The Cupid War Page 13

  Fallon struggled to raise his head and face his savior. Then he did a double take; it was Owen.

  “You guys okay?” Owen asked, extending a hand to help him up.

  “You’ve got nerve, asking me that,” Fallon replied, ignoring the hand.

  “Look, I was wrong, okay?” Owen said. “Louis said you were bad news, and I … ”

  “I know,” Fallon said. “He saved you from the Suicides.”

  “So … are we cool?” Owen asked, his hand still extended.

  Fallon considered, then gave Owen his hand. Owen helped him to stand, and then Fallon decked him full in the face.

  “Now we’re cool,” Fallon replied, rubbing his knuckles.

  “Thanks for coming back,” Jada said, helping Owen back to his feet.

  “Yeah, I kinda freaked out when … you know,” Owen said. “They were my buds. And that girl who … I’ve never seen anything like that. Ever.”

  “No one ever has,” Caleb said. “Is someone going to help me up?”

  While Owen and Jada hurried to Caleb’s aid, Fallon approached Trina. She looked worried and frightened, but she was standing again. Fallon realized he’d nearly given his life for her. In a second, he’d do it again. And the look she gave Fallon told him she’d do the same for him.

  “Sorry I wasn’t much help just now,” she said.

  “You’re alive,” Fallon said. “That’s all I … whoa,” he added as he fell over.

  “Fallon!” Trina cried.

  “I’m okay,” Fallon said from his hands and knees. “Just a bit … woozy.”

  “You gave up part of your soul,” Caleb told him. “And you were attacked by a Suicide. And then there was Owen’s handiwork.”

  “I said I was sorry!” Owen said.

  “We all need to get back to the Cupid Center to heal,” Caleb announced.

  “You guys go ahead,” Fallon said. “Trina and I still have to help Ryan.”

  “You’re in no condition to … ”

  “Ryan’s not in great shape either,” Fallon said. “If we don’t help him now, he might not make it.”

  “You’ve lost too much life force,” Caleb pointed out. “And more Suicides will come … ”

  “I’ve got plenty of Love left,” Fallon told him. “And I can replenish my life force.”

  “How?” Jada wanted to know.

  “Ask Alexander,” Fallon said. “Once you get back. I’ll join you shortly. Trina?”

  “Yes?”

  “I need a little help.” He reached a hand up to her.

  “Oh, right,” she said, and leaned over so that Fallon could touch her heart.

  When he did so, he suddenly felt a strong surge of emotion. She was feeling something more than simple interest in what she was looking at, and she was looking at him.

  A flood of thoughts and feelings went through Fallon’s heart and mind. Had he accidentally given her some Love when he’d been sharing his soul? Had the soul-sharing been enough to make this happen? He was happy, excited … and yet he was afraid. How could this possibly work out? He was intangible in her world, for crying out loud!

  “Ryan,” he said, breaking the moment.

  “Right,” Trina said, and she started toward the house. “He’s probably where we left him.” She was now feeling confusion and worry, and a tiny bit of heartache. Oh man, Fallon thought. What am I gonna do about this?

  He was almost relieved when Trina walked through the front door and screamed. Her emotions changed instantly to shock and fear, and Fallon had to step past her to see why.

  Ryan lay on the floor, surrounded by broken glass, his left wrist bleeding. In his other hand he held a shard of glass with a jagged point smeared with blood.

  The hallway mirror had been shattered—the source of the glass—and the phone sat on the floor beneath it. It didn’t take a genius to see the two had come together violently, and the phone had won.

  It took Fallon only a moment to absorb the scene, but Trina was already moving. She grabbed Ryan’s bleeding wrist in one hand and squeezed, while her other hand took the glass shard from him.

  “Find me something to dress the wound,” she ordered. “Hurry!”

  “There’s jackets in here,” Fallon said, looking in the hall closet. “A leather, a jean … ”

  “I need cloth!” Trina said. “Never mind, I got it.” She threw off her jacket and peeled off her shirt, then wrapped it around Ryan’s wrist.

  “Ryan, can you hear me?” Trina shouted. “I need you to put pressure on your arm while I call 911. Can you do that?”

  “G … go away … ” Ryan muttered.

  “Ryan, I’m trying to save you!”

  “Leave … me alone … ”

  He’s in it bad, Fallon thought, and immediately consulted the Source for help. The answer he got surprised him.

  “Hold a piece of mirror in front of him,” Fallon said.

  “What?” Trina said. “Fallon, I’ve got to … ”

  “Do it!” Fallon said, kneeling beside Ryan. “Let him see his face.”

  Trina gave him a confused look, but she did as he asked. Ryan looked into the piece of mirror, saw his own face looking back at him …

  … and Fallon fired Love into his heart. Ryan’s eyes widened, and he grabbed his injured wrist with his good hand and squeezed tight.

  “Help me,” he said.

  They helped him. While Ryan held his wound, Trina picked up the phone and called for an ambulance.

  “You’re really good in a crisis,” Fallon said as she put the phone down.

  “Thanks,” said Trina, suddenly realizing she was almost topless.

  “For what?” Ryan asked.

  “I wasn’t … never mind.” Trina snatched up her jacket and put it on. “I need to make a tourniquet. Let me have your belt.”

  “I’ll wait outside,” Fallon said. He walked carefully through the door and sat on the front lawn.

  Fallon meditated. It was tactically dangerous to do so out in the open, where a Suicide could attack him, but he needed the life energy from the Source. He tried to concentrate, but he kept thinking of how Trina had taken charge in saving Ryan’s life. She kept surprising him with how capable she was. She’d whipped off her shirt without a hint of modesty, only concerned about doing what had to be done. People like that were rare indeed. And not bad looking, either …

  Fallon shook his head to clear it. He needed to focus, and could not be distracted by how he was definitely not falling in love with Trina. She was a wonderful human being with a rare gift, and he respected her. That was all.

  That was all!

  Who do you think you’re fooling?

  Fallon wasn’t sure if he’d thought that, or if the Source had spoken to him. Either way, it was true. He liked Trina. Wanted Trina. And, most likely, couldn’t have Trina. He sighed, then tried to concentrate once more.

  By the time the ambulance left, Fallon had more or less healed himself. He and Trina walked away from Ryan’s house, and went the first two blocks in silence.

  “Ryan’ll be okay,” Fallon said, breaking the silence. “I don’t think he lost that much blood.”

  “No, he didn’t,” Trina agreed. “What was that you did to him? With the mirror?”

  “I made him love himself,” Fallon replied.

  “Oh. Cool idea,” Trina said.

  “Just popped into my head.”

  “Neat.”

  They walked another block. Fallon wanted to say something—anything—but his brain wasn’t playing along.

  “So, you going to go back to school?” he asked her.

  “No, I’ll just head home,” she said. “It’s … been a strange day.”

  “Yeah, it sure has been
.”

  “Besides … ” Trina folded her arms self-consciously over her chest. “I need another shirt.”

  “Right, of course.” Fallon looked away. It had been all he could do not to stare at her when she’d taken it off to bind Ryan’s wrist.

  They walked a few more feet in silence.

  “Do you have to get back?” she asked. “To your Cupid Center?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Fallon said, turning back to her. “I should check in with the others. Gotta form a strategy now that everyone knows about Susan.”

  “Oh. I guess, yeah.”

  “But I’ll walk you home first,” Fallon said.

  “Oh, great!” Trina said, then caught herself. “I mean, thanks.”

  “Susan might still be in the area.”

  “Or that jerk of a boss you have.”

  “Oh, Louis,” Fallon said. “I’d forgotten about him.”

  They walked another block, and then Trina pointed. “This is my street.”

  “Oh,” Fallon said. “You’re almost home, then.”

  “Yeah,” Trina replied.

  They walked a few more steps. I’m out of time, Fallon realized. It was now or never.

  “Look, Trina … ”

  She spun around to face him. “Yeah?”

  “I … need to say something. I mean, you and I … ”

  “Uh huh?” she prompted.

  Fallon fought his mind to find the right words and came up short. He wanted very much to say what was on his mind, but had no idea how to go about it.

  Except to just say it.

  “I want to be with you,” he said.

  “Really?”

  “But I don’t know how it could possibly work between us. Look,” he went on, taking her hand in his, “I’m a Cupid, which means I’m dead! You’re still alive … I’m just a ghost to you … ”

  “You’re holding my hand,” she said.

  “I walk through walls!” Fallon said. “I can’t even go up a staircase without help … ”

  “You’re holding my hand,” she repeated.

  “I … what?” He looked down. And saw it was true.

  He was holding her hand.

  26

  Wow,” Fallon said, looking at their joined hands. “That’s … wow. How do I feel?”

  “Kinda tingly,” Trina said. “Like I’m holding energy. It’s nice.”

  She stared up into his eyes, and Fallon’s mind cleared of questions. He leaned in toward her, and she closed her eyes and pursed her lips. Fallon brought his mouth down to hers …

  … and passed right through it. He retracted his head and tried again, but fared no better.

  “It … isn’t working,” Fallon told her.

  “Oh,” she said, her eyes popping open. “Um … well.”

  “Look,” Fallon said. “I … ah … ”

  “I know,” Trina said, letting his hand go. “You’ve got to get back. I should go too. I‘ve got to come up with an excuse for skipping school before my parents come home.”

  “Right, yeah.” Fallon watched as she walked up the driveway to her house. “I’ll … ” Call you? “ … see you around?”

  “I hope so,” she said, flashing him a smile before disappearing inside her home.

  Fallon waved and smiled back, but wished the moment hadn’t been broken. He longed to talk to her about what was happening between them, but now obviously wasn’t the time. He turned and summoned a portal, and returned to the Cupid Center.

  Fallon went straight to Alexander’s Healing Chamber. He suspected he would find Jada and Caleb there, and he was right. They sat on separate slabs, and both were deep in meditation. Owen was there, too; Fallon offered him a curt nod and a cold shoulder. Owen may have ended up on the right side, but that didn’t mean Fallon was ready to like him.

  “How are they doing?” he asked Alexander.

  “They’ll be fine,” Alexander replied. “Jada’s wounds were minimal, Caleb’s more severe. There was little I could do for loss of life force before, but now … ”

  “Where’d you learn that stuff?” Owen wanted to know. “And for that matter, how’d you escape from Limbo?”

  “Yes, I’d like to know that as well,” Alexander said. “When I heard Louis had sent you there, well, I thought you were done for.”

  “The Source,” Fallon said. “That’s the answer. I communed with the Source, and … ”

  “The what?” Owen asked.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Fallon said. “Right now we need to figure out what to do about Susan Sides. Caleb, Jada, can you hear me?”

  Caleb and Jada continued to meditate, showing no sign that they had.

  “That would be a no,” Alexander said. “I know you won’t like it, but we really should call Louis here to … ”

  “Louis isn’t coming back,” Fallon said. He didn’t know how he suddenly knew this, but he was certain of it. “Besides, he wouldn’t help us even if he was here. Listen … ” And Fallon filled Alexander and Owen in on what he, Jada, and Caleb had learned.

  “Whoa,” Owen said. “Aw, man … ”

  “I suspected something of that nature had taken place,” Alexander said, “but I never dreamed Louis would take it that far. I pity him.”

  “I don’t,” Fallon said.

  “Me neither,” Owen added. “He used to be my hero, man! I’d have done anything for him after he rescued me.”

  “You did,” Fallon reminded him.

  “I said I was sorry.”

  “Don’t be so quick to judge him,” Alexander said. “If you’d been in his place, with someone you cared for threatened with torment … ”

  “ … I wouldn’t put others in danger,” Fallon said. “He did. I’ll judge him all I want. I’m going to go eat some Love, then finish my own healing,” he told them. “Come find me when these two wake up.”

  Fallon sat before his Love cube, meditating once more. It seemed the best way to pass the time. He’d really wanted to talk to someone about what had happened between him and Trina, but the only people he cared to talk to were in the Healing Chamber. Jada and Caleb were meditating, and Alexander … well, he could talk to Alexander, but not with Owen there.

  The thought suddenly entered his head that he could talk to the Source. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out where the thought had come from.

  “Hello, Source,” he said in his mind. “You’d think I’d be used to talking with you by now. This takes a lot of getting used to.”

  The thought that entered his head next told him that this was all right and hardly unexpected.

  “Has this … what happened to me in Limbo, did it happen to anyone else?” The question surprised Fallon, even though he’d asked it. He’d been planning to talk about his holding hands with Trina. However, now that he’d asked, he realized he did in fact want to know the answer. Something had changed in him, and he hadn’t taken any time to reflect on that until now.

  It is rare, the Source told him, but it has happened.

  “Where are the ones it happened to?” Fallon asked, and he learned that they had ascended. “Oh. Neat. Sorry,” he added, feeling weird about using a word like “neat” with the Source. “Look, I … I wanted to ask about something that happened to me recently … ” Suddenly he felt awkward. Was he really going to ask the Source of Love for advice on how to touch girls?

  A feeling of peace came over him, and he sensed it was all right to ask the Source about anything.

  “I … made physical contact with a girl,” he said. “In the real world. I mean, alive. You know … how did that happen?”

  An image of Caleb climbing stairs entered his mind’s eye, followed by images of himself releasing a teen girl’s heart as he arrived on the secon
d floor of the high school.

  “I don’t understand,” he said. And then he did. “You mean it’s the same as adjusting to another level? It’s all in my mind? Oh. But then … well, supposing I want to touch her again? On purpose, not by accident?”

  Once again, he saw an image of Caleb climbing stairs. Caleb had learned to control his contact with differently phased matter through practice and mental discipline. Just as Fallon still had to learn to climb stairs on his own, so too did he have to learn to touch other out-of-phase objects, including Trina.

  “Thanks,” he said. “This is … well, um … is it okay to be having a relationship with Trina? I mean, this has got to be kind of unorthodox.”

  Fallon understood then that it was very rare for beings on one vibrational level to be aware of those on another, let alone have relationships with them. However, whenever there is awareness, a relationship often develops.

  “Oh, cool,” he said, and it was. His relationship with Trina had just received the Source’s blessing. He felt happiness bordering on excitement and had to struggle to remain focused.

  Enough about me, Fallon decided. Time for some important questions.

  “What will happen to Louis?” he asked, and received an understanding that Louis’s future was up to Louis. “Okay, how about Susan Sides? How do I deal with her?”

  Fallon saw an image of Trina holding the piece of mirror in front of Ryan’s face while he fired Love into his heart.

  “I understand,” Fallon said, and he brought himself out of his trance.

  He walked back toward the Healing Chamber to find Caleb and Jada, only to see them coming toward him. Good timing, he thought, and gave silent thanks to the Source.

  “I know how to stop Susan,” he called to them.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Caleb said. “The problem may be bigger than you know. I’ve just been consulting with the Source.”

  “Me too,” Fallon said. “She didn’t tell me anything about a problem.” He didn’t know why he referred to the Source as she; it just felt right.

  “You have to ask the right questions,” Caleb said. “I asked what your friend Susan has the potential to become, now that she is aware of what she is.”

  “And?” Fallon asked.