Arrow to the Heart: A Cupid Romance

Chapter 49

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Bree's eyes snap to the ring in my palm and then back to my face.

"Wha- what?" she asks. "How are you... isn't that supposed to burn you?"

"Not if I'm in love, right?" The words still feel weird on my tongue.

Love. Fuck.

My mind is still reeling from the past 24 hours.

I just told Bree I loved her.

I. Love. You.

I said the fucking words.

What's crazier is that I meant it.

I love her.

And now I'm holding this ring—the one that left a pretty solid burn on Eli's palm—to show her that I mean it.

"You don't have to prove anything, Dec," she says. "I believe you."

Her forehead pinches in an adorable way, and I realize she's actually concerned for my well-being. Rather than convince her, I decide the easiest route is just to show her.

I slip on the ring and there's no pain or burning. Bree looks at me with wide eyes and raised brows, as though she's expecting me to burst into flame.

"See," I say, holding up my hand and swiveling my wrist. "Now you have proof."

"What does it do?" she asks. "Do you feel any different?"

Besides coming down from the massive adrenaline rush after telling Bree how I feel, everything seems pretty normal.

"No. Maybe I have to do something to make it work."

"Try using your powers."

"On you?" I shoot her a suggestive wink.

"No, I mean do the invisible thing."

"The other option sounds more fun," I say with a smirk, grazing her arm with my fingertips.

"Fine," she says, blushing. "Show me what you got, Mister Cupid."

I send a quick pulse of pleasure through my touch and feel the ring heat up. A flash of light travels from the ring's gold setting into the stone at the center. The rock starts to deteriorate at the edges where it meets the gold, hissing and producing white smoke, and I pull my hand away from her.

With a loud snap, a crack shoots across the stone and it breaks in two. I flinch, but I don't really feel anything.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" she asks, eyes wide.

I look down, examining the ring.

"I'm good, I'm good. Nothing seems to have really happened. Maybe it's a dud."

She bunches her lips to the side the way she does when she's deep in thought.

"Or the stone is," she says.

"Huh?"

"It's not the ring's original stone. So maybe that matters. Maybe it won't work without the right stone."

"Ahh." I look down at the ring. The stone is now split by a vertical crack and loose in its setting. "Well that's anticlimactic then."

"Maybe that's for the best. If it burns people to the touch, I'm not sure I want to know what else it does."

"Well, we might need it. I have no idea what the fates will do now that you're matched. It could really fuck up their plans."

"What are their plans?"