Stealing Cupid's Bow (15 page)

Her relief was overwhelming when the taxi arrived in her neighborhood. Against all odds, she’d made it out of the hotel and all the way here. The moment of victory was so close that her nerves began to dance. She had the taxi drop her off around the corner and then she crept up to peeped through some bushes near the open kitchen window. Her mother was shouting at her father, and he was standing there with arms crossed on his chest, a cold look on his face.

“It’s over, Henry; you and I both know that. I can’t continue to live with a man that doesn’t care I exist.”

“Oh, you think I don’t care? After all I’ve done for you? That’s really ungrateful. Have you ever considered the fact that you can be needy?” His tone was stony.

Her mother looked as though she’d been slapped.

“Needy? Needy! You’ve never had a clue what it’s like to be in a close and caring relationship!”

“Well, you won’t have to deal with me much longer,” he retorted. “Most of my stuff is packed already. Once we get this party done with I’ll be leaving.”

Raine cringed inside. She couldn’t believe he was already packed. She hadn’t seen a single box or suitcase around the house. Had he packed it all up before her arrival so she wouldn’t know?

His statement only served to escalate her mother’s tone until she sounded shrill. She’d never in her life heard her mother sound that way. Her mother stepped closer to her father, her volume increasing as a flood of emotion-filled words flew from her lips. Her father’s face became even more stony.

It was only a matter of seconds before her father closed up completely and stomped away. Raine was surprised that he’d lasted this long. He hated confrontation. It was time for her to make her move, or she would miss her chance.

She hastily pulled the bow over her head and grabbed an arrow from her quiver. With shaking hands she positioned the equipment as straight and true as she could, hoping that the close distance would make up for her lack of skill. As she gazed down the arrow’s shaft, trying to aim, it registered that that the tip of this arrow was more of a dull lead color than the shiny gold of the other others she had used. Did it matter? Maybe it was a super-special love arrow.

She pointed it at her father who was standing still, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed. It was more urgent to get to him first. With the way her mother was pacing around in her aggravation, she was afraid she might miss the shot.

Drawing in a deep breath Raine used all the muscles in her body to draw the string back as steadily as possible. Her arm braced firmly on the grip, her eye sighted down the shaft of the arrow to make sure it lined up as straight as possible. She didn’t want this one going astray. She hesitated for the barest moment, saying a quick prayer in her mind that it would work, and then finally let go.

***

The engine of the Bugatti Vitesse roared as it raced down streets and squealed around corners reflecting Alexander’s mood. His hands clenched the wheel and his eyes scanned the streets as he went along. He was following the route of unusual activity Donovan had shown him on the system, knowing that Raine and his bow couldn’t be too far from it all. Here and there his eyes picked up the unusual auras of people who had been shot by one of his arrows at the wrong time, in the wrong place, in the wrong mood and with the wrong person. It was all so very wrong.

How dare she even touch it! How dare she think to steal the possession of a god! He had no idea if he would be able to spot her while she was using it. Would the glamour work against him as well? He wanted to kick himself for neglecting to add it to the system for tracking. At the time, it’d made no sense to track himself. His bow was never out of his control.

The havoc she was creating with it didn’t bother him as much as the theft. It wasn’t the first time an arrow had been misfired. He’d seen it happen many times over the years as he’d trained his men and had always been quick to correct the mistakes. It would just take them more time to correct things this time considering the number of people she’d affected.

Arrows went amiss but his bow never did. His jaw clenched. It was the most powerful of all the bows, not just in construction but in terms of energy as well. He’d never been able to replicate its power in the equipment developed for his men. Raine’s insistence that he could help her was not that far off from being correct. If any of them could have helped her, it would have been him. Help he would never bestow on her now.

There was a lot of cleanup work for them to do. She’d left a long and colorful trail. He passed a dirty beggar hugging and gazing worshipfully at a tree. A few blocks down, a girl in a tank top was flailing at a man in a long-sleeve shirt with her fists. Luckily, this was Vegas. He doubted anyone would notice anything was wrong.

He gritted his teeth as he continued to pass people who had been shot. It looked like he was going to have to help clean the mess up, there was just too many of them. The last thing he needed was for the attention of the other gods to be attracted. He could already hear the scathing rumors and comments that would circulate on Mount Olympus if they discovered a mortal had stolen his bow. Gossip on Mount Olympus never died. If they found out, he would be ridiculed throughout eternity. Now that it was proven it could be taken from him, there was no doubt some of them would try to steal it for their own hidden agendas. He would have to increase security if the situation leaked.

He jabbed the button for the hands-free phone system and called Donovan.

“Donovan,” he said when he picked up.

“What’s the cleanup status?”

“The men are already stretched thin boss. She affected several people in that taxi line and also on the street. I’ve got them handling the local stuff, and then they’ll be working their way outward.”

“Have you located her?”

“No but she’s leaving a pretty clear trail toward where her parents live. She shouldn’t be too hard to catch.”

“I’m on it. Once I get my equipment back, I’ll start cleaning things up out here.”

“Great. That reminds me, one of the people in the taxi line she targeted was a celebrity.”

Alexander frowned. “Who?”

“Blake Jordan. He’s here shooting something in town.”

Alexander swore. He recognized the name. Blake Jordan had been in several popular TV shows and was also a lead in blockbuster films. Celebrity antics generated a lot of press. If he did something that attracted media attention, there would be no way to keep a lid on it.

“Do you know where he is now?”

“He’s headed out your way in a cab with a woman. I’ll get back to you in a minute with their exact location. We have an issue in the casino, and I need to get down there.”

Alexander hung up and concentrated on driving. His foul mood became even more black. He was used to being the one committing the pranks, not being on the receiving end of them. The whole town would be rioting if he didn’t catch her soon.

He felt like a fool. How could he have been so blind? Donovan saw what he had refused to see. It was shameful that he, a god, had been snowed by a pair of green eyes. His mind flashed back to how she’d looked this morning in his bed. So innocent, so pure. He never thought that she might rifle through his apartment. He’d never shown her the bow or where he kept it so he could only conclude that she’d snooped and found a way to get past the lock. What else had he missed about her?

In the end Raine shot both of her parents twice for good measure. After releasing the fourth arrow she nodded her head in satisfaction.
That ought to do it for a long time
. They didn’t have as immediate of a reaction as the people in the taxi line. In fact, their argument seemed to grow more heated. Maybe it was because they were right in the middle of it? Oh well, the effects would kick in soon and she didn’t want to be around when they did. Not if they were going to start making out like some of the others that was.

She departed immediately, almost skipping with joy and relief, back to the taxi. Everything was going to be all right now. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this good.

She thought of Alexander and the smoldering looks he had given her last night. The memory of them caused a warm, glowing sensation deep within her gut. It was wrong to borrow his bow but she’d had to help her parents. With any luck, he wouldn’t have noticed it was gone and she could just put it back on the statue and close the door as if nothing had happened. She was taking it straight back to the hotel, right after she was done with it.

She had the taxi drop her off at Jane’s bakery. It was a slim possibility, but she was hoping Jane’s crush would appear so she could help bring them together, too.

As she walked up to the shop, she gripped the bow and an arrow so that she was hidden from the people coming in and out of the store. While she waited she let a few arrows fly on some of the customers coming in just for the sheer glee of it. There wasn’t enough love in the world; it couldn’t hurt to spread more. It felt so good. The soft
twang
of the bowstring thrummed within her as she released arrows, feeling better and better with each one.

Jane must have made some killer flavor today. Every single person who went into the store came out with big boxes.

To her surprise, what she was waiting for happened. Mystery-man Scott appeared from around the corner. Raine followed him inside the shop, wanting to make sure there was good eye contact between him and Jane before she shot, just in case. She had to be sure to do a good job for her cousin. Still invisible, she backed into a corner so no one would accidentally bump into her.

“Hi, Scott.” Jane smiled at him.

“Hi.” He seemed to be blushing. “Those macaroon cupcakes with the dark chocolate frosting I bought the other day were a real hit at the office. I’d like to get some more, and any special flavors you have today.”

Jane looked over at her display case with dismay. It was almost empty and had only one or two of today’s flavors on each shelf. “I’m sorry, but those are all I have left. Everyone must really be in the mood for cupcakes today. Several people came in before you and bought dozens. It’s not even noon, and I’ve sold a whole day’s worth. I was just about to close the store.”

Raine stood ready. Should she just scratching him with an arrow since she was so close? No, her cousin deserved any advantage the full usage of Cupid’s equipment could give her. Who knew what mystical power the bow contained?

“That’s okay,” Scott said, “they’re all delicious. I’ll just take those two chocolate ones.”

Raine leaned her head to look down the shaft of the arrow and squinted in concentration as she tried to decide on the right moment.

“Okay, but I can make more of the macaroon ones tomorrow if you still want them,” Jane said shyly.

The arrow sunk itself into Scott’s back just as their eyes met on a smile and disappeared.
Bull’s-eye!
She wavered over the need to send one to Jane as well. But from the look on her cousin’s face, she was already smitten. Where Jane stood behind the counter, she didn’t have a good shot at her anyway.

“On second thought,” Scott said, “I’ll take all the ones that are left. You may as well close your shop early.” He reached into his pocket for his wallet, and Raine tiptoed her way through the door to the kitchen where she leaned against the wall with happiness. Seeing her cousin’s car keys hanging from the wall, she decided to borrow it. It was time to return the bow. She scribbled a note for Jane so that she wouldn’t think it had been stolen. She wouldn’t be long.

A smile lit her face. Now everything was perfect.

She went out to the car, laid the bow and quiver on the backseat, and got in. The time showing on the clock in the car when she started it shocked her. That couldn’t be right? Had hours really gone by since she’d left the hotel? Putting the car in drive, she stepped hard on the gas pedal hoping it wouldn’t be too late.

***

The warm Las Vegas wind blew Alexander’s hair as he drove. He’d rolled down the window hoping to get a sense of the bow as he tracked her on the ground, hoping some intuition would tell him where it was. But so far…nothing.

He glanced at the navigation screen that he’d rigged so that it would link with his system back at the hotel. On it were plotted the victims of Raine’s ill-timed arrows. The initial trail was diffusing as the victims moved away from ground zero where they’d been shot but he could still see her general path. He was approaching another one of the plot points.

As he pulled up in front of the location and recognized Raine’s parents’ house in time to observe complete lunacy. The two people in the house were absolutely enraged with other and were alternately destroying things. He couldn’t see them, but their shouting could be heard from where he was parked at the curb and objects were being flung out the front door and windows. The front lawn and shrubs were decorated with a variety of garments and object.

He shook his head. This was bad, very bad…. Something needed to be done right away. It wouldn’t be long before the police were called.

The screen beeped and the display changed to show a new blip, actually a small grouping of them, nearby.

What was she doing? Trying to create an orgy? Or a riot? He frowned and floored the gas pedal hoping to catch her before she got away. Smoke billowed behind his car as the tires spun madly before grasping the pavement and shooting the Bugatti forward.

But, even with his excessive speed on the streets, he was too late again.

On the doorstep of a little, bright bakery stood a slim and anxious woman that he recognized as Raine’s cousin. Surrounding her were various men, some with gifts in their hands. They were all talking at once, each apparently trying to declare their love. Nothing good could come of this. Already signs of hostility were beginning to surface between the men.

He dialed his phone. “Cole? Get down here right away. Bring backup.” Alexander texted him the address and then remained alert. His eyes drilled into the surroundings as if by sheer will he could make her appear.