My Date From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy, #2)

Cupid's Golden Arrow (Part 3)

A quiet knock at the door shut us all up. Pierce poked his head in. Hannah motioned for him to enter and close the door again.

I rolled onto my stomach. "Let's just figure out some way to contain her quickly because remembering the location is top priority."

"Sorted," Pierce said, sinking into my desk chair, all sorts of dreamy and decked out in dark wash jeans and a blue sweater. Hannah did her best to ignore him.

"No offense," I began, wanting to be tactful then realizing there was no way, "but unless you're suddenly able to melt the skin from her face to film and upload to counteract her evil charm, then I'm not sure what exactly you can do about it."

I rolled over, pulling the comforter with me, making a Sophie-cocoon, not caring about how filthy I was. Cleanliness and laundry later. Rest now.

Theo sprang over from Hannah's bed to squish against me like I was some kind of giant body pillow. I could have pushed him off, but I felt warm and sleepy. And I'd missed him.

"Pierce can make her fall in love," Hannah said approvingly, looking over at him from her cross-legged position on her bed. She had her laptop on her legs, in her familiar hunched-over-the-screen position.

Her expression softened for a second. Glowed. And not from the computer.

Gawd. This girl had it bad. "That bites as an idea."

"Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud," Hannah said.

"A mud-dweller," Theo added.

"A mean mudder," Hannah riffed.

"A mudder—"

I cut Theo off. "Thank you. Yes. I get it." I pointed at Pierce. "Okay, Blondie, explain this plan of yours."

"Bethany tapped into Aphrodite's wrath vein with the threat of her massive popularity," Pierce said, slowly spinning the chair from side to side. "Lady A gave me my orders go all Double-oh-seven and swoop in with my love gadgets. You're not the only female who wants Bethany to go down."

"Pierce is going to make Bethany fall in love with someone horrible, who will make her pine with unrequited love," Hannah set aside the laptop and rose from the bed. She had her hand on the latch to open the window when I cut her off.

"It's cold," I complained. "I'm dying of hyperthermia."

"You mean hypothermia, kitten," Hannah corrected. "And you're not."

"Then I'm dying of 'poor Sophie, her dad was really mean to her,'" I whined. "Can I have some of your stash?"

Hannah rolled her eyes but crossed over to her desk and pulled a bag of M&Ms from her drawer. "I'm gonna hurt you for getting outside the wards. You'll wake up one fine morning and bam! Poison dart frog in your bed. Payback for all the stress you cause me."

"Yeah, yeah, get in line." I held out my hand and beckoned. She came to sit beside me so we could share.

"Now," I said, munching on pieces of chocolate joy, "explain how is this a plan?"

Pierce smiled. "Being shot by one of my gold arrows is a rather intense experience. Somewhat akin to having an anvil dropped on you. Not particularly problematic when it's two-way. But shooting Bethany without the requisite mate? Bloody awful. Especially when I hit whoever he is with a lead arrow. Normally, I'd use those to undo the love. But in this case, it will just make him repulsed by her."

"Counteract Bethany's amped-up charm," Hannah said.

Piece stopped the chair by propping one foot on Hannah's bed frame."Leaving Bethany consumed with this guy and his lack of affection. Instead of her fame."

"Now you're talking. Will she go mad?" I asked hopefully.

Pierce shook his head. "Nah. The effects won't last long enough to drive her barmy."

"But they will last long enough to counteract Bethany's mojo on the masses and not make her worth Jack's time," Theo added.

Pierce threw me an evil grin. "Does a number in the looks department, too. Misery's a bitch on skin."

Hannah fluttered her eyelashes at him like he was brilliant.

"Focus, Nygard," I warned, smothering a yawn. "We need a horrible guy."

"Too bad we don't know where Kai is," Theo muttered.

"You are NOT having Bethany fall in love with him," I said.

Theo patted my feet. "Just more layers of everything being brilliantly messed up."

I elbowed him.

"Careful!" Hannah squealed, as Theo grabbed her for balance. She scrambled to catch candy that had flown from the bag.

"Besides, Pierce is going to have me fall in love with Kai. For the ritual." I caught a couple of pieces as they rolled off my bed.

Pierce snatched a candy away from Hannah and popped it in his mouth. "A ritual like this one, you want the feelings to be organic."

"Actually," Theo began, "that might be the best solution after all. Stab them just before the ritual with your gold arrows then undo it as soon as we've won with your lead ones."

"That's even better," I enthused. Minimum love exposure to Kai equaled maximum emotional safety for me.

"Are you even listening to yourselves?" Pierce asked.

"It's brilliant," Theo retorted. "Sophie doesn't even have to see Kai until ten minutes before the appointed time. Better for everyone."

"I don't know if I'd go that far," I muttered.

"Even I'm uncomfortable with how mercenary you're both being about love," Hannah said.

"Also, I didn't agree to help you with your Olympian coup," said Pierce.

"Let's table this until after we've dealt with Bethany." I winked at Theo and he nodded back. Between us we'd work on Pierce and get him to help. Then I'd be able to save the world and not find myself emotionally devastated. Especially if Pierce could undo the love as soon as we'd won. I'd barely even notice it had been a thing. Definitely the best way.

Because let's face it, even if I did fall in love with Kai, which was impossible, knowing I rated second-best would hurt. Although, yes, there would be meltiness having someone look at me like I was the center of their universe. It might make me all warm, having them light up because I had entered a room. Kai turning his deep brown eyes and wolfish grin on me when it wasn't just about whacked out chemistry but actual love, could rock my world.

And break my heart.