Chapter 1
“I’m scared, Amora. What if I’m not a good cupid?” Lev asks, tilting his head curiously.
Being Cupid is not easy. Amora knows – she has been one for almost three centuries now.
But today marks the day when her reign of love ends. Once she hands over the Red Rose corsage to Lev, the new Cupid, she’ll escape this miserable job.
Amora shakes her head. It wasn’t all that miserable.
All day, she got to help people fall in love – and stay in love. And that’s enough to battle any kind of misery a 24-hour job brings.
Her schedule was (deceptively) simple – she would get up early and enjoy a hearty breakfast with the Goddesses of Desire and Longing. Together, they’d visit the House of Love to receive the daily report and then set off towards Earth to spread love, as cliché as that sounds. (Maybe spend hours staring at Marius, the God of War, but no one has to know that particular to-do of hers).
The other gods envied how ‘easy’ her job is.
She rolls her eyes. If only they knew.
Apart from the responsibilities that come with being a God of something, her exhaustion mostly stemmed from handling the climate of emotions. As soon as Amora’s arrows pierced humans’ hearts, she became privy to their feelings.
She would see how infatuation turned into longing. She would experience the way love and lust kept each other company. She would know when insecurity paved the way for jealousy. She would even feel how heartbreak transformed into apathy. The more arrows left from her quiver, the more Amora would get hounded by an onslaught of emotions that stayed with her till the end of that human’s life.
If she were not a literal God, able to withstand almost anything, she would’ve walked into a hospital and asked them to put her in a coma.
On top of that, there were some cases that made her rip her gorgeous rose gold hair out. These humans just refused the love that she practically had knocking on their doors. Maybe they never moved on from their first love. Maybe they had some unresolved trauma. Or maybe they just didn’t want a partner at that moment, despite wishing for one.
Even if she can’t grasp the nuances of their human issues, she understood.
But Felix. That human just made her blood boil.
She had studied his personality, found out all about his goals, his desires, and what he needed in a partner. And then, she made him accidentally cross paths with the perfect people for him.
EIGHT TIMES!!
Usually, Amora was able to help people find their other half with just one arrow. Sometimes two, but that was rare.
However, she had sent over around 8 arrows his way ever since he learned what love is and started to crave it. Yet, all his potential lovers turned back from him with tears in their eyes and their corresponding arrows lying at his feet.
In front of the Gods, it was easy to blame him and his stupidly handsome face and his bear-like body and his polite demeanour and his sexy smile for his miserable love life. However, if you talk to her after she's been high on a couple of ambrosia shots, she might just admit it’s her fault. That maybe her abilities and her keen sense of emotions weren’t enough to find someone good for this guy.
That maybe, she failed.
Since it was her last day, she had celebrated yesterday – mainly for retirement, but also for the fact that Felix was going to be the New Cupid’s headache.
However, now that she thinks about him, a weird type of regret washes over her. It drenches her thoughts until there’s nothing left but sadness and a sense of failure.
Amora’s eyes widen at a sudden thought. It would actually crush her if Lev found Felix’s soulmate – in the first try! If that happens, she would just spend her new human life second-guessing every match she ever made, ultimately drawing the conclusion that she simply must not have been a good cupid.
And that’s no way to start her retirement.
“Amora? Are you okay?” Lev asks, placing a hand on her arm with concern.
Amora blinks once, twice, and looks around. The Room of Romance was decked up with the usual pink-white-red fixtures, with the added silver festoons for today’s ceremony. It was lovely – Aphrodite herself had plucked the Red Rose corsage from her and slid it on Lev’s wrist. Then, she handed a flute of rose gold wine to Lev, who toasted it to the Gods gathered there.
The only thing Amora had thought throughout the entire ceremony was that she would NOT miss the pink. Or the rose gold. Or the red. Or the silver.
“Yeah, yeah,” Amora responds, trying to remember what Lev had asked her. Oh, right. “Sorry, I got lost in my memories for a while.”
“I get it,” Lev chuckles. “300 years is a long time.”
“It really is,” she says, “But, let me tell you a secret – the fear you’re talking about… it never leaves.”
“Never?” Lev sits up straight, alarmed. Amora tries not to sigh – maybe she should not be so brutally honest. Lev doesn’t deserve her nightmares on the first day of the job. Especially not when he’s supposed to help find her lover to complete her transformation from a former God to a nondescript human. Because Cupids aren’t supposed to live alone, what with them being personifications of love. That’s a God rule, anyway.
“Well,” she backtracks a little, “The fear does decrease enough that you go days without noticing it. But look around – what job is stress-free around here?”
They share a small laugh, the sound echoing around with a soft tinkle.
“If you compare our daily schedule with the other gods, like the God of War or the God of Healing, I like to think that we have it better.”
Her thoughts briefly stray to Marius, blush creeping up her cheeks. If their arrows were not so random, she would’ve walked straight up to him and pierced his heart with her pearl-studded arrow.
“Do you have any advice for me?” Lev asks, looking reassured.
“Each day brings a new challenge, and with how fast the God of Progress has been working these days, you can’t predict what humans need. All I can say here is that you’re not alone.”
Lev perks up. Oh, poor guy. He must think Roya and Seo-Won are his seniors.
“Your job doesn’t end when the humans have been successfully paired. You have to help keep their love going until they change their mind. That’s why you have Roya, Goddess of Desire, and Seo-Won, Goddess of Longing, working with you. They’re your equals, so demand their help whenever you need.
“If they don’t know what to do, go to Aphrodite. She’s always ready to lend us a hand. And, well, you can visit me if you want more insights.”
“Is that allowed?” Lev asks.
“Well, no,” Amora grimaces. “Retired Gods are supposed to sever all contact, and we lose most of our God memories after a decade. Soooooo, visit me within ten years and… just be discreet when you visit me on Earth, I guess?”
Lev doubles over, laughing like it’s the most hilarious thing anyone has ever said.
Amora smirks. She does believe she’s funny (Not that anyone agrees).
She gets up from her chair and spreads her arms. Lev hugs her back and taps once on her back, where the back of her heart is, before stepping back. Amora notes the mischievous glint in his eyes but decides not to worry about that now.
“You got this, Lev!” Lev gives her a carefully neutral smile, but the pearls shining in his eyes clue in on his thoughts.
“Okay, time to go,” Amora says, aware that there’s a slight tremble in her voice.
They walk out of the room, him walking behind her as if she were still training him. Well, even she stepped in front of him. Old habits die hard.
Amora comes to a stop at the edge of the cloud, peering down at the greens and blues of the human world. Lev stands beside her, holding the pearl-studded arrow steady.
“I’m sorry if it lands on someone bad,” he says apologetically, letting the arrow go.
Amora closes her eyes to see where it’ll land.
The arrow zips through the clouds at lightning speed, the sunlight glistening off the pearls. She wills it towards the small town by the coast of Mooncove sea, where Marius has retired. To her pleasant surprise, the arrow travels in the direction of the same small town.
Maybe wishing ardently works!
Amora opens her eyes and waits for the pink string to appear on her ring finger. After what feels like hours, the arrow finally lands on someone’s heart. The tell-tale tugging appears, pulling her towards her soulmate… Marius, preferably.
She shoots Lev a warm smile…
And jumps towards her new life.
