Crimes of Cupidity (Heart Hassle Book 3)

My whole body feels like one giant bruise, and this landing didn’t help. “Ugh.”

Ronak’s on top of me, and when I try to push him off, he snarls.

We’re back at the giant tent on the rebel island, and I can see panicked genfins and rebel soldiers rushing all around as they try to cart off the injured.

“Alpha, let me up!” I snap.

He bites me on the back of the neck in response.

“Ouch!” I say, turning my head as I try to bat him away. “Evert! Sylred!”

“We’re here,” I hear Sylred say. “We’d help you up, but your feral mate is giving us the death glare.”

I huff out a breath in annoyance and elbow Ronak in the gut. He lets out an “oof” of surprise, and I use the moment to roll out from under him and hop to my feet.

He jumps up to intercept me, so I reach up and bop him on the nose. “Bad boy.” I tell him sternly.

Stunned, he stops his advance and stares at me. “That’s better,” I tell him. “Now heel.”

His golden eyes continue to stare at me in bewilderment, but he doesn’t try to tackle me again, so I take that as a win.

I beam at him and scratch him on the head. “Good boy.”

He flicks his tail happily.

Evert and Sylred just gape at me.

I take a good look at all three of my genfins, and note every bleeding gash, mottled bruise, burn mark, and all the ash smeared across their skin.

“Are you guys okay?” I say, moving closer so I can inspect them better.

Evert waves me off and grabs my face instead. “We’re fucking fine. Are you okay?” His blue eyes run up and down my body. “Why are you all bruised up? Who fucking touched you? I’ll end them.”

“I fell off a roof.”

“I’ll end the fucking roof, then.”

I laugh at the perfectly serious look on his face and stand up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss. When the little girl starts crying again in Sylred’s arms, I turn around and gently rub her on the back.

She can’t be more than three, and has pale blonde hair with a matching tail. “What’s your name?” I ask her.

She sniffles and wipes her nose on Sylred’s sleeve. He doesn’t mind. “Tula.”

“Tula, that’s a pretty name,” I smile at her.

“My daddies got hurt and stopped moving,” she tells me, her bottom lip wobbling.

Sylred and I share a grim look, and I force myself not to cry. I feel her little heart breaking, like a window bursting open and letting in all the wind and stabbing ice. “I know, sweetheart,” I tell her quietly as I rub her hair. “Hey, would you like to come with me and meet a real-life princess?”

Tula’s eyes widen and she stops crying enough to ask, “The princess?”

I nod. “Yep.”

“Okay.”

I move to turn to Evert, only to find my alpha right beside me, so close that when I try to straighten up, my back and arm runs into his chest. “Oh. You’re really close.”

He starts to purr.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Evert sighs.

Viessa and her covey come stalking over. “What the hell happened back there?” she asks.

“A full-scale attack from the prince. We knew he would strike soon, but we didn’t expect it to be there,” Sylred answers her.

“It’s because of the cupid!” a voice calls out.

We all turn around at the voice, and find a group of bloodied genfins forming a group where the portal had been.

“Me?” I ask.

“Yeah, you,” the genfin male spits, looking like he wants to feed me to the phoukas. “The prince would’ve never launched an attack on our island if you hadn’t mated to them,” he says, pointing an accusatory finger at my guys.

The genfins around him start grumbling in agreement, and beside me, Ronak takes a step forward and snarls, placing his body protectively in front of me.

“Yeah! It’s her that the prince wants! I say we just give her to him!” Another genfin calls out.

“Why don’t you just fucking try it,” Evert growls, his voice deadly low.

“Let’s all calm down,” Sylred says, ever the peacemaker. “Our island was just attacked. We have no idea how many casualties there are. We need to regroup and then plan a course of action.”

“I know what our course of action should be!” the genfin argues. “Kill the cupid.”

My stomach drops all the way down to my feet, and I take an involuntary step back from the hate I see in the genfin’s eyes.

“Threaten my mate one more time,” Evert says. “I fucking dare you.”

Picking up on Evert’s fury, my anxiety, and the angry group of genfins, Ronak moves in front of me and lets out another warning growl.

We need to leave before things turn ugly. The last thing I want is for any of these genfins to have to do more fighting.

I reach out and tug on Evert’s sleeve. “Let’s just get out of here. We’ll go talk to the princess.”

“The princess is dead!” the other genfin interrupts. “Rumor is, she got involved with you, tried to help save you from the prince, and she was found out because of it. Seems to me that you’re the one hurting us in this war.”

“Yeah!” Another genfin from the back pipes in. “Because of you, my home was attacked. My covey slaughtered.”

“I’m sorry,” I say weakly, tears welling up in my eyes.

“I say string her up, and her mates, too. They betrayed their own people by bonding to her.”

The blood drains from my face, and all three of my guys tense, their claws lengthening to ready for an attack.

“That’s enough.”

Everyone in the group turns at the procession that files in through the flap. Front and center of her private guard, is Princess Soora.

When everyone realizes who it is, they all fall to their knees.

“It’s Princess Soora!”

“It’s the princess!”

“That’s impossible.”

“It’s really her!”

Voices mingle around the space, bouncing back and forth, until Princess Soora stops in front of us. She looks over at the rebels, dressed not in the finery of her usual silk gowns and tiara, but in the same fighting leathers that they all wear.

“Hear me clearly, and hear my now,” she says, looking over everyone. “The cupid Emelle is not to blame for my death, because it did not happen. In fact, she is the one who saved me when the rest of the world had given up and thought me gone. She is also not to blame for today’s horrific attack. Prince Elphar is to blame. He was the one to order it. If you misplace your blame now, then he has already won, because he has already divided us. If we have any chance at beating him, we cannot fall for his games, and make no mistake, there will be many. The prince enjoys toying with us. Don’t let him win before we’ve even had a chance to fight back.”

She eyes the rebels levelly, her face stern, but her lavender eyes kind. “I give you my word that we will not let him get away with this. Meet with your leaders, bury your dead with honor, and then get ready to strike back. Or aren’t you the revolutionaries I thought you were?”

The gathered genfins all answer with a chorus of “ayes.”

“The cupid is pivotal to our cause. Treat her with respect, and she just might be able to help us win this thing.” Princess Soora turns to me and says, “Come.”

Stunned, it’s all I can do to follow her as she and her guards lead the way back outside. On the road, there are multiple carriages lined up, with more of Princess Soora’s guards unloading medical supplies for the injured.

“Do we have a count yet on how many injured there are?”

“The portal was opened and stayed open for fifteen minutes,” the princess answers as she leads us to the largest carriage on the street. “We got out as many as we could, but the high fae was forced to close it. It was too many people coming through much too quickly, and she couldn’t hold it. We’re working to get another high fae with portal power as soon as possible so that we can send in reinforcements, as well as a rescue and retrieval team, but it’s not a common power. As it is, we don’t have many high fae on our side. They enjoy the superiority that the prince has bestowed upon them,” We all pile inside the carriage, except Ronak, who eyes the horses, snapping his jaws at them.

I whistle and pat my leg. “Come on Ro-Ro.”

Turning to me, he gives a grunt, but leaps inside the carriage with all the grace and supremacy of a jungle cat. Shoving Evert on his way to me, Ronak pushes his way forward and sits on his haunches between my legs. I pat him on the head again, earning a little purr as his tail flicks back and forth.

Princess Soora arches a purple brow. “He’s in his animal state, but don’t worry, he won’t attack anyone. I don’t think.”

She just nods like this is perfectly acceptable. That’s what I like about Soora. She may look like the perfectly poised and pampered princess, but she’s actually a badass who doesn’t get rattled by much.

Tula steals looks over at the monarch. “Oh, I almost forgot. Princess Soora, this is Tula. Tula, meet Princess Soora,” I introduce them.

The blonde girl peeks out from Sylred’s chest. “You’re a real princess?” she asks Soora doubtfully.

The princess smiles. “I am. Apologies for not wearing my crown for our meeting.”

“That’s okay,” Tula says. “I like your purple hair.”

“Thank you.”

Tula gives her a smile and then rests against Sylred once again, soon falling to sleep with the rocking of the carriage as we make our way back to the manor.

We’re quiet for the rest of the way, all of us processing what just happened. My heart hurts for all of the genfins, and I dread to learn just how many were lost today. Evert puts his arm around my shoulders and tucks me in close, while Sylred sits on my other side and threads his fingers through mine. I’m grateful for all the touches, because it just reassures me that they’re all here—that we made it out. But at the same time, it breaks my heart that so many didn’t, including little Tula’s fathers.

I keep playing over the hate I saw in those genfins eyes as they blamed me for this attack, and sadness wells up inside of me. Are they right? Was this my fault?

I know what the guys will say if I voice this aloud, so I don’t. But internally, the truth of the blame sinks into my bones and solidifies. Because those genfins were right. The prince did attack the genfin island because of me. He’s a master game player, and he just made his first move.

“Did anyone notice anything weird about those soldiers?” I ask.

“Like what?” Sylred asks.

I keep thinking of the strange way they moved and their expressionless faces. “I don’t know. They just seemed…off.”

I can’t put my finger on it, but nothing comes to mind, and no one else offers any sort of explanation, so the carriage goes quiet again. The prince made his move, and it was a quick and deadly one at that. The question is, what is he going to do next?