Cupid walks up to the overturned armchair, pushes it back on its legs, and throws himself into the seat.

"Let's all calm down" he says. "And find out what we can about the intruders"

The flickering light from the fireplace casts shadows across the angles on his face, and gives a darkness to his fair features.

He casts a meaningful look at Charlie who is still sobbing into my shoulder. I nod and grab her arms, pushing her back gently.

"Why don't you sit down" I say "And tell us what happened"

She looks at me, still sniffling, then nods and takes a seat on one of the leather sofas. Cal still stands rigidly facing the smear of blood on the wall. His silvery eyes are glazed over.

"Cal" I say sharply, hoping to snap him out of it.

He flinches slightly then sighs and takes a seat on the other couch. I sit down beside him.

"I should have told her" he mutters, staring at his feet "I should have told Crystal we were looking for the Finis."

Cupid looks at him and raises an eyebrow.

"Yes brother" he says - a touch of irritation in his voice "That would have made things slightly simpler wouldn't it?"

I glare at him.

Cal clearly feels terrible - there's no point in making him feel worse.

"Well he didn't " I say. "None of us did. So we'll just have to find a way to get her back"

Cupid shrugs then looks at my friend who seems to be calming down.

"Can you tell us what happened Charlie?" he says.

She nods and takes a deep breath.

"I woke up on the couch about an hour ago." she says "I must have completely crashed out after the party..."

I share a look with Cupid.

Selena must have made her completely forget about the whole of yesterday.

"...Crystal was sat in the armchair - I know her quite well," she adds "We met at the diner and hung out over the summer."

That makes sense I suppose - she would have got to know Charlie as well as James in order to make the match.

"She said I'd passed out and she was looking after me while you went out and you'd be back soon. And then we heard a noise."

She looks nervously towards the door.

"Crystal went to check it out" she continues "Minutes later she ran back in. She looked scared and shut the door - then she looked at me and said something...weird..."

Cal leans forward, suddenly alert.

"What did she say?" he asks quickly.

Cupid looks at his brother curiously.

"You're thinking a message?" he says.

Cal nods and looks expectantly at Charlie.

She frowns.

"She said...'I wasn't always a receptionist' ....which I didn't understand because she works at the Diner."

Charlie shrugs and a frown appears on Cal's face.

"Does that mean anything to you?" I ask.

He shakes his head.

"I don't think so" he says quietly. He looks back up at Charlie "Then what? Did she say anything else?"

Charlie shakes her head.

"Three people burst through the door - two girls and a guy. One of them grabbed Crystal and she fought him. She threw him into the wall..."

Charlie gestures at the streak of blood with her head and I see a soft half smile appear on Cal's face - he seems satisfied that she at least caused some damage to those who took her.

"I was scared - I thought they would attack me too. But they ignored me. The other two swarmed in on Crystal. There was a struggle but they dragged her out of the room. Then one of them looked at me as she was leaving- and...it's weird...but it seemed almost as though she knew who I was."

Cal leans forwards again.

"Did she say anything to you?"

Charlie nods - a worried look on her face.

"She said..." she looks at us worriedly "she said that she would be in touch with me"

I cast a look at Cupid and see the triumphant smile widening on his face. He says nothing for a moment then looks at my friend.

"Charlie?" he says "Would you like a coffee?"

I furrow my eyebrows and Charlie looks surprised, but she nods.

"Sure"

He nods.

"Lila, Cal - come help" says Cupid.

He gets up and walks out of the room.

Cal and I share a look then follow him into the kitchen.

"Subtle..." I say drily.

The corner of Cal's mouth quirks upwards into a faint smile.

Cupid shrugs.

"Subtlety was never my strong suit" he replies grinning.

He leans over the breakfast bar, his arms on the counter, I find myself staring at his arm muscles which bulge slightly through his cotton t-shirt.

He catches me looking and I feel my face flush.

"So.." I say - before he can make any kind of remark "You think that the Arrow are going to contact Charlie?"

Cupid looks at me a moment longer than is comfortable then nods.

"Yep" he says "And we can use her to lead us to Crystal. We'll just need to keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn't revert back to her ....murderous tendencies" he adds raising his eyebrows dramatically.

Cal tightens his lips.

"I'm not happy with waiting for them to get in touch" he says.

Cupid shrugs and makes his way over to the coffee machine.

"What choice do we have?" he replies.

***

We spend the next hour or so calming Charlie down. We have to lie to her and tell her she got drunk and passed out at the party - leading her to sleep through the whole of Saturday.

I don't like it but I suppose the alternative - that she was attacked by a group of extreme paranormal cupids and tried to kill me - isn't much better...

When we're done Cal skulks down to the combat room, and Cupid drives Charlie and I back to my place.

When we arrive I turn to Charlie in the back seat.

"Go on in" I say "I'll be up in a minute"

She gives me an annoying, knowing look then steps out of the car.

"Thanks Cupid" she says "And sorry I've been asleep on your sofa all day"

Cupid gives her a charming smile.

"Take care Charlie" he says.

She closes the door and I watch as she heads into the house.

I look at Cupid.

Suddenly I feel awkward to be completely alone with him in such a confined space. I can feel his body heat and smell his subtle scent of boy and soap and aftershave.

He raises his eyebrows at me.

"You OK there Lila?" he says.

I cough nervously.

"Yep" I say "Fine. So... what's the plan?"

He smiles.

"It's late. Get some sleep" he says "and keep an eye on Charlie - monitor any calls or texts she gets - I doubt they'll contact her so soon but you never know. I'll see you at school on Monday. Now the Arrows have Crystal I doubt they'll cause any more trouble for us until they have the Finis - which hopefully won't be for a while."

I sigh.

"I wish I could tell Charlie about the cupids, and the Arrows" I say "It hardly seems fair to hide it from her"

Cupid looks at me seriously.

"It's not fair" he agrees "But it has to be this way. For your safety...and hers. It's best to keep her out of it. Just get some rest, you'll feel better about it in the morning..."

I nod and make to get out of the car.

I feel oddly sad that I won't see Cupid until Monday.

"Or..." he says, as though reading my thoughts "You could always come back to mine again...for another sleepover..."

He grins wickedly and I roll my eyes.

"Night Cupid" I say.

I get out of the car and make my way down the drive.

Even though I don't look back I can still feel his eyes watching me as I place my hand on the door handle and step inside the house.

I make my way up to my room and see Charlie sat cross legged on my bed, her phone in her hand. She looks confused.

"What is it?" I ask.

She shrugs.

"A message from an unknown number" she replies.

I look at her alert.

The Arrows.

"What does it say?" I blurt hurriedly.

She furrows her eyebrows and looks up at me, then hands over the phone.

I stare down at the message.

Forever Falls High School Dance. Wednesday. See you there.