Cupid's Favor (Naughty Cupid III)

Bah! Accursed luck!

Cupid brushed sand off his arms, mumbling to himself. He frowned, not liking what he had to do, but a debt was a debt. His beady, black eyes flashed with an inner fire. He might be many things, but a troll who reneged on a life debt was not one of them.

Lord Malak had pulled him from the quicksand and saved his life. Now Cupid owed him a great favor in return, even if the lycan noble insisted he didn?t want it. If Cupid didn?t give it to him now, he knew that someday Malak could come back to call upon him, and that was something he refused to accept. It was bad enough he would be forced to help a lycan, but to be in Malak?s debt? No, that would be worse.

So, what to do? No small feat would repay a life debt. He couldn?t simply breed Malak?s goats for this one. He needed something big. He needed something grand.

Love?

Cupid nearly gagged as the thought popped into his head. He hit himself on the ear to get it out. A gooey clump of sand fell out instead. Love? Why in all the realms would he think of love? He hated love! He hated the way people looked while they were in it. The way they talked, acted, swooned, and kissed.

Bah! Ach!

Cupid hacked, spitting sand on the ground. The grains were everywhere, rubbing into every crease, chaffing his flesh. Worst of all, the sinkhole had cleaned him of his most glorious stench. He hadn?t bathed in decades. It would take him forever to get that smell back.

Damn King Larus for throwing him into the sinkhole and Lord Ilar for letting him! So what if the two were bitter about what he?d done to them? The trolls still teased him about helping Lord Ilar and Lady Rhiannon fall in love, and now he?d be teased for King Larus and Lady Mina as well. Could he really allow another blemish to surface on his name?

Bah! No!

No, love was no way to repay a debt to the lycan who saved his life. Ah, but hate. Now there was a real idea. Hate was much better than love. Hate made your blood boil and your heart race. It made you feel alive and gave you purpose. Aye, hate! He?d just have to watch Lord Malak very closely and figure out whom he hated the most. Then, Cupid would bring that creature before Lord Malak to destroy.

Hate. Cupid rubbed his gnarled, wrinkled hands together. A smile spread over his flat, wide lips. Now this was a good idea. Besides, what better way to squelch his undeserved reputation as a matchmaker than to help a lycan find his revenge?