“You see what we’ve become?”
I jerked at the sound of his voice. The place held such a note of sadness and loss, it had grabbed onto my full consciousness for a beat and I’d forgotten there was a world beyond what I was seeing. “What happened here?”
He sighed. “My brother happened.”
I frowned. “Your brother?”
He nodded, motioning me toward a castle at the end of the broken brick avenue. “There were the three of us. We were all that was left to keep the family legacy alive. But he left. And now there’s this.”
I eyed the castle. The structure had once been white, its walls no doubt stunning under a bright sun and blue sky. But it had suffered whatever malady had taken over the rest of the little town. Though I could see that some effort had been made to keep it from falling into complete disrepair. It was likely Surly Cupid’s home.
Small figures moved around and atop the huge building. I thought they might be people, but they were too far away to know for sure.
“What exactly is the family business?” I asked.
He looked astounded. “Why, love of course. We fan the flames of love in the human heart.” He said it as if he was repeating something he’d once read in the company manual. Not like he even knew what it meant.
As if seeing the doubt in my eyes, he shrugged. “My sister mostly takes care of the business end of things. I take care of all of this.” He waved his arms around the rotting town. I winced. If it was me, I’d never admit that any of what I was looking at was my handiwork.
He sighed. “I’m not very good at managing things. My brother used to keep the town and townspeople happy and healthy. But after he left, all the people left too. And the town fell to disrepair.”
“Where’d he go?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe the earthly dimension.” He shrugged again. “I think he got married.”
I had so many questions I didn’t know where to begin, so, I asked the most obvious question. “What do you want from me?”
He didn’t hesitate. “I want you to get that serum back. He’ll kill everyone with it.”
I blinked at Lovelace Cupid, my thoughts a tangled mass of confusion anchored only by more questions. Serum? Kill? He?
And then it hit me.
The toxic magic vault! I hadn’t had a chance to inventory the damages and figure out what was lost. But Peevish Cupid’s words suddenly made sense. And I knew exactly what he was talking about.
“No…” I breathed.
“I’m afraid so,” Cupid said. “He’s gotten hold of the love serum. And he’s not afraid to use it.”
“But why?” I asked, horrified.
“He’s bitter about the family and wants to ruin us.” Lovelace’s homely face turned sad. “As you can see, he’s doing a good job of it.”
His manner bothered me. He didn’t really seem to believe what he was telling me. It was as if he were just repeating something someone else had told him. “That serum had already been misused,” I said. “A previous Keeper had it locked in my vault for a reason. Even if I find your brother, you won’t get the serum back.”
“I am well aware. But he’s using the serum to create hate and death. There will be no love left in the world when he gets done with it. That is a situation our family and this town cannot abide. We are already dying because there’s not enough love in the world. The rot you see here will continue to spread until it consumes all of our world as well as all of yours. You must stop him. You must get the serum back and lock it safely away.”
“I need to go home. You have to take me back!” I said, my heart racing and my mind spinning with concern over what kind of damage could be done with even a single drop of that serum in the wrong hands. I mentally berated myself. I should have been more careful. I should have known there would be magic ward-cutting tools. I should have…
“It’s too late, I’m afraid.”
His words ripped me from my thoughts. My gaze jerked up to his and then toward the sky, where a veritable army of little cherubs winged their way toward us, bows cocked and a nasty gleam in their eyes.
Chubby cherub cheeks! “What are those?”
Lovelace sighed. “Those are the beginning of the end.” He reached for my hand and grasped it before I could pull away. “The whole world is counting on you, Naida keeper.” Lovelace tugged something from behind his left ear. “You have to find that serum and stop him.”
Then he stabbed me in the palm with a tiny arrow.
And the world went black. Again.
I opened my eyes to chaos.
“Watch out!” Sebille screamed just before a sizzling stream of sprite magic seared the air, mere inches from my nose.
“Hey!” I yelled, but nobody was paying any attention.
Something shot past me on the heels of that energy jolt, and the sour scent of rot, not unlike what I’d just experienced in Loveland, filled my nostrils.
I was sprawled across the rug where I’d been standing when Lovelace Cupid took me. Shoving hair out of my face, I gave a quick look around to make sure I was back in Croakies and it wasn’t a dream. It was all the same, except for the battle going on right in front of my nose.
The small round table where we ate and did the books was toppled, a form crumpled over its broken bones. Was that Grym?
“Miss!”
My gaze shot to the top of the front shelves, where Hobs and his two companions huddled behind an oversized book of spells. The hobgoblin’s eyes were wide and his skin was bleached from fear. Before I could move, an acidic stream of a blood-red substance hit the front of the book and sizzled, burning
