Page 46 of Perfectly Matched

Payson shook her head. She was not going to be a part of this game. No matter how many times she closed her eyes and saw Hannah sitting in all her glory on that rooftop staring at her, she refused to believe it was real. It had to have been nothing more than a trick of the mind or a weird reflection of some sort. Facts, she thought as she sat staring at Piper, she needed to wrap her head around hardcore facts that made sense to her. Facts grounded her; she could turn them over in her head and make logical decisions. She had no idea what to do with the blurred lines and elaborate lies that she had just been given. She reached over, took the paper, glanced at it, then tossed it in her purse. She had no intention of going. “Piper, I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything, just be there. If you care at all about Hannah, give her the benefit of the doubt and see for yourself. Please, just think about it.”

Payson rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you,” Piper said. “Now, I’m off to pay a visit to Tegan. I feel like tonight could be a lucky night with the cards. Remember, be there by ten.” Piper took a step back, raised her hand over her head, snapped her fingers, and vanished.

Payson looked around. “Piper? Piper?” A moment later, her cell phone chimed with a text from Tegan.

Hey, Piper just showed up. We’re going to play some blackjack. You coming out?

What the hell? How was that even possible? She glanced around the parking lot one last time, then reread Tegan’s message, as the palms of her hands turned clammy. Magic was something she was very familiar with because Vegas was full ofshows that tricked the eyes and fooled the mind. But this…this was like nothing she had ever seen.No, she began typing with a shaky hand.Enjoy your evening. I’ll catch you tomorrow.

Okay. Night.

Night.

Payson tossed her phone in her purse and let out a deep breath. Whatever was happening was starting to really freak her out. First the overwhelming gut feelings, then Madison’s sudden overt attraction, Hannah confessing she was a cupid, and now Piper just up and disappearing. Seriously…what the hell was happening? She began wondering if she was having a mental break of some sort. She reached over and pinched her wrist. “Ouch,” she mumbled. Well, at least that ruled out sleepwalking.

She threw her car in drive and slowly rolled out of the lot as she thought about Piper’s story. Was there any truth in what she’d said about Hannah? No. Payson chuckled at the absurdity of it all. If anything, she was the unwilling participant in some sort of twisted game they were playing. But still…she’d watched Piper disappear in front of her. It was impressive, she’d give her that, but she still thought it was nothing more than a trick. At least that explanation was one she could wrap her head around.

* * *

Payson yawned as she sleepily laced up her running shoes and halfheartedly stretched. She put in her earbuds and blew kisses to the picture frames of memories as she left. The slow pace she set reflected the aftereffects of a night of minimal sleep and maximum overthinking. And no matter how hard she tried to tune out Piper’s words and focus on her playlist, her mind kept drifting to Hannah as she tried to figure out the riddle in the mix.Cupids, arrows, a mystical island, and disappearing tricks. They were the ingredients for a children’s book and nothing more. Something she’d believed in at a time in her life before she’d known better. At a time when a jolly man in a red suit jumping down chimneys or a rabbit hiding colorful chicken eggs seemed plausible. Before she’d grown to realize magical things only happened behind a cloak of lies. And no matter how much she wanted to believe, there was always a wizard manipulating the scene from behind the curtain.

The thought of Hannah being a mystical being who shot arrows in people was cartoonish and idiotic. What a ridiculous explanation to present, much less hide behind. But as she hit her stride and came to the fork in the road that would send her down her usual jogging path, something in her gut told her to veer left and head to the park where Piper said Hannah would be.

“This is crazy,” she muttered as she stopped, turned back, then stopped again and turned back around. What was she doing? She had told Hannah she never wanted to see her again, and here she was, actually getting excited at the thought ofaccidentallyrunning into her. As a few butterflies took flight in her stomach, she reluctantly admitted that Hannah was harder to let go of than she had hoped. And as visions of lovemaking filled her mind for the umpteenth time, her pace quickened.

Twenty minutes later, she was bent over, taking heavy breaths, and shaking out her legs in the middle of the park. For being utterly exhausted, she was surprised at how good the morning run was feeling. She grabbed her water bottle, squinted at the morning sun, and decided to take a short break and catch her breath. “What a beautiful morning,” she whispered as she sat under a tree, tilted her head back, and let the breeze mix with her sweat and cool her skin.

Kids were feeding a flock of ducks in the pond, and people were walking and jogging in both directions on the path around her. She focused on one particular young couple strolling toward her. They looked like they were on an awkward first date, and it brought her back to her high school days, when she’d tripped over her feet as much as she did her words when she found herself in the company of a woman she was attracted to. If anyone needed to be shot by cupid arrows, she smiled, it would definitely be those two. Piper’s story raced back into her head, and she reluctantly found herself glancing around, searching for Hannah. Nothing.

“This is stupid.” This whole morning was nothing more than an exercise in lunacy. What was she expecting to see? And if Hannah was here with a bow and arrow about to shoot people, that would make her a serial killer, not a cupid. “Time to get moving,” she said, more about her life and putting this all behind her than her present jogging status. She stood and took another drink as a slight degree of disappointment creeped through her. If she had seen Hannah today, would her reaction be the same as it was the other evening? Probably not, she concluded. Her anger had subsided and had been replaced with that odd pull to see her again.

Oh well, it’s probably for the best, she reasoned away. But her body was sending a very clear and different signal of its own.

As she placed her earbuds back in, a glare caught her eyes, and she squinted at a nearby tree. Her breath caught when she saw Hannah sitting on a limb, wearing the same outfit she’d worn on Sam’s rooftop, and Payson marveled again at how the form-fitting material hugged every bulging muscle in her body.

A blink later, and Hannah was on her feet, bow and golden arrow in hand, aiming at the young would-be lovers. BeforePayson could utter a breath, she watched with disbelief as the first arrow hit the girl dead center. “Holy shit!” Payson ran toward the couple. She couldn’t provide much medical help, but she could comfort them until emergency personal arrived. The second arrow flew past her head and pierced the young man.

As Payson ran to their aid, she realized there was nothing to tend to. The couple seemed fine as they strolled past, awkwardly smiling as though neither had a care in the world. There was no blood, no arrows sticking out of their chests, no falter in their stride, and no one around her was remotely reacting. It was as though it had never happened. But it did. She’d seen it. Just like she saw Piper vanish from the parking lot. She rubbed her temples and tried to calm her racing mind. None of this was making any sense. She turned and glanced at the tree and watched Hannah focus on the couple, smile, and mouth something that looked like, “Good luck.”

“That’s impossible,” she said as her mind tried to explain the trickery behind what she’d seen. But as she watched Hannah shrug the bow onto her shoulders, a calmness settled her anxiety, and the emotional pull resurfaced, and as she took a step in Hannah’s direction, her mind and her heart sparred with one another. She’d seen things she could not explain and had heard stories she’d refused to believe. Yet, for whatever reason, part of her was opening up to the possibilities of letting Hannah back in, if only just barely.

A slight breeze blew past. Hannah’s hair moved, and she tilted her head as if listening to something. A moment later, she abruptly turned in Payson’s direction, and in the process, lost her balance and fell from the branch.

“Oh my God,” Payson said as she rushed over and helped her up. “Are you okay?”

“Payson.” Hannah reached up. “What are you doing here?”

The moment Hannah’s fingers caressed her face, an unexpected jolt surged through her, jumpstarting her heart. “I, um…Piper told me you might be here today.”

Hannah cocked her head. “Piper?”

“Yeah, she paid me a visit last night at the station. She tried to convince me that what you said about the whole cupid thing was real.”

“I would never lie to you, Payson.” Hannah took a step closer, and Payson could see her eyes searching for a sign. “I know it’s hard to wrap your head around, and I understand why you would choose not to be with me. But I just want you to know that—”