*CUPID'S MATCH BOOK 3* FIRST DRAFT
For the third time, follow Lila into a world of cupids, arrows, betrayal, and love, in the Watty award winning series with over 50 million reads online.
CUPID'S MATCH is published and in stores now!
---
Come chat...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
We burst out of the double doors of the gym. I almost knock Cupid over - catching his face crumple in confusion then horror - before me and Cal race past down the corridor. Footsteps thunder against the linoleum as Cupid and Charlie run after us.
"What's going on?" says Cupid.
"Crystal," says Cal – her name coming out on panicked breath as he races ahead. "The Army of the Dead have her."
Charlie stumbles on her heels before kicking them off – racing barefoot after us.
"That's not all," I say. "Valentine's started the War. Cupids from the Matchmaking Service will be on their way."
Cupid curses under his breath – grabbing Cal's arm and jerking him back as we reach the cafeteria.
"Careful, brother," he says.
Cals spins around. "I'm going in there."
"I know. But –"
" - something isn't right," I say.
Cal moves to the double doors. Dread swells in my stomach. The hairs on my arms prickle. My breath mists in front of my face.
I can smell death – sweet and rotten – mixing with the cafeteria scents of old grease, and disinfectant. But all is quiet – the air still. The windows to the cafeteria show nothing but darkness.
Cal tenses and pulls an arrow from his quiver. Charlie and I do the same, while Cupid clings tightly to the box.
Then Cal kicks open the doors.
I hear nothing at first.
Then the rattle of the windows at the side of the canteen as the brewing storm rages against them.
Darkness shrouds the room, shadows covering shapes scattered across the floor like blankets.
My breathing quickens as I follow Cal over the threshold, feeling Charlie and Cupid close behind.
My eyes start to adjust. There are tables and knocked over chairs all over the linoleum. Our footsteps stick to the floor. I look down at my feet and realize I'm walking through a black puddle of blood.
My pulse thuds in my ears.
And then I catch movement by a few feet away by an overturned table. I raise my bow only to lower it again, seeing a man with ghostly looking skin on the floor. His head is torn from his body, but his arm moves slightly.
One of the army of the dead.
Cal stops abruptly – faced with another ripped apart body. As my eyes adjust to the shadows I see there are enough parts to make up at least twenty of them, ripped carcasses strewn across the room - black blood smeared across walls and counters.
It's the scene of a massacre.
Cupid, coming into step beside me nudges an arm on the floor with his foot – its skeletal fingers twitching. He turns to me, a darkness in his eyes.
