The Cupid War Read online

  “He’ll be fine with what I brought him,” Caleb said. “Eat up, Fallon.”

  Fallon did. Voraciously. It was still cheesy and corny, but it was the best cheese and corn he’d ever tasted in his life. And death.

  “Feeling better?” Caleb asked, watching him lick his fingers clean.

  “Oh, yeah,” Fallon replied. “I haven’t felt this good since … since … ”

  “I understand,” Caleb said, reaching out a hand to help him up. “Don’t think about past times, Fallon. That’s where you will find you are weakest. Focus on the present.”

  “That’s what Louis told me when I started,” Owen said. “He was my mentor, you know. He says … ”

  “Owen—that’s your name, right?” Fallon asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Get lost, Owen,” Fallon said.

  “What?” Owen said, the indignant look returning. “You get lost! This is my spot.”

  “Come on, Fallon.” Caleb put an arm around his shoulders and led him away. “Time we were getting back to work.”

  They began the long trek back to the portals. Fallon found it much easier going this time around—he was no longer tired. Realizing he’d been completely healed from his attack, Fallon felt almost cheerful.

  “I wouldn’t get on Owen’s bad side if I were you,” Caleb said as they walked.

  “Why not?” Fallon asked. “The guy’s a jerk. He wouldn’t help me out when I was desperate.”

  “True,” Caleb replied. “But he is one of Louis’s favorites.”

  “Oh,” Fallon said. “Oh crap.”

  “Owen isn’t that bad,” Caleb went on. “He projects a tough outer shell to hide his guilt.”

  “Guilt?”

  “You must have noticed he is your age, or close to it,” Caleb said. “He died when he was young. Crashed his car while drunk. Killed himself and his girlfriend Jada. It’s been three years now, but he still blames himself for it.”

  “Well, it was his fault,” Fallon said.

  “What’s done is done,” Caleb said. “Since that time, he’s become a fine Cupid. So has Jada, incidentally. She’s one of my favorite students. They both have their own designated neighborhoods to look after. Someday you will too.”

  As they walked, Fallon remembered something Caleb had said earlier.

  “What did you mean,” he asked, “when you told Louis that he of all people should respect a Suicide attack? Was he attacked once?”

  “Not exactly,” Caleb said. “Most Cupids have been attacked by Suicides, actually. Some get over it, others can’t. But Louis’s story is more complicated than that. And personal.”

  “Ooh, do tell!” Fallon said. If there was dirt to be dished on Louis, he wanted every bit of it.

  Caleb was silent for a few moments.

  “Another time,” he said at last. “I will tell you, Fallon. I believe every Cupid has a right to know some of the details. But not just yet. I’d … rather wait for another time.”

  Fallon nodded as if he understood, which of course he did not. He could tell, however, that Caleb wished the matter dropped. That was fine by him. He could wait. After all, it didn’t seem like he was going anywhere.

  Five minutes later they arrived at the portals. They chose one, stepped through, and went back to work.

  7

  Love, as I was explaining to you before, is what keeps this world turning,” Caleb said.

  Fallon listened as he and Caleb walked through the food court at the local mall. He’d come to this mall many times before his untimely death. It had been one of Susan’s favorite things, coming here and getting a mint tea and blabbing about all of her problems.

  Fallon shook his head to clear it. Bad memories would not help him.

  “We don’t trick people into falling in love, Fallon,” Caleb went on, leading him out of the rows of tables and into the mall proper. “That is impossible. If two people aren’t interested, or at least open to the possibility of being interested, there is nothing we can do.”

  “But you make people fall in love,” Fallon said. “I saw you.”

  “Because Mark was open to a love relationship with Emily in the first place,” Caleb said. “All he needed was a little boost. We provide that boost, Fallon. We help make love happen.”

  “So if I were to pick just anyone,” Fallon said, gesturing around him at the shoppers, “and made them look at someone they didn’t want to be with, it wouldn’t work?”

  “Not necessarily,” Caleb said. “The mind does not always know what the heart wants.”

  “But then how do you know?”

  “You will know,” Caleb told him, “when you touch their heart. That’s where all the answers are. I know this is all very confusing,” he added, seeing the look on Fallon’s face. “It will become clear to you after you’ve gained some experience. And that is what we are here to get.”

  They arrived at a set of escalators. Fallon recognized where they were; the escalators led up to the mall’s cinema.

  “We’re going to the movies?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Caleb replied.

  “Cool.” Fallon stepped onto the escalator.

  A moment later he realized he wasn’t moving. Looking down, Fallon saw the escalator steps rising up out of his feet like they weren’t there.

  “I think that now,” Caleb said without hiding his amusement, “would be an excellent time to tell you about stairs.”

  “Yeah, why don’t you?” Fallon said, walking through the escalator railing to stand beside him.

  “We are out of sync with the energy vibrations of this world,” Caleb told him. “You see that when you walk through things, as you did just now.”

  “Yeah, I know that already.”

  “However, we need to interact with this world on some level or we couldn’t do our jobs,” Caleb said. “Look down. Your feet are firmly planted on the floor when they should sink through. Do you know why that is?”

  “No idea,” Fallon said.

  “You don’t sink through the floor,” Caleb said, “because you do not believe you will. That belief sends messages to your body that cause your feet to vibrate more harmoniously with the surface beneath you.”

  “So if I stop believing,” Fallon said, “I’ll fall into the Earth.”

  “Yes,” Caleb said. “But I don’t think you will. No one has, yet. Belief in the ground under one’s feet is too strong. Stairs, however, are another matter. Escalators and elevators as well. Your mind perceives them differently. You know you use them to ascend or descend to another level.”

  “So how do you go up when you need to?” Fallon asked.

  “Like this,” Caleb said, and he walked behind a man who was stepping onto the escalator. Caleb inserted his hand into the man’s back, and when the man rose with the rising steps Caleb was dragged along behind.

  “It’s easy!” Caleb said. “Just touch the heart.”

  Fallon walked up behind a young woman and touched her heart as she stepped onto the escalator. He ascended with her; it wasn’t jarring at all, just a smooth ride.

  Caleb was waiting for him at the top.

  “Don’t let go straight away,” he cautioned as Fallon and his ride reached the upper level. “Your mind needs to readjust to the new ground beneath you. Take a few steps with this lovely young lady—that’s it—and when you think you are ready … ”

  “How will I know?” Fallon asked. The idea of falling through the floor did not appeal to him.

  “Your mind works fast,” Caleb said. “Trust it. Let go.”

  Fallon did so, and did not immediately fall through the floor. He took a couple of steps, watching his feet carefully, but the floor remained safely solid.

  “It’s like the glass floor,” he said
.

  “Pardon?”

  “In the CN Tower,” Fallon said. “They have a glass floor on the observation deck. People are afraid to walk out onto it because they can see all the way down to the ground, but the glass is just as solid as the concrete around it.”

  “In other words, it’s all in your mind,” Caleb said. “Good analogy, though. I must remember that for my next trainee. Anyway, keep practicing. Who knows, you may become as good as me someday. Now come, let’s go to the movies.”

  They entered the cinema and walked right through the ticket collectors. Fallon headed for a theater showing an action movie he’d been dying to see, but Caleb held him back.

  “For the purposes of training,” Caleb said, “we will get the best results from a romantic comedy. Follow me.”

  They entered a theater showing a film that Fallon wouldn’t have gone to even if he’d been paid. The Truth About Poodles—about a man who adopted a fluffy white dog in order to woo the woman of his dreams—was exactly the sort of tripe he avoided with a passion.

  “We don’t have to watch the whole thing, do we?” he asked as Caleb selected an aisle. He looked at some of the guys in the half-filled audience and chuckled; they looked bored out of their minds.

  “No, but you do have to watch some of it,” Caleb replied, “so you’ll be ready for the right moment. I’m sure you are familiar with celebrity love?”

  “You mean those idiots who fall for famous people who they’ve only seen in movies or photos?”

  “Precisely,” Caleb said. “When that happens, it is usually because a Cupid has been doing exactly what we are about to do now. Practicing.”

  Fallon looked from the bored male faces to the screen, and put two and two together.

  “We’re gonna make those poor saps fall for Jenny Lane?” he asked, watching as the celebrity in question “acted.” “No way, Caleb. That’s just wrong. That’s … manipulating people.”

  “It is practice,” Caleb pointed out, “and it is harmless. Remember, it will only work if one of these gentlemen is open to feelings for Miss Lane.”

  “But they’re never going to have her,” Fallon said.

  “The feelings we give them today will fade,” Caleb said. “Unless we give them another boost later on. Which we will not do. Unrequited love always fades if it is not nurtured, Fallon. Sometimes it becomes obsession, but such instances are rare. And doing this”—he reached into one of the guys’ hearts just as Jenny got a close-up—“is the only practical way to practice without causing undue hurt.”

  The teen’s chest glowed and suddenly he became interested in the movie. Very interested.

  “Now you try,” Caleb said.

  “Okay,” Fallon said, looking around. “Who should I start with?”

  “Try anyone,” Caleb said, “and see what their heart tells you.”

  Fallon shrugged and walked into the aisle, then picked a Japanese man sitting in mid-row. He walked around behind his seat and plunged his right hand into the guy’s back. He half-expected him to scream, but the man didn’t notice anything. Fallon didn’t notice anything either; he waited for the heart to tell him something, but it seemed to be mute.

  “Move your hand around a little,” Caleb said in answer to Fallon’s questioning glance. “Very few Cupids get the heart on the first try. Up a little, now left … that should be it.”

  And it was. Fallon instantly knew, though he couldn’t say how, exactly. It was like he was plugged in to the guy; he could feel what was in his heart, just like Caleb had said he would. It wasn’t mind reading so much as emotion sensing, and it took Fallon a few moments to figure out which feelings were which.

  “This is confusing,” Fallon said. “I’m getting that he’s open and not open to Jenny Lane at the same time.”

  “That’s because the image on screen keeps changing,” Caleb said. “Wait until Miss Lane is back on screen for more than a few seconds, then tell me what you find.”

  Fallon waited. The scene had switched to one with the male lead character, played by boy-band sensation Robbie Claine. Fallon groaned inwardly at having to wait for another Jenny scene, then chuckled at the thought of making the guy fall for Robbie. And that made him wonder something.

  “Caleb?” he said. “If you’re trying to get a guy and a girl together, and another guy gets in the way … can you make two guys fall for each other?”

  “Only if they are open to it,” Caleb replied. “You’re thinking of making this man fall for Mr. Claine?”

  “Just wondering if it’s possible,” Fallon said. “I mean, it just occurred to me, maybe when Cupids miss and make a guy fall for a guy … forget it.”

  “No, go on,” Caleb said. “Ask your question.”

  “Well … ” Fallon looked back to the screen to avoid Caleb’s eyes. “I just wondered if that’s where gay people come from.”

  There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between them, followed by another.

  “Fallon,” Caleb said at last, “does that make any sense to you?”

  “Not really,” Fallon replied.

  “If a person isn’t open to someone, they won’t fall in love,” Caleb said. “And that includes gays. You would know that if you’d paid attention to a word I’ve said.”

  “Sorry,” Fallon muttered.

  “And speaking of paying attention,” he pointed at the screen, “Miss Lane is back.”

  Fallon, who’d been looking down at the floor, turned his head up. Jenny Lane was indeed on-screen, and the Japanese man thought she was a hottie.

  “He’s into her,” Fallon said.

  “Then give it to him,” Caleb said. “Think of shooting Love from your fingertips into his heart, and it will happen. And do it now, before the scene changes again.”

  Fallon thought about firing Love into the man, and suddenly it happened. He felt the power flow from him into the guy, and it was quite a rush.

  “Whoa,” he said. He pulled his hand out of the man, who looked a lot more pleased to be there. “That was great.”

  “The first time always is,” Caleb said with a smile. “Now you know how it is done. Choose someone else and try again.”

  Fallon did, several more times. Three guys and four girls, one of whom did prefer Jenny Lane over Claine. Caleb explained that the amount of Love Fallon gave out was in direct proportion to what was needed. The people in the audience got just enough to be starstruck, and Fallon could do several more before his supply of Love ran out.

  “Now that you’ve had some practice,” Caleb said, “let’s go and try the real thing.”

  “Just one more,” Fallon said, spying a middle-aged man sitting by himself in the front row.

  “I’m not sure about that one,” Caleb said, seeing where Fallon was going.

  Fallon walked through the rows to the second aisle, knelt behind the man’s seat, and reached his hand in. Immediately, he felt a huge dose of loneliness. When Jenny Lane appeared on screen, the feeling got worse. The man longed for her but felt completely unworthy.

  “Yikes,” Fallon said, pulling his hand out.

  “I thought as much,” Caleb said, walking up behind him. “What was it? Loneliness? Despair? Longing?”

  “Yep,” Fallon replied. “But I can make him happy if I find the right girl.”

  “No, you can’t,” Caleb replied. “He’s been infected by a Suicide, Fallon. That is why he feels so wretched. Most likely he came here thinking a romantic movie would cheer him up. Instead, it has had the opposite effect. And making him fall for Miss Lane will only make it worse.”

  “Why?”

  “With a Suicide’s taint on him,” Caleb explained, “he’s no good to himself, let alone anyone else. Have you ever had a very miserable person attracted to you?”

  Fallon thought of
Susan Sides, and nodded.

  “You felt uncomfortable around her, didn’t you?”

  “Yes,” Fallon said.

  “That is how people feel when they are infected by Suicides,” Caleb told him. “And love for Miss Lane will only create a deeper longing that can never be satisfied.”

  “Can’t we do anything for him?” Fallon asked.

  “No,” Caleb replied. “He must overcome the Suicide’s taint by himself. He is strong—he hasn’t killed himself. But he has a long and difficult road ahead of him. There is, however, one important thing we can do,” he added, rising to his feet.

  “What’s that?” Fallon asked.

  “Suicides usually stay near their prey,” Caleb explained, “so they can feed off the negative feelings. If we can find it and stop it, we can put this man out of his misery.”

  8

  Fallon and Caleb searched the entire theater for the Suicide, but it was a lot more difficult than Fallon could have imagined. Their foe could walk through walls and hide inside solid objects, just as they could. They checked all the seats, and the floor around each audience member, but the Suicide was not to be found.

  “That’s enough,” Caleb said after half an hour. “It’s possible our presence may have frightened it off. But we have another hand to play.”

  “We do?” Fallon said.

  “The movie is letting out,” Caleb said, pointing to the crowd leaving the theater. “If we follow that man from a distance, we can catch the Suicide when it returns to him.”

  “How do you know it will?” Fallon asked.

  “They always do,” Caleb replied gravely. “It is in their nature.”

  They searched the crowd leaving the theater, and when the man didn’t come out they hurried back inside. Fallon worried the man had killed himself in his seat, but it was nothing so drastic. He was simply one of those guys who sits through all the credits.

  “Caleb?” Fallon asked. “What do we do when we find the Suicide?”