Page 2 of Cupid’s Flight

Giblets snorted. “You know we only eat the flesh of evil souls, and kids might be evil-hearted at times, but not properly evil enough to make a good meal. Only one truly evil person lives around here,” he added, throwing a thumb in the direction of the only dark house. “But now that you’ve been by, we’re happy to let the meat stew a little longer while he gets some comeuppance. He’ll be very tender soon.” His grin showed off all his pointed teeth, flashing bright in the streetlights. “No, I’m here for another reason, Purple. We raided an underground nest of nasty demon worshipers last night for some good eating and found something. Or someone. We’re not really sure what he is, just that he’s got wings. Since you’ve got wings too, maybe you can talk to him and figure out how to get him home again?”

“Lead the way,” Leo replied, his answer immediate.

Not having to go home to his empty house, no matter how much Leo might like peace and quiet, was a definite bonus. He had no idea what other winged creature might be around in this hemisphere. There were plenty of mythological creatures with wings—cupids were not exclusive to the ability to fly—but aside from angels from the Christian pantheon, there weren’t that many around here. These days the angels didn’t ever leave their heavenly host. They might occasionally send down the Word of God, but the days of smiting and face-to-face contact with humans were long gone. Some Native American gods had wings, but Giblets would have recognized one of them. That meant whoever Giblets had found had likely strayed quite a long way from home.

They went to the park Leo had been walking toward, but Giblets headed to a grate in the ground rather than the area with the gate that would take Leo to the clouds. The grate lifted easily, and Giblets grinned and waved for Leo to hop in first.

The underground tunnels where the goblins lived didn’t allow flying, and not being able to see the sky or the clouds above wasn’t pleasant, but this wasn’t the first time Leo had gone into the goblins’ underground home. He pulled his wings into his body, until they vanished from view. An elaborate tattoo of his wings would be visible on his back if he took off his shirt, but the wings themselves were gone.

Leo knelt and felt around with his foot until he found the top rung of the ladder, and climbed inside the hole. Once Leo was far enough down, Giblets climbed in too and swung the grate closed behind them. Leo descended for a while, heading deep beneath the suburbia above until after about five minutes he finally ran out of ladder rungs and stepped onto hard stone.

Two goblins stood by the arched entrance to Leo’s right, both wearing leather armor and carrying spears.

“Password?” one of them called as Giblets joined Leo.

“Suck my dick,” Giblets replied, giving the goblin the finger.

The goblin laughed. “Maybe later. I’m more interested in sucking his dick,” he added, jabbing his spear in Leo’s direction.

Giblets only rolled his eyes in response. “He’d eat you for breakfast, Mince. Besides, we don’t fuck, or fuck with, the cupids. You know that. He’s here to see our strange guest. You gonna let us through?”

Mince stepped aside with an exaggerated bow, waving one hand graciously in the direction of the opening. “At once, Master Giblets!” he crowed out, sniggering.

“Go fuck yourself, Mince,” Giblets replied before sauntering past. Leo followed.

In mythology, goblin caves were tight, cramped, and dark spaces where anyone larger than the short stature of a goblin had to squeeze through. In reality, the space was still small, but with his wings tucked away, Leo had no difficulty walking upright through the carved rock. They didn’t go far, only through a few caverns and one left turn, before they reached a communal meeting room. The only time Leo had ever gone deeper than this was to go to the cells in the darkest part of the labyrinth to ask Ortho why, one last time. The level of crazy Ortho had unloaded was all Leo had needed to walk away and leave Ortho to his fate. The goblins really were treating whomever they had found like a guest, if they were keeping him in a meeting room instead of the cells.

“You found him! Good,” the goblin outside the door of the meeting room said when she caught sight of them. “He’s been quiet, but I don’t think that’s a good thing.” She turned the doorknob and pulled it open, stepping aside to let Leo through. She and Giblets remained in the hallway.

A slim figure huddled in one of the corners, his silver-gray wings wrapped tight around his curled body. One wide and frightened eye peeked out between feathers before he ducked his head away again, but that was all Leo needed to understand the problem.

“He’s Asian,” Leo explained to Giblets. “That’s why you don’t know what type of creature he is.”

“Is he an Asian cupid?” Giblets asked, sounding curious, although he didn’t come any closer.

Leo shook his head. “Asia doesn’t have cupids as we define ourselves. They have individual deities that deal in love, but most of the time their romance mythology is focused on red strings and rabbits. No, if I had to guess, I would say he’s a tenshi.”

“An angel?” Giblets asked. “Doesn’t look much like an angel. No obnoxious halo for one.”

Leo shook his head again, trying not to laugh at Giblets’s rather accurate description of all the angels he had ever met. “Not quite. He’s probably a Heavenly Messenger from Buddhist tradition, rather than Christian, but somewhat similar. They don’t leave the celestial realm often. My guess is he’s on a quest to recover a lost item.”

As Leo had been speaking, the tenshi’s head lifted and that eye peeked out again. The same silver-gray as the wings, something about the wide-eyed gaze drew Leo in, as if the loneliness he felt every day was echoed there.

“Not on a quest,” the tenshi suddenly said, his English clear although slightly accented. He uncurled enough that Leo could see his entire face, two large gray eyes, a button nose, and lips full and utterly kissable, the tenshi was easily the most beautiful creature Leo had ever seen. Considering Leo lived in the land of love fairies, and cupids were beautiful in general, that was saying something.

“You’re not on a quest?” Leo asked.

“No.” The tenshi shook his head, his silver hair glinting in the overhead light as the strands slid over his face. He pushed his hair back behind his delicately pointed ears with fingers that were long and perfect for giving caresses.

Leo firmly took hold of himself before that thought could go any further. He was a terrible judge of character. His last serious boyfriend had been a monster, and when he tried to save Sable from what he believed was a bad match, he had almost ruined the little relationship they still had. The last thing he ought to be doing was thinking lustful thoughts about a complete stranger.

“And I’m not a tenshi either,” he continued. “I’m a tennyo, and I’ve run away.”

Love was the same in all languages, and cupids could hear just about any language and know what was being said, but Leo’s Japanese was incredibly rusty. After a moment, he figured out what tennyo meant, then frowned at the man.

“Tennyo are female. They serve the heavenly emperor and the buddhas.”

“Not all buddhas are male, and not all male buddhas are straight. A select number of tennyo are born male, so all who rise to heaven and have been released from the cycle of reincarnation receive the service they have earned. But I’m tired of being a servant, so I ran away.”