Page 22 of Touch

“The point is, they do know. They’ve sent us here to tighten the reins.”

“And?”

“And the mortal’s cataclysmic!” he thunders.

Envy thrusts out his wrist. “Please, don’t. Hyperbole is tacky.”

“Your powers are fading around him,” Anger hisses, the muscled forearm he braces on the trunk inflating with tension. “The effects will only get worse. Need I say, it’s a preview of what will happen to the rest of us?”

“Certainly not,” Love retorts.

“Good. At last, a sound answer. So long as you’re strong enough, your weapon is strong enough. Strike him and his intended down, bring them together, and everything will return to normal.” As if trying to set this point in stone, Anger’s timbre lowers a dozen octaves. “He’ll forget you.”

Except it’s a waste of time rehashing what every Dark God knows. To their knowledge, this situation hasn’t arisen before, but the wisdom of how to deal with it is another thing to thank The Stars for. Archers’ targets become so consumed by an arrow’s magic, they can’t conceive of any other enchantments. On that score, Andrew won’t be able to see deities anymore and will forget that anything beyond humanity exists. Once matched, his memory of Love will fade.

Beyond that, Love experiences a spike of dread. Since it’s an archer’s job to keep watch on the mortal world, The Court couldn’t have known about the human unless they’d been in the neighborhood. Or unless a member of this crew had been spying.

“And if I don’t listen?” Love counters, which is the most visceral, most illogical question she’s ever uttered.

Envy smirks. “You must truly want to mount that human’s cock.”

“Enough!” Anger seethes.

Love chokes the paperback in her lap. If she denies the accusation, Envy won’t believe her. And truly, she cannot blame him. Finally someone lights the flame The Fate Court has been hoping to see in their goddess, to make her the wet and wanting deity she’s supposed to be, and that person happens to be a human. One whose heart she must steer toward someone else.

“You’re jealous,” Envy sings, getting off on the baritone sound of his own voice.

“That’s a lie!” Love and Anger snap in unison, then glance at one another, unsure which of them Envy had been taunting.

Deities can tap into human emotions, but not the emotions of one another. While this should protect Love from Envy’s prying gaze, he dissects her countenance effortlessly, his focus verifying that he’d been addressing her rather than Anger.

“What happens if I disobey the order?” Love repeats before she can stop herself.

Anger recovers from his outburst. “You tread a thin line voicing that query.”

“What do you think is going to happen?” Sorrow insists.

“The Court will get rid of the man themselves,” Envy answers. “They hardly need you for that. However, your arrows are a forgiving solution. Do the math.”

“You want math? In The Court’s eyes, eradicating the man is faster and safer,” Love testifies. “Matchmaking will take longer. I’ll be dying the whole time, as will you once the ailment takes hold. Why take that risk for the sake of civility and mercy?”

“The Stars advised them to,” Envy states.

She should have known. The Stars are mysterious in their almighty ways, but they reign over The Dark Fates. Tasking Love to match Andrew, to erase his memory of her, is the kind choice. It’s the route she’d want to take. She just hadn’t expected the celestials to be on her side.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Sorrow cautions, gathering snow and forming it into a ball. “The Stars want you to try a love match first; they suggest death only as an alternative. The Court will eviscerate the man if our lives are on the brink—if you don’t do as you’re told.” She bobs the snowball in her cupped palm. “Think you can handle that?”

“Andrew’s death is a last resort,” Love translates.

“If you say no, or if you fuck this up, The Court won’t be merciful. They’ll teach you a lesson, and they’ll make certain we help. How lucky for us, history gets to repeat itself.”

Wonder winces. Scars cover the tops of her hands, star-dusted incisions resembling the wildflowers she loves to pick. At once, a memory resurfaces, bringing with it grim silence. Since every crew is responsible for its members, Love is certain none of them will forget that day, what they were forced to do to Wonder because of her crime.

Envy tosses the goddess a rueful grin that says,No hard feelings. All the same, the watered-down humor fails to reach his eyes.

Returning his attention to Love, he advises, “Do what you must, but be careful with that human. You’re subject to his influence. That said, none of us expected you to be a cheap date who favors the mediocre type. Anger got a peek at him and said he’s rather ordinary in appearance.”

Despicable knaves. And not the least bit accurate.

---