Leda’s Log. A behind-the-scenes, slice-of-life look into the Legion of Angels, hosted by Leda Pandora, the Angel of Chaos.

Warning: may include abnormally-large cats and adorable baby angels.

In this entry, Leda learns more about the mysterious Cupid.

Leda’s Log

Part 6: Cupid

“Well, this is a mess.” Cupid’s gaze locked with mine. She had a fierce look about her, like she’d been forged in fire.

Hardship typically affected a person in one of two ways: either it broke them, or it made them stronger. There was no doubt in my mind which camp Cupid belonged to. She donned the demons of her past like a suit of armor—no, like a war trophy.

And yet a spark of lingering humor flashed in her eyes. A remnant of her former life?

“You definitely live up to your reputation, Leda Pandora,” Cupid told me.

“You’ve heard of me?”

“Of course I’ve heard of you. You’re the source of all chaos in the universe.”

Basanti snorted.

I ignored her. “But I’ve never heard of you,” I told Cupid. “You’re truly not an angel or a god?”

“I am not.”

“And yet you have wings.”

“Yes.” There was that spark in her eyes again.

“So what are you? Something older?” I asked, thinking of the ancient Immortals.

Her response was cryptic. “No. I’m something new.”

“What kind of some—”

“It’s a long story. What I am is not important.” Her words cut through mine like a guillotine. “What’s important is that we send those spirit animals back where they came from before they decide to get frisky again and take over your entire castle.”

“Spirit animals?”

“Creatures from another dimension. You drew them here when you turned that on.” Cupid indicated Leila’s experimental machine. “The machine also put the spirit animals into an agitated emotional state. I calmed them down.”

“By shooting them with your arrows,” said Nero.

She nodded. “Yes. That’s my specialty: using my magic to influence the emotions of people and beasts. I can make someone feel calm or angry or sad. I can also make them fall in love.” Her gaze cut to Alec, who’d arrived at Storm Castle during dinner.

A slow, sly smile curled Alec’s lips. Yeah, I’d bet he would love to have Cupid’s powers. He was such a playboy.

Meanwhile, the sparkling animals had gathered around Cupid, and she was talking to them like she knew them. “Ok, Ruby, Jade, Ginger, Onyx…” She rattled off what I presumed were the creatures’ names. “I’m going to need you guys to go back through the void to your own dimension now.”

A chorus of overlapping creature noises answered her all at once.

“What did they say?” I asked Cupid.

“Honestly, I haven’t got the faintest idea,” she replied. “I’m just the spirit animal tracker, not the spirit animal whisperer. But they understand me.” She frowned. “Or at least I think they do.”

She must have been right about that because the spirit animals turned around and vanished from sight. Sierra sniffled in disappointment.

“Are they actually gone this time?” Leila asked.

I didn’t blame her for being skeptical. We thought we’d banished them before.

“They’re gone,” replied Cupid. “All but one.”

I saw it too. The shadow cat hadn’t left with the others. Instead, it was strutting back and forth in front of Angel, trying to get my cat’s attention.

Angel gave him a cool look, clearly unimpressed by the show.

“Hey, Shadow, dude,” Cupid said to the shadow cat, “I don’t think the lady’s interested.”

Shadow ignored her. Instead, he tried to impress Angel by jumping on top of her and giving her a big nip in the back with his sharp fangs. As though that was the surefire way to a lady’s heart.

Angel fought back like the apex predator that she was, but that didn’t seem to discourage Shadow at all. If anything, it made him bite her with even greater enthusiasm.

“Shadow love Angel!” Sierra clapped her hands as Shadow chased Angel across the room. “Angel has boyfriend!”

Basanti and Alec laughed.

“You said you use your magic arrows to control emotions, right?” I said to Cupid. “You made your cat fall in love with my cat, and now he won’t leave her alone!”

“First of all, Shadow is not my cat. He’s just an…acquaintance. I promised to watch him.” Cupid said it like Shadow was her roommate’s brother who was crashing at her house for the weekend, and now she was stuck babysitting him. “And secondly, I would never do such a thing. Love is the most dangerous of all emotions. You don’t mess with love.”

“Indeed,” Nero agreed, coming up behind me like a protective dragon. He set his hands on my shoulders.

And, yeah, I might have swooned a little.

At least on the inside. On the outside, I was all business, the perfect cool and collected angel.

“If you didn’t make Shadow fall in love with my cat, then why is he making a total fool of himself in front of her?” I asked Cupid.

She shrugged. “Because she’s pretty?”

“Pretty!” Sierra agreed.

Cupid winked at her, which demonstrated more emotion than I’d seen her show anyone else. Maybe she liked kids.

“Plus, at the end of the day,” she said, “whether human or beast, guys tend to lose their minds and turn into total boneheads whenever a pretty girl walks by.”

“I like her,” Basanti laughed. “She’s spunky.”

“So is Angel,” I said. “And my spunky cat is totally going to smack Shadow if he doesn’t stop provoking her.”

Angel did indeed smack Shadow in the face, but the lion-sized black cat wasn’t giving up. He launched into some kind of melodramatic feline opera with a generous accompaniment of meows, howls, and yowls.

Angel turned and strutted away from him, tail high in the air.

“Maybe I should check on her,” I said as Shadow shot out of the room after her.

Nero caught my hand. “Pandora, your cat hunts hurricanes and hell beasts. I think she can handle one lovesick tomcat.”

“Shadow is harmless,” said Cupid. “Just be happy Duke isn’t the one enamored with your cat. He doesn’t take no for an answer.”

“Which one is Duke?” I asked.

“The big purple guy.”

“Ducky?” Sierra said hopefully.

“That’s the one,” Cupid told her.

I snorted. “Wait, so, he’s Duke the Duck?”

“Yes.” Cupid shrugged. “Hey, I didn’t name him. I just convinced him to go back where he came from. You’re welcome for saving your castle and everyone in it, by the way.”

“How did you happen to be here, right when we needed you?” Nero asked, his voice hard with suspicion. “You showed up out of nowhere with just the right powers to solve our problem.”

“Oh, it’s not by luck or through some fluke of fate, I assure you,” Cupid said. “I was tracking those spirit animals.”

“How?” I wondered. “And why?”

“I’ll tell you all about it,” Cupid promised. “But first, do you happen to have anything to eat in this castle? I’ve been following those creatures all day, and I’m absolutely famished.”

To be continued…

She’s not sure she wants to cuddle with him.

What happens next? Check back next week for another exciting entry in Leda’s Log!