I hold Cal's gaze.
The white lights from the threads around us illuminate his pale face as he looks up at me – crouched down on the floor. His silvery eyes are wide, panicked. His fingers linger on the empty hook- the hook that should have his life thread looped around it.
Await my instruction. I have something of yours...
The scrawl of Valentine's writing seems to be imprinted in my mind.
Valentine has Cal's life thread.
Valentine controls whether Cal lives or dies.
A low whistle escapes Cupid's lips.
"Unlucky, brother," he says.
He's trying to be casual – but it sounds forced.
I turn to look at him.
A cut runs across the palm of his hand where he's just smacked the wall – adding to his array of Valentine induced injuries. His tanned face has lost some of its color and his jaw is clenched tight. His ocean eyes, one surrounded by a light purple bruise, are fixed on Cal – shining slightly in the eerie light.
I know that the two don't always get on, but they're brothers. They care for each other. I remember the battle against Venus in the trial room, Cal's face twisted as he screamed at me not to kill his brother – even if it meant his eternal torture.
Cal drags his gaze away from the two of us and stands suddenly, brushing himself off.
"It's fine," he says brusquely. "I'm fine."
"What are we going to do?" I say quietly.
Cal shakes his head.
"He could have killed me already. He hasn't. He obviously doesn't want me dead...yet. I'm fine."
Cupid comes to stand closer behind me – stepping over a white string. His body heat envelopes me but it brings me no comfort.
"I agree, brother," he says. "We just need to get it back before he can carry out whatever he has planned."
Cal nods stiffly. He's trying to come across like he's OK, but worry is painted across his angular features.
"Let's get out of here," he says.
He starts to navigate briskly across the strong, immortal threads toward the stone steps. I share a look with Cupid and we both turn to watch him as he makes his way up the stairs, his head bent, eyes to the floor.
A dark look flickers across Cupid's face. I see the storm brewing behind his eyes, a flash of anger. He crumples up the Valentine's Day card in his fist and tosses it onto the floor.
He sighs heavily – seemingly getting a hold on his emotions.
"He'll be OK," he says.
He doesn't sound convinced, but I nod. I lightly put my hand on his arm in the hopes of offering him some form of reassurance – feeling the warmth of his body even through his jacket. He flinches momentarily, then seems to relax at my touch. He looks down at me, holds my gaze. His eyes look lost.
"He'll be OK," I say.
He exhales heavily then together we follow Cal back up steps carved into the rock toward the exit of the cave.
***
Back in the car I find my eyes drawn to Cal as he sits in the passenger seat. It's like I'm watching, waiting, for something bad to happen to him. I notice that Cupid's eyes keep on darting toward him as well, as he steers us down the quiet motorway – the streetlights flickering across his face.
"Can you both stop looking at me like I'm about to drop dead," snaps Cal after a while – his voice sharp over the soft lull of the engine. "It's very disconcerting."
Cupid catches my eye in the rear-view mirror and gives me a look – raising his eyebrows at me.
"Sorry, brother..." he says.
"How are we going to find Cal's life thread?" I say.
"Valentine is most likely keeping it in the same place as Morta's shears," says Cupid. "Probably being defended by his big hoard of zombies... Hopefully Crystal and Charlie will have managed to find something that can help determine where exactly that is."
I nod, a bad feeling creeping through my body.
"I'll be fine," says Cal – his eyes still fixed straight ahead, his voice monotonous.
Tentatively I reach out and put my hand on his shoulder. He flinches as I give him what I hope is a re-assuring squeeze.
"I'll be fine," he says again – brushing me off.
I sigh and lean back in the backseat.
He doesn't seem fine.
We fall into silence – and, as I lean my head against the window and the car continues to move through the night, I finally find my eyes shutting as I drop into a disturbed sleep.
***
My eyes jolt open. My heart beating fast.
For a moment I am confused.
Where am I? Why do I feel so on edge?
Then I blink a few times – see the flickering streetlights and hear the gentle lull of the car engine. Heavy breathing comes from the front seat, and I note Cal's head lopped to the side – gentle snores escaping his lips.
"OK, lovebug?" whispers Cupid.
He glances at me in the mirror – shadows flickering across his face - and notices my eyes on Cal.
"He's much more pleasant when he's asleep, isn't he?" he grins.
I laugh quietly.
"Slightly less confrontational," I whisper.
Cupid grins and I go back to looking out of the window.
I frown. I have a bad feeling.
Something woke me. Something is making me feel uncomfortable.
As Cupid moves his eyes back to the road ahead I pull my phone out of my pocket.
And my heart jolts.
I realize what woke me. I have a series of text messages. All from an unknown number.
Valentine...
I take a breath then open the first; reading the words on the screen.
Shhhhh!
My blood runs cold as I immediately understand what he's telling me; he doesn't want me to tell Cupid or Cal that he's messaged.
My fingers trembling slightly, I scroll down to the next message.
Hello, Lila.
And the next.
I take it you've visited the loom by now. So, you'll know what I've taken.
Pulse racing, I continue to scroll the stream of messages.
I'll be in touch.
Our little secret.
Unless you want something bad to happen to Cal, that is.
;)
I'll be seeing you.
Valentine.
My heart thumps hard against my chest. I can feel my breathing accelerate and I try to control it as adrenaline surges through my veins.
As though sensing my reaction Cupid catches my eye in the mirror. He frowns, the headlights from other vehicles creating shadows on his face. His eyes are searching.
"You OK?"
I force a smile.
"Yep. Fine."
He doesn't move his eyes from mine.
"Someone message you?"
"Just Charlie."
I hurriedly stuff the phone back into my pocket, swallowing hard. Cupid watches me a moment longer, a suspicious look on his face. Then he shrugs and fixes his eyes back to the road.
I lean back in my seat. A feeling of doom swells in my stomach as the reason why Valentine took Cal's thread becomes clear to me.
He knows I won't let anything happen to Cal.
He knows I'll try to save him.
He has me under his control.
***
It's morning by the time we reach Los Angeles. Cupid drives us directly to the Cupids Matchmaking Service. We need to see if Crystal or Charlie have found anything that can help us, anything that can help Cal.
I can't stop thinking about Valentine's messages. They gnaw through my mind leaving darkness in their wake.
I don't know what to do.
I want to tell Cupid. But if I do Valentine could kill Cal.
My throat feels tight, and I feel like something is crushing down on my chest.
I glance at my phone again. I open my mouth to speak – to get this secret out into the open. And then I close it again.
No. I should keep quiet.
I should keep quiet at least until he contacts me again. Then I can decide what is best to do.
I swallow hard, and stuff my phone back into my jeans pocket.
As Cupid parks the car in the Cupids Matchmaking Service parking lot, Cal jerks awake.
"NO! What the...?" he cries out – his voice more panicked than I've heard it. He looks to the side to see Cupid looking at him, an eyebrow raised. Color floods his cheeks and he hurriedly looks away. "Oh. We're here. Finally..."
"Yes, that's right, I did drive for the entire journey, brother. You're welcome..." says Cupid.
Cal makes a grumbling noise, and I think I detect a thank you somewhere in there – but I'm not entirely sure. Cupid shakes his head before catching my eye in the mirror. He flashes me a grin.
"Come on, let's go see Crystal. Hopefully she'll have some news."
We get out of the car and head across the space to the elevators – making our way into the main office.
As we walk along, I note that Cal looks unusually scruffy from falling asleep in the car, and Cupid looks exhausted – he rubs his eyes, hard, as we enter the open plan office among all the other Matchmaking Agents. Some of them look up at us warily as we pass.
A lot still aren't big fans of Cupid – and I'd imagine his black eye and disheveled appearance is doing little to regain people's confidence. As we head across the space, we catch sight of Crystal marching toward us. She catches Cal's eye first. Something seems to pass between them – the air between them tense.
Then she tears her gaze away to look at all of us.
"My office, now," she says. "We think we've found something. We think we know how Valentine is bringing back the dead – and where he's keeping them."
She strides past us back across the open plan room.
"Come on, then!" she says over her shoulder.
We share a look, then hurry after her.