Page 22 of Incurably Cupid (Moonhaven Cove #5)

Chapter 22

Indie

“Love is selfless.”

Cupid Inc. New Recruit Training Manual

I felt someone nudge my arm. I flailed and smacked whatever it was away. I was so tired. Five more minutes.

“Indie,” Mordecai hissed. “It’s time.”

I sat up so fast it made my head spin. “It’s time?”

Mordecai nodded. “I’ll wait outside to lead you both there.”

I nodded and glanced over at Mesmer, who looked grumpy—one, because someone had woken us up when we’d been so snuggly together, and two, I think because Mordecai had touched me? I wasn’t sure. The feelings I sensed from my cupid powers weren’t always clear.

I froze, going completely still.

I didn’t feel emotions like that from my cupid powers.

I stared at Mesmer wide-eyed.

“What?” He looked around the room as if he could find the reason for my freak-out in the darkened corners somewhere.

“I can feel your emotions,” I said. Then I shook my head. Focus, Indie. Not the time. I scrambled out of bed and grabbed a pair of black leggings, a dark red shirt, and brown ankle boots, then ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. “Hurry, Mes! We have to go!”

By the time I’d changed and pulled my pink hair back in a low ponytail, Mesmer was ready and waiting for me, holding Leo in one hand and reaching for my hand with the other.

“You can feel me now?” he whispered as Mordecai led us to King Draven and Consort Mia’s suite.

I nodded. “You were grumpy because you wanted to cuddle more with me this morning.”

At my words, his expression turned grumpy again. “The first time I get to hold you as my mate, and people barge in to cut my time with you short.”

Mordecai, who could hear us, snorted. “Sorry, Mesmer, but it’s to save your consort and king’s life,” he said sarcastically.

Mesmer nodded. “An acceptable reason.”

He was so cute in his grumpiness that I wanted to giggle. But since I never giggled, I just gave him a fond look and squeezed his hand. When we got close, Mordecai pointed out the door down the hall, and he and I blinked with Mesmer into the suite.

King Draven sprang out of bed faster than I could blink and had a dagger pressed to my throat. When he saw who it was, he lowered his hand and ran his other hand through his dark curls.

“Why are you three in my and my wife’s private bedroom at three o’clock in the morning?” His voice, rather than Mesmer’s furious growl, was icy cold. I mentally winced.

“They’re on their way, Draven,” Mesmer said, getting straight to the point. “They’ve boarded the boat.”

King Draven’s expression turned glacial. His chocolate gaze shifted back to me. “You promise this will work? That you will keep her safe?”

I glanced from him to the cupids that kept appearing in the room, hiding themselves in the ether, and then back to him. “Your Highness, there are no fewer than twenty cupids here now, with more on the way. This plan will succeed.”

Mia was sitting up now, having woken up during the commotion. She looked afraid, and I felt my heart soften towards her. She must be experiencing all the emotions in the room, in addition to her own. I understood that she could feel the cupids’ emotions, whether they were enmeshed in the ether or not. That must be overwhelming at times, especially since she wasn’t a blank slate to begin with; she had her own constant emotions to contend with.

King Draven nodded and returned to bed with his wife, pulling her trembling body into the protection of his arms and murmuring what were likely very sweet words to her.

Mordecai and I moved to stand in the shadows opposite the king and consort, touching Mesmer to enmesh him in the ether with us and hide him from others’ view.

We settled in to wait.

King Draven and Consort Mia had closed their eyes. Mia was attempting to regulate her breathing so she appeared asleep.

All was quiet.

Mesmer, long accustomed to these types of campaigns, didn’t so much as twitch at the stillness and the energy of the room.

More cupids kept silently appearing. They kept the path to the bed wide open, mirroring what Mordecai, Mesmer, and I were doing by staying on the periphery.

We didn’t even hear the guards stationed outside go down, but we all heard the lock of the door disengage. The door opened slowly, and I caught a glimpse of downed guards outside the room before vampires began pouring in. The balcony glass doors shattered, and more vampires surged in from the balcony.

King Draven was up and fighting before I could blink, taking down vampire after vampire. Mesmer and the other cupids rushed to help, while I blinked next to the vampire reaching for Consort Mia and dropped him with my sleep powers.

“Mordecai, grab the consort and take her through the ether to Steadfast! We’ll meet you at the U.”

Mordecai nodded and scooped the terrified consort into his arms before he blinked away, leaving me smiling ferally at the vampire at my feet. I touched him and said, “Return.”

The ether smeared around me, colors bleeding like someone had thrown acid all over the world, dissolving it. Then we blinked into a castle, into what appeared to be a Great Room.

Except this one held a throne, and Selio was on it.

I chuckled when the vampires in the room recoiled, their eyes widening in shock as one of their own blinked suddenly into existence. The reaction was immediate—exclamations, shouts, the scrape of weapons being drawn. Eyes darted to the shadows, searching for an attack that wasn’t coming.

The only one who seemed to understand what had happened was the vampire on the throne.

Before Selio could even shout for help, I was beside him, slamming my palm against his chest, trying to hit him with the same sleep magic I’d used on the other vampire. But he was ancient—powerful. And apparently, completely immune.

He blinked once or twice slowly before he sneered and caught my i nvisible hand in a crushing grip.

I gaped, stunned, before he twisted my wrist in a lightning-fast move and snapped it.

Pain exploded through me. I screamed but managed to cling to him with my other hand, pouring sleep magic into him as fast as I could.

But it wasn't enough. It didn’t even slow him down.

I’m gonna die here today.

The thought was fleeting before Selio moved—liquid fast—and drove me to the ground. My head slammed against the cement. Stars exploded in my vision, but I gritted my teeth and held on, my unbroken hand still desperately pushing magic into him. When I saw that my sleep magic was having no effect, I tried to blink into the ether and take him with me, but it didn’t work. He was somehow still blocking me.

Then Mordecai blinked into the room, dropping an unconscious vampire to the floor, and chaos erupted.

Cupids and vampires poured in from all over like a raging river. The cupids moved fast, trying to take the vampires down, but the vampires were faster—and deadlier. When the cupids realized they didn’t stand a chance in a straightforward fight, they shifted their strategy, using sleep magic to knock the vampires out.

Across the room, Mordecai spotted me pinned beneath Selio. His eyes locked on mine, and he shouted my name before blinking to me, slamming into the ancient vampire with all his strength. But Selio was immovable. Undeterred, Mordecai bared his teeth and pressed his palm—now pulsing with red cupid magic—against a sliver of exposed skin on Selio’s neck.

Mesmer and King Draven blinked in with another dozen cupids, and Mesmer’s eyes found me instantly. I barely had time to register the change in his expression—fury, protectiveness, something deeper—before Selio’s grip tightened around my throat.

Mordecai strained, trying to pry him off, while I kept pushing magic into him, but it wasn’t enough. My vision blurred, my pulse thundered, my limbs grew weak.

Drop. Just drop, already, you stupid vampire!

Mesmer roared.

The sound shattered the room.

He flew across the distance between us and collided with Selio with such ferocity that the ancient vampire flew across the entire room and slammed into the opposite stone wall with a sickening crunch.

I coughed, gasping, finally able to breathe, dragging air into my lungs as quickly as I could. My throat burned and my wrist hurt. I held my broken wrist to my stomach, trying to keep it from getting jarred again.

Mesmer had turned away from Selio at my gasp. His eyes landed on me, and then on the wrist that I cradled against me. His eyes began to glow with fury. His skin turned to stone. His body expanded —his muscles thickened, his height increased, and huge, leathery wings erupted from his back, towering over him.

Selio pushed himself up from the floor, trying to shake off the impact. His gaze flicked toward the center of the room—toward King Draven wielding a glowing sword, cutting down vampires like they were nothing—and something like madness flashed in his eyes.

Felix was right. This vampire was insane.

Across the room, some vampires had fled when King Draven arrived. But others charged toward him, trying to break past the line of cupids protecting him. A dozen cupids surrounded him, fighting viciously to protect the king, but despite their best efforts, vampires kept getting through their shield wall. Draven didn’t look the slightest bit concerned. He cut the vampires down with precise, fluid movements, his glowing sword flashing.

I turned back to Mesmer and Selio, refusing to be distracted by the chaos in the Great Hall. Mesmer lifted Selio with one hand and slammed him into the wall again.

Only this time, he sent him straight through it.

Oops.

Mesmer didn’t even hesitate. He followed through, grabbed Selio midair and slammed him into the cement floor. The ground beneath them shattered , chunks of stone flying in every direction.

Mordecai gently pulled me to my feet, his arm around me, bracing me. We started toward them slowly, waiting for an opening. Because as much as I loved that my mate was pummeling the scumbag who broke my wrist and nearly killed me, I didn’t want him to end up in prison for murder. Conjugal visits were no way to start a relationship.

When Mesmer lifted Selio again and sent him twenty feet through another stone wall, I decided it was time to intervene.

“He's going to kill him,” I muttered.

“You think?” Mordecai gawked, visibly regretting every sarcastic remark he’d ever said to my mate.

I smirked. Even I knew you didn’t mess with gargoyles. Strength, stamina, durability—they were nearly invincible in their stone form. And apparently, they really didn’t like it when someone hurt their mates.

Selio staggered, looking dazed for the first time.

Mordecai and I seized the opportunity, blinking forward and slamming our glowing hands against him. I poured every bit of magic I had left into it. Mesmer stayed beside us, still in his stone form, watching like a sentry. His breathing was deep, his expression still furious. His hands brushed my back, grounding me and steadying me.

Finally, Selio slumped to the ground, unconscious, and Mordecai and I exhaled, our bodies sagging in relief.

I turned to my mate. “Go help Draven. We’ll take Selio to the U.”

Mesmer hesitated, his gaze dropping to my broken wrist. “But your hand...”

I cupped his stone face with my undamaged hand. “I’ll be fine We’ll get help when we get there.”

He closed his eyes and kissed me. I thought his stone lips would be rough, but they were smooth, like warm marble. “Stay safe,” he growled, before flying back into the other room and taking down three vampires who were trying to surround his king with a great roar that shook the foundations of the castle.

Mordecai and I activated our ether travel simultaneously, blinking onto Cupid University’s front lawns. The sun was bright overhead, a huge change from the darkness of the castle we’d just left behind.

Once the cupids noticed who we’d brought onto the grounds, they moved back, giving us space. My right wrist felt like knives were being jabbed into it—hot knives. I gritted my teeth. “Someone find Lyrica,” I growled at the cupids gawking at Selio.

I was done with this day. I wanted my mate, pain meds, and sleep. In that order.

A few cupids flew off to get Lyrica, but they needn't have bothered, because she suddenly appeared beside us. Her gaze fell on the vampire at our feet.

“This is the one?” she asked.

Mordecai nodded, kicking Selio viciously, then wrapped his arm around me, letting me lean into him. "This is him."

Lyrica opened her mouth to say something but stopped when her gaze flicked to the wrist I was holding protectively to my chest. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and her eyes turned ice-cold. The glowing sparkles around her shifted to red.

I gasped as she lifted the vampire single-handedly and flew him to the tallest tower at Cupid U, the one that housed Mordecai’s Statistics of Love classroom. I flitted off the ground to follow her, needing to see this through. Mordecai and dozens of cupids on the lawn did the same as we trailed Lyrica upward. She secured Selio to the tower using her immensely powerful bonding magic, fastening him so that his arms were outstretched and attached to the structure, along with his body, legs, feet, and head. Once he woke up—if he woke up after the beating Mesmer had given him—he wouldn’t be able to move a muscle, vampire or not.

The cupids surrounding Mordecai and me stared at the sight of the vampire pinned to the tower. Red glitter—the signature of Lyrica’s magic—oozed between the ancient vampire and the stone, gluing him in place more securely than any cement could.

Suddenly, Mesmer was flying beside me, his gaze fixed on the vampire stuck to the tower, his expression one of deep satisfaction. He was still in his stone form.

“This was a good plan, mate.”

And for the first time in my life, I blushed.

Huh. I guess cupids could blush.

Mesmer chuckled and kissed my nose. He was a skilled flyer, because as good as I was, I was exhausted. I probably looked like a drunk bumblebee who’d been out with the fellas at the pub all night.

Lyrica nodded in satisfaction, and we all made our way back to the front lawn of Cupid U. When I touched down, I moved into Mesmer’s arms, and he wrapped his massive wings around me, pulling me close to give me comfort.

My plan had been both easier and more difficult than I had anticipated. I was just glad it was mostly over.

“Is King Draven making his way up to the tower?”

I could feel Mesmer nod, even though I didn’t lift my head from his chest or open my eyes to look. “Yes,” he growled. “He’s going to have a chat with him.”

The last part of the plan involved a cupid waking Selio, and King Draven questioning him.

Mesmer’s wings tightened around me, and then he murmured, “Should I be worried about your sense of creative justice, mate? The embarrassment of being stuck to the tower, helpless while hundreds of cupids whisper and stare, before he’s carted off to the Deep Dark—it’s inspired.” He kissed the crown of my head, his voice deepening into an amused rumble. “Remind me never to tick you off. The creative vengeance you’d unleash might keep me up at night.”

I smiled sleepily. “Good. That’s as it should be.”

He chuckled.

I thought his stone body would be cold, but it wasn’t. It was like stones warmed by the sun. It was so comforting that I almost dozed off. I might have, in fact, because when I blinked again, confused, I found that Mordecai had transported Mesmer and me to the hospital. Seeing the doctor approach us while Mesmer held me in his arms, I groaned and let my head fall back against his chest.

“Nope, no! No more hospitals!”

Mesmer ignored me but wisely didn’t let go of me, or I would have bolted.

“Mate, your wrist needs to be set,” he said, sounding entirely logical and reasonable.

“I wanna go home,” I whined. “I’m becoming allergic to hospitals.”

Mordecai chuckled and hugged me. “I’m going to get Lady from Sebastian’s ship. I’ll meet you guys at your house.”

I pouted. “Traitor.”

Mesmer chuckled and kissed me before gently setting me down on the bed the nurse had directed us to. I tried not to scowl too much or bite anyone’s head off as they scanned my wrist magically, set it, and put a temporary cast on it. Temporary because they’d sent me home with fae potions that would heal it in a few days, but until then, I couldn’t move it.

After we’d left the hospital, Mesmer checked in with King Draven and Consort Mia to ensure they had a way of getting back to the villa, then we headed home.

We settled onto the couch together with a long sigh. Mesmer was back in his regular skin, Mordecai had ordered takeout that was due to be delivered any minute, and Lady was lying next to the couch, looking up at us with such a happy expression of love and trust that I couldn’t resist leaning over with my uninjured hand to pat her head. She was a good dog.

Mordecai had settled into one of my reclining chairs. He’d stolen a blanket from my bed and was asleep, slightly snoring.

Mesmer looked amused. “Is this how it’s going to be?” he asked, tracing my cheek with his finger as he gazed lovingly at me. “He’s just going to crash on our recliners whenever he wants?”

I shifted my leg so it wasn’t pinned against the couch. “No.”

Mesmer frowned. “What do you mean, no?”

“I mean we’ll be at the villa; we won’t be here. But that doesn’t mean Mordecai won’t crash on our couch at your house. In fact, we should probably count on it.”

Mesmer tried to sit up, but I didn’t want him to. He was warm and soft and I was tired, so I flopped more heavily onto him, no longer bothering to keep some of my weight off of him. He didn’t even notice but did lie back down again, just like I’d wanted him to.

“What do you mean? We’ll be here , so you can teach and work as a cupid.”

I rested my chin on his chest and stared at his face. He looked upset, so I softened my tone. “Mes, I can be a cupid from anywhere, and I can use the ether to pop in to teach my classes. Mordecai is only a blink away if he wants to visit. You, on the other hand, have a job that keeps you at the Leto Villa. Not just any job, but a very important one. They’re your friends, your family in a way. Why would we stay here when it’s so much more important that you stay there?”

Mesmer’s expression softened, and his eyes went glassy. “I would have left them—for you.”

I smiled tenderly at him and kissed his chin—it was the only thing I could reach without really applying myself. “And I love you too much to ever ask that of you.”

Leo cleared his throat. “As adorable as you all are, the pizza delivery person is coming up the walkway.”

I groaned and sat up, then struggled to my feet. I paid the delivery person and set the five pizza boxes on the table while Mesmer retrieved the plates and cups.

“We’ll save a box for Mordecai,” I said, glancing at my sleeping friend.

Mesmer grunted as he poured Parmesan cheese and hot pepper flakes over his entire box of pizza. He finished his first piece in three bites. I gaped. “Okay, maybe we’ll have to order some more for him.”

Later that night, as we cuddled on the couch again, and Mordecai had gone home for the night—with his box of pizza—we talked about our future: how many kids we hoped for, and what our plans were for both the immediate future and five, ten, thirty years down the road. We talked late into the night—stopping once for ice cream sundaes—and finally fell asleep around four o’clock in the morning.

Leo, being the most amazing friend he was, gave us our privacy and turned off his sensors for the living room. He could still hear us, of course, but we’d work on things like complete privacy later. I was sure he’d help us with that.

My final thought before I fell asleep was one of gratitude. I never thought I’d find someone I felt so at home with. I’d always said that those who found love were delusional, that their relationships would never last. Anyone who believed differently was living in a fairytale. But I knew... Mesmer and I would last forever.

I guess some fairytales really do come true.