Page 31 of Sequel to the Easter Bunny

She lets me go and starts ahead again, but I pause, closing my eyes to see what she’s described.

The trees are there, clear as anything and their bark is such a bright neon, I might be willing to believe I’m back in Babel.

Drawing in a sharp, cold breath, I keep my eyes open, and hurry after Ari.

We walk for what seems like hours. The comfortable silence is only broken by the cries of startled birds, and snapping twigs.

Just when I’m about to ask if she’s sure again, the forest opens up to a sloped meadow of silver grass and I have to stop, to look at how high we’ve climbed.

From this far up, the Valley looks completely different.

It shouldn’t.

“Which one are you looking at?” Ari, isn’t watching me, her eyes are locked on the spire in the distance.

“The tower seems so tall when you’re next to it, but out here….”

The black spike sits at one end of the Valley and at the other, the spire is a white column that goes up… forever.

If it ends, no mortal eye can see it.

“I think Crispin—Jamus’ father—tried to raise the tower higher during his time with the Power.” She scowls at the Valley below. “If I remember correctly, he felt they deserved to be more like the gods.”

“Did it work?”

“He was found on the cobbles around that time, so… I think it’s safe to say his hubris was his downfall.” She smiles at me and I know she expects me to cringe at the wording.

But there’s a third tower, one I haven’t seen before with the way it’s tucked into the lee of the mountains.

“What’s that?”

Ari follows my pointed finger and a soft smile graces her lips. “Haven’t you ever heard the story of Cupid and their nuns?”

“I thought that was—“

“A myth?” She laughs, but not, I think, at me.

“It’s true enough.” She says, “They’ve got some things wrong in the retellings. The nuns are like the other gods’ devotees, but Cupid doesn’t make their deals with human bodies. They don’t play games with flesh. They are… love in its truest form.

“If you can get to them, they are probably the best of the gods to deal with.” She smiles at me, briefly glancing away from the road. “It is a rare thing that has happened to you. Most are not so lucky.

“The nuns disappeared a hundred years ago, though. So don’t go looking for them now.”

“I’ve heard all of the stories about the gods chewing you up and spitting you out. Going to Ester was a last resort.”

“I know.” That smile fades. “You weren’t the first she sent to him… did you know that?”

“Yes.” It’s hard to forget the way his brows had pinched when he admitted that so many had chosen others over him.

“You’re the only one who’s gone through with it.” She smiles at me, soft lines at her lips. “He scared the rest of them away.”

She says it jokingly, but I don’t like the ugly slither that coils in my belly at the words.

“How is Cupid’s nunnery in our world, if the gods can’t come here?”

“Cupid can….” She winces. “It’s complicated, but… the secondary gods can come to our world under very special circumstances… sometimes it’s a specific time in our calendar, most of the time, it’s with a principal god’s favour…. And they have to look at least a little human to do it.”

“So, no bringing Jack home with me, then?”

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