Author note: FYI - Accidentally spelt Ameena differently last chapter to how I'd spelt it earlier in the series. Changed now to Amena for consistency! Also - hi! Hope you're enjoying the book so far! I'm going to try and update every day this week :) Yay! lots of love, Lauren! xxx

Amena

The only girl Cal has ever admitted to having feelings for. The girl who gave him the chipped mug that sits in his office. The girl he turned into a cupid. The girl he was trying to find.

The air in the alley is silent. Cupid watches Cal – his jaw clenched and his ocean eyes wary. Charlie and I share a look. Crystal stands stiffly in front of us. Even the three Arrows, crumpled and cuffed by the wall, seem to pick up on the tension and remain quiet.

"Where have you been?" Cal's mouth sounds dry as the words come out.

Amena holds his gaze. "It's a long story."

It feels like we're witnessing something private; like we are not welcome here in this moment. Time slows down. Someone has to interrupt; someone has to cut through this thick, neverending moment before we're trapped in it forever.

But no-one does.

Cupid puts a hand through his ruffled hair. "Well...this is awkward..."

The sound of shattering glass resounds behind us. We all jerk our heads to the entrance to the Love Shack and Cal hurriedly gets to his feet, brushing himself off.

And time restarts.

"There's a situation inside." Cal's gaze moves to Crystal – color flooding back to his face.

"Ardor arrows?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

"A lot."

Crystal pinches the bridge of her nose.

"OK. Get back in there, split people up, calm people down, try limit the damage as much as possible," says Crystal. "I'll call for backup – we're going to need to keep these students separated while the effects of the arrows wear off. I'll have Mino put them in holding cells at the police station." She looks down at the cuffed cupids, "I want these three back at the Matchmaking Service for questioning. Amena, help me out with that. I want to continue our conversation."

Amena drags her gaze from Cal and grabs Jonathon and Ricardo by the arm, wrenching them to their feet. Jessica – the red-haired girl - gets up on her own, and I think I see her smile at Amena. An alarm goes off somewhere in my mind, but it's stifled by a muffled scream coming from the Love Shack.

"Let's go, people," says Crystal – plucking a cell phone out of her jeans pocket. "Meet us in the office when back-up arrives."

Cal and Amena share one more look, before he turns on his heels and strides toward the entrance to the bar – shoulders still tense. Cupid follows. I try to catch his eye but he seems resolute to ignore me; jaw clenched and ocean eyes hard as he walks past me. Charlie frowns and gives me a what was that all about? look.

"I'll tell you later," I mumble as we head into the Love Shack after them.

Cupid and Cal stop at the doors to the main bar ahead of us.

"You OK, brother?" Cupid's voice is quiet.

Cal's gaze is fixed ahead. "Fine."

Cupid looks at him a moment, before putting a heavy hand on his shoulder. Cal flinches but doesn't shrug him away. Then Cupid drops his arm back to his side, and swings open the door to the bar – exposed for the first time to the chaos created by the obsession arrows within. I see his groan, though I can't hear it over the love-sick shouting within; his whole body seems to deflate.

"As if we didn't have enough to be dealing with," he says as Charlie and I make our way to his side. He tenses as my body brushes his shoulder. He catches my eye, the ocean colors of his irises stormy, before looking away. "Be careful in there. It's dangerous."

His words are forced, but there's real concern behind them. He might be mad at me but he still cares; he still wants me to be safe. I feel a tight pinch of sadness inside my gut. We need to talk. We need to make this right.

But not now. Not with this going on.

We all look out on the flailing limbs, the hair pulling, the furious red faces, and the obsession raging in front of us. I remember what was said to me, once – here in this room when I first found out that Venus was the Founder of the Matchmaking Service.

"There's nothing more powerful or sadistic than love," I mutter.

"Yeah. You've got that right," says Cupid.

He, Cal, and I all exhale heavily.

Charlie looks at us in utter confusion. "Erm...Yeah...right...OK, weirdos...shall we go sort this mess out?!"

I roll my eyes at her. Then, taking a deep breath, we barge inside.

***

Fifteen minutes later, the four of us slip past the four police vans outside as Mino – dressed in his police uniform - distracts the other officers.

"Looks like their drinks have been spiked with some kind of hallucinogenic." His booming voice follows us down the alleyway. "We'll need to..." His voice trails off as we reach the florist and head into the square.

I exhale. I'm exhausted. I'm in a mood. My hair is a mess after some girl pulled it, and my face stings from taking a slap in the face from one of the cheerleaders. And the others look just as disheveled as me. We head hurriedly to the parking lot on the opposite side of the cobbled square, a bad vibe hanging in the air around us – Cal clearly tense about re-uniting with Amena, Cupid angry with me about Valentine, and Charlie grumbling about someone spilling coke on her new overalls.

When we reach the lot, Cupid heads straight to his Aston Martin – parked beneath one of the tall leafy palm trees.

"Coming, brother?" he says.

Something cold spreads inside me as he gets inside without sparing me a second glance. Cal, clearly distracted, follows leaving me and Charlie beside my battered second-hand car. Cupid reverses past us, and skids out onto the road.

"Um bye then..." Charlie says. She raises an eyebrow. "What's his deal?"

I pull out my keys and exhale hard as I unlock the door.

"Valentine's back," I say.

"What?!"

"And I've been speaking to him."

"Whaaat?!?!"

I climb into the car and wait for Charlie to throw herself into the passenger seat. I fasten my seatbelt then I look into the rear-view mirror – ignoring Charlie's dark eyes blazing into the side of my head.

"He's been visiting me in my dreams."

"Whaaaaa-"

"Oh my God, will you stop that!" I say – the corner of my lip quirking up despite the situation. I steer the car down the road, heading out of Forever Falls.

Charlie shakes her head. "When did this happen? I saw you, like, last night..."

"The first time was just before the party."

"Wait a minute...you spoke in your dreams?!" she wrinkles her nose, eyes skeptical.

"I know, I know. It sounds weird. Crystal and Mino mentioned something...a word...the Oneray, or Oneri or something, I think. They said it made it possible."

Charlie pulls out her cell and starts tapping the screen as we hit the traffic on the highway. She bites her lip, scrolling down a page. "Oneiri?" I nod. "According to Wikipedia they're Gods and demigods that rule over dreams. Jesus Chris." She leans back in her seat, eyes closing as the sun streams through the window onto her face. "Remember when homework was our biggest problem?"

"Vaguely..."

She opens her eyes, and looks at me abruptly. "Why didn't you tell me sooner about all this?"

"I don't know." I exhale. "That's kinda why Cupid's so mad at me too."

She falls silent, then shakes her head.

"Well you only kept it from him for a day. He'll get over it." She grins. "I mean, I'm over it already."

Do you have feelings for him?!

We shared a moment in the cave, didn't we?

I think of the raging tornado of darkness in the center of my labyrinth.

"Yeah...maybe..."

"He'll have to, what with everything that's going on; Venus, and Valentine, and not to mention you the Furies will probably be coming for you tonight..."

"Thanks for reminding me..."

Charlie sighs.

"You'll get through it. You're good together, you and Cupid. It's just a messed-up situation."

She falls silent and the gentle hum of traffic is the only distraction from the thoughts whirring around my mind.

"So, what do we think of this Amena?" she says.

"I don't know." I pause. "I thought I saw Jessica smile at her."

Charlie frowns. "You think they knew each other?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Probably not." I shrug. "But...well...where has she been all this time?"

Charlie looks out of the window at the sign pointing to Los Angeles.

"I guess we'll soon find out."