Page 124 of Love & Heart Braking

“It signifies that your magic is not merely in your blood. There is a deeper level. Another dimension that has not yet been discovered—the reason why those before me have failed to harness love.” The healer’s eyes gleamed. Maybe his narcissistic qualities were ideal. He couldn’t resist talking about his brilliance.

“You will abide by the restrictions listed in the contract of course.”

He dropped his gaze, but not before I saw the derision there.

I accepted the accidental show as the unintentional warning it was. My time of these cute little baseline tests was nearly up.

“Now,” the healer said. “Your anti-love magic. Summon it.”

My brows shot up. “My what now?”

“Your anti-love magic,” he pressed. “We will need to test that too.”

By Vulcan.

The dots connected in a blink. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen them before. How could the twelve have a monopoly on love unless they were able to prevent people naturally falling in love too? They didn’t just want to concoct some love tincture, they wanted to castrate people’s love lines. They wanted to control love absolutely and rule the hearts of others.

Horror filled my being followed closely by cold revulsion. “I don’t have any magic of the kind. I heard about the arrow for the first time in the book Mistress Cineres gave me last Thursday.”

He pressed his lips together. “You expect us to believe that. You’re a heart elemental. The last in Nepos.”

My brows drew in. “How do you know that?”

He smiled. “We have our ways.”

Said like he was Mistress Cineres’s best friend. “What about outside of Nepos? You must know there are cupids who left long ago to escape those hunting them.”

“No, I think not.”

“Why?”

“It doesn’t matter why. You possess the arrow of anti-love. Therefore, you must possess magic to prevent love.”

My insides froze, but I hadn’t gotten this far in life without being a good fibber. “You have this all wrong.”

He walked to the phone where he dialed and waited. “Yes, good evening, Mistress Cineres. The subject is proving unwilling to play her part.” The healer paused. “At once.”

Hanging up, he smirked. “The mistress would like to see you.”

Dammit.

I shrugged. “Sure. I’d like to get this straightened out. Lead me to her.”

His gleaming eyes darkened at the order, but he unhooked the electrodes covering me, and rolled the machines back. I seized the chance to steal a peek at the biohazard room, but they’d stuck paper all over the windows after what happened last time.

The healer didn’t lead me out the way I’d entered. We approached the door marked Staff Only. In the hall was a window to the biohazard room that they hadn’t covered. I peered inside to the conveyor belts with interest. “Get everything in there sorted last time?” I dragged my feet. “Seemed like you royally screwed up.”

“I didn’t screw up,” he snapped, shooting me a glare. “And it’s none of your business.”

We were past the window too quickly. I gritted my teeth.

Through the next door were stacks of boxes, and my mouth dried as I realized what they were. Mars alive. They were covered with the Doquu’s logo—the adapted version of it. But the resemblance was plain. These boxes had to be filled with whatever came off the conveyor belts.

The healer glanced at them uneasily.

“I’m not meant to see these, am I?” I asked.

He whirled, lab coat tails flaring. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll forget you ever saw them. I can make your tests hell.”

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