Dante's POV
Maya's text glowed on my phone: Okay. I'll marry you.
Three words that should have felt like victory. Instead, they felt like doom.
My Cupid marks erupted with golden fire beneath my skin, so hot I gasped and stumbled against the kitchen counter. This was it. The final warning. I was falling in love with Maya Chen, and my transition to humanity was accelerating out of control.
I had maybe a week before I lost everything. My immortality. My memories. My very identity as a Cupid.
And I didn't care.
"You beautiful idiot."
Elena's voice made me spin around. She stood in my kitchen, materialized from nothing, her white eyes blazing with frustration.
"You proposed marriage to her? MARRIAGE?" Elena's usually calm demeanor cracked. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"I'm protecting her from her ex-husband."
"You're binding yourself to her with human legal ties! The magic will interpret that as a true commitment, Dante. It will accelerate your feelings, amplify them, make them impossible to control." Elena grabbed my arm, and I felt her ancient power scanning the marks beneath my skin. She hissed. "You have five days. Maybe six. After that, you'll be completely human with no memory of being a Cupid. And if the soul bond activates before then—"
"I'll die. I know."
"And you're doing this anyway?"
I thought about Maya's terrified face when she saw Marcus's photo. About Lily asking for a daddy who'd stay. About how broken Maya was and how much I wanted to fix it.
"Yes."
Elena released my arm, her expression shifting from anger to sadness. "You really love her."
It wasn't a question.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I've never felt this before. Real love, I mean. My own feelings, not borrowed ones from the couples I matched." My chest ached. "But when I look at her, something in me wakes up. Something that's been dead for three thousand years."
"That's called a soul bond, you fool." Elena sank into one of my kitchen chairs. "You're not just falling in love. You're recognizing your fated mate. The one person in all of existence meant for you."
My heart stopped. "That's impossible. Cupids don't have fated mates."
"Cupids who stay immortal don't. But the moment you decided to become human, you became eligible for one. The universe gave you a chance at real love." She looked at me with pity. "And it gave you the worst possible timing."
"So what do I do?"
"You have three choices." Elena held up her fingers, counting. "One: Walk away now. Cancel the wedding. Let Maya face Marcus alone. Your transition slows down, and you survive."
My marks burned in protest at the thought.
"Two: Go through with the wedding but keep your distance emotionally. Treat it like a business arrangement. Protect her but don't love her. You might survive long enough to become fully human."
"And three?"
"Love her completely. Let the soul bond form. Accept that you'll probably die when the magic consumes you, but at least you'll die human, knowing what real love feels like." Elena's voice softened. "Honestly, Dante? I don't know which choice is right. I've been a Cupid for over three millennia. I've never experienced love myself. I don't know if it's worth dying for."
I looked out the window at Maya's house. Her light was still on. She was probably terrified, second-guessing everything, wondering if I was another Marcus in disguise.
"It's worth it," I said quietly.
"How do you know?"
"Because for the first time in three thousand years, I'm willing to risk everything. That has to mean something."
Elena stood, preparing to leave. "There's something else you should know. I investigated Marcus Chen like you asked."
"And?"
"He's been touched by dark magic. Demonic influence, specifically. Not enough to possess him, but enough to enhance his worst traits. His cruelty, his manipulation, his need for control—they're all being amplified by something evil."
Ice ran down my spine. "You're saying a demon is involved?"
"A weak one. Probably feeding off the misery Marcus creates. It's why he's so effective at destroying people. He's not just human malice—he's supernaturally empowered malice." Elena's expression darkened. "And Rebecca? The friend who warned Maya? I found her. Or what's left of her."
"Is she alive?"
"Barely. The demon's influence on Marcus made him violent. He beat her unconscious when he found out she'd contacted Maya. She's in a hospital two towns over, registered under a fake name." Elena pulled out her phone, showing me a photo.
Rebecca looked even worse in person than in Marcus's threatening photo. Bruises covered her face, and machines beeped beside her bed.
"Will she survive?" I asked.
"Physically, yes. Emotionally?" Elena shook her head. "She's terrified. Keeps saying Marcus will find her and finish what he started."
"We need to protect her too."
"Already done. I've placed wards around her hospital room. Nothing demonic can get near her." Elena pocketed her phone. "But Dante, you need to understand what you're up against. Marcus isn't going to stop. The demon feeding off him wants Maya's misery. Wants Lily's suffering. It's addicted to the pain that family creates."
"Then I'll stop him."
"How? You're losing your Cupid powers. In a few days, you'll be completely human. Vulnerable. Mortal." Elena stepped closer. "If Marcus kills you—and with demonic enhancement, he might—Maya loses her protection. Lily loses her chance at a safe home. Everything you're trying to save falls apart."
"So I can't fail."
"Nobody's that perfect, Dante."
"Then I'll have to be." I met her eyes. "I've spent three thousand years making other people's love stories work. For once, I get to fight for my own. I'm not backing down."
Elena studied me for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "You're either the bravest Cupid I've ever known, or the most foolish. Probably both." She started to fade. "The wedding is at nine. I'll be watching. And Dante? Whatever happens—whether you survive this or not—I'm proud of you. You chose love over safety. That's more than most immortals ever do."
She vanished completely.
I stood alone in my kitchen, my marks still burning, my phone still showing Maya's acceptance.
Tomorrow I'd marry a woman I barely knew to protect her from a demon-influenced ex-husband, while my own humanity hung by a thread.
This was insane.
This was perfect.
My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number:
"I know what you are, Rossi. Or should I say, Dante Valenti? Yes, I know your real name. I know you're not human. And tomorrow, I'm going to prove it to everyone. Including Maya. She'll run from you faster than she ran from me. - Marcus"
My blood turned to ice.
He knew.
Somehow, Marcus knew I was a Cupid.
And tomorrow, at our wedding, he was going to expose me.
I texted Maya immediately: Did you tell anyone my name?
Her response came seconds later: Just Vanessa. Why?
Another text from Marcus: Rebecca told me everything before I shut her up. About your glowing tattoos. Your impossible strength. Your fake identity. I've been researching you, Dante. And I found something very interesting.
An image loaded on my phone.
An ancient painting from 1823. A ball in Venice. And there, clear as day in the background, was my face. Unchanged. Unaged. Impossible.
The message beneath: Can't wait to show this to the judge. Maya's new husband is either immortal or insane. Either way, she loses custody. See you at the courthouse.
I stared at the painting, at my own face frozen in time nearly two hundred years ago.
Marcus had proof I wasn't human.
And in nine hours, he was going to destroy everything.