, they won’t go back to the way they were. I caused his downfall. It’s my responsibility to clean up the mess left behind.”

I feel a little out of breath after saying all of that, and Cupid’s scrutiny skitters over my skin like a thousand claws.

The silence enveloping the room is only broken when they sigh. “Like you said, you don’t have to make that sacrifice.”

All’s Well That Ends Well…

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