Cupid rubs a hand over his mouth. His eyes darken almost imperceptibly in the dank light of the dungeon corridor. My words silence the questions of the others as they peer through the cell door at me.

Who's Psyche?

No-one speaks for a moment, and the sound of dripping water is all I can hear.

"Is that what he's been talking to you about?" says Cupid, his fists clenched at his sides. "What has Psyche got to do with anything?"

I look through the shadows at him. I think of the sadness and bitterness that radiated from Valentine as he told me about her. And I think of the fact that Valentine is trying to bring Venus back, even though she was the one who caused him to shoot her with the Ardor.

His personal nightmare is being trapped in Venus's temple.

It doesn't make sense.

"I don't know," I say – taking the small microchip Sim out of my ear. I lean forward slightly on the damp, wooden seat. "Maybe something."

"Where are the hearts?" Crystal asks sharply, pushing between Mino, who is leant against the door frame, and Cal whose shoulders tense as they brush against hers.

I'd asked Valentine the same question.

I already told you. Valentine's low growl cuts through my thoughts and resonates inside me.

But he didn't tell me. Did he?

Panic and regret slam into me as I realize that if I don't work out where they Cal will die.

I meet Crystal's eyes. I can see the fierce passion behind the bright blue of her irises. She's worried. So am I.

"I...I'm not sure. I haven't worked it out yet."

The color drains from her face. Cupid frowns. Charlie bites her lip, her face uncharacteristically serious.

"Unlucky, old friend," says Mino, looking over Crystal's head to catch Cal's icy glare.

"Not helping, Mino," snaps Crystal. She turns her attention back to me. "What do you mean you've not worked it out? Tell me everything."

"May I make a suggestion?" says Mino.

We all turn to look at him in question.

"Maybe we continue this discussion outside of the damp, creepy, basement dungeons?" He raises an eyebrow, emphasizing the soft scar that runs across it. "I've spent enough time down here, thank you very much."

He meets my eyes, a glittering amusement behind them.

I nod – my pulse still racing from my time in the sim with Valentine. I take a breath, struggling to compose myself.

"That works for me," I say.

I look at Crystal, then Cupid.

"I think he told me where the hearts are being stored," I say. "I just need to interpret everything he said. And for that I need some answers too."

Like what really happened with Psyche?

And where is she now?

Cupid nods, the corners of his lips turned downward. He reaches a hand out for me and I let him pull me to my feet.

Together the six of us head back down the dark corridor.

As we pass the imprisoned Valentine, shrouded in shadow, I notice again the ghost of a smirk playing about his lips.

Do you know how powerful you are, Lila?

His voice penetrates my mind once more.

I tear my eyes away from the darkness; and focus instead on Cupid at my side, and the Matchmaking Service light peering through the door at the top of the dungeon stairs.

***

I sit cross-legged on the leather armchair in Cupid's living room.

I remember the last time I sat here. It was the first time I ever stayed at Cupid's house; Cupid, Cal, and I had all fallen asleep in his living room back when the Arrows were after me. I can't believe how much has changed since then.

Though it still seems that cupids are trying to kill me...

I can hear Cal clattering around in the kitchen making himself some food. I doubt he's hungry with all that's going on; he's probably just trying to distract himself. My heart clenches a little at the thought.

The warm air in the living room is still – filled with the subtle scent of smoke from the fireplace inserted prestigiously between Cupid's bookshelves. Cupid is knelt on the hardwood floor in front of the chair, his hands clasping the arms, and his body leant toward mine. Our gazes are locked onto one another.

"Are you sure he didn't say anything else?" he says.

His forehead creases a little. He may try to hide it but he's as worried about Cal as I am.

I nod.

I'd recounted what happened in the sim to everyone back in Crystal's office: the temple, the game, and him insisting he'd told me where the hearts were hidden. Then, seeing how exhausted I was, Cupid took me and Cal back here, dropping Charlie off at home on the way. Crystal and Mino had decided to stay at the Matchmaking Service – to monitor Valentine and see if they could get any more out of him.

I doubt they will, though. He has told me what we need to know – I'm sure of it. I just need to figure it out.

Still holding Cupid's serious gaze I lean forward a little – brining myself slightly closer to him. His warmth washes over me, along with the light scent of perspiration. He's still wearing his white shirt from the dance, though now it looks a little disheveled from the fight – rolled up at the sleeves and unbuttoned at the collar.

"Tell me about Psyche," I say quietly.

He sighs – his warm breath tickling my skin.

"I already told you about her," he says. "We were together for a little while, but then I found out Valentine had shot her with the Ardor. He tricked me. He tricked her. It wasn't real."

"Valentine tells the story a little differently," I say.

Cupid frowns but before he can retort – I continue.

"He said Venus put her through hell," I say.

"Yeah. She did put her through hell. Pretty literally actually." His eyes darken as shadows from the flickering fireplace dance across his face.

"What happened?"

"When she found out about us - Venus brought her into her employment at the Matchmaking Service. I think it was to taunt her and, in a lot of ways, to punish me. One time she sent her to the underworld on some pointless errand – from which she should never have been able to return. Only she was always smarter than Venus gave her credit for. She brought two obals with her when she boarded Charon's ferry. It allowed her to pay the toll to get back to the living again."

I remember Crystal's pointed comment to Cupid back in her office.

It's a one-way journey. No-one comes back from where that ferry goes Cupid had said.

That's not true. Someone came back. Remember?

"That's where Valentine got the idea to make the zombie cupids," I say quietly.

Cupid nods. I wonder if Psyche is still out there somewhere – that maybe she can help us.

"What happened to her? Where is she now?"

He exhales heavily – briefly removing his hand from the arm of my chair and running it through his hair, bronzed in the light of the flames. He places his hand back. I see a glint of sadness in his eyes.

"The humans, in the myths they told of her, gave her a happy ending," he says. "It was told that she was granted immortality, and that me and her lived happily ever after. But that is far from the reality of what really happened."

"What happened?" I say softly.

"She died," he says.

I see the pain in his expression. Tentatively I reach out and touch his cheek.

"I'm sorry," I say.

His eyes blaze into mine.

"You really cared about her, didn't you?" I say.

He looks at me warily, a hint of vulnerability in his eyes. Then he nods.

"Valentine cared about her too," he says. "I think in some ways her death triggered all the violence that he committed for many years after. I hadn't thought about her, or Valentine in a long time – but a part of me wonders if in someway his experiments with death, and the obals, and Charon's ferry were all him trying to find a way to bring her back."

I focus on his face, my eyes tracing his hard jawline, my hand still held on his hot cheek. I frown – a thought occurring to me.

"When I spoke to him, Valentine didn't speak too fondly of Venus. I don't get why he would want to bring her back. What if this is all about trying to bring Psyche back? Venus is just some unwanted consequence of that."

Cupid looks thoughtful a moment, then shakes his head.

"No. If Valentine knows that he can use the obals to get back and forth on Charon's ferry – he will have tried it. He will have searched the depths of the underworld to find her. If she's in there, he would have found her by now. He would have brought her back."

I think of Valentine's shocking blue eyes, burning into me as he told me his story. I recall the flicker of sadness across his face. And for a moment I have to fight the twinge of sympathy that stirs deep inside of me.

No. I won't feel sorry for him.

He's a killer.

He wants my heart. And Cupid's too.

And he already has Cal's life thread – holding it to ransom.

I sigh.

"What are we going to do?" I ask. "He says he told me where the hearts were kept – but he didn't."

Cupid's pauses.

"My brother is manipulative, and controlling. But I don't think he's a liar," he says. "I think there must be some clue in what happened in that sim. Something that only you are able to interpret." He gives me a half smile. "So, no pressure!"

I give him a look.

"Right..." I say.

He leans forward, planting a light kiss on my forehead that warms some of the coldness I feel inside.

"I believe in you, lovebug."

"I wish I shared your faith, right now..." I say.

His face is distractingly close to mine.

"We still have time," he says. "We have almost a week to figure this out."

"And if we don't... "

Cupid's face darkens as he leans back.

"...either Cal dies, or Venus returns," he says.