Ting stripped off her armor furiously, metal plates hitting the floor of the Third Cohort barracks with a loud series of clangs. Shreya tried to pat her on the arm reassuringly, but her sister threw off her arm. “I hate that guy.” The Chinese-American girl said, brushing her short black locks back from her forehead ineffectually, leaving a black grease smudge on her face. “Even when they lose, he has this nasty-” her plumed helmet slammed into the wall and landed on her bed “-smug-” Bang “-little-” Clang “grin on his stupid face. I just want to punch him in the face all the time, but especially on days like this.” She threw her leather belt into her bed with all her might.
“Well, you know what they say,” came a snide voice from the open doorway, “Omnia vincit Amor.” He was leaning against the door frame, as Ting had slammed the door so hard it had bounced slightly open without either of them noticing.
The minute she saw Cae standing there in the purple Camp Jupiter shirt and jeans he’d worn during the chariot race, Ting’s face scrunched into a furious scowl. He had barely worn any armor during the race, prevented from falling out of the chariot by nothing more than a rope loosely tying him to a loop in the chariot, and that somehow made their defeat to the Cupid twins even more humiliating. His bow was slung over one shoulder and the leather quiver of arrows was still strapped to his thigh. A hole had been burned into one shoulder from where his shirt had caught fire from a flung fireball, and Ting was rather wishing she had been the one to throw that fireball, since it was the only damage he had sustained. Jamie was a nice kid, but he drove like a demon, and combined with Caelan’s ability with a bow and arrow to sabotage others’ chariots from a longer range, the Cupid twins had become favorite picks to represent the Fourth Cohort in chariot races.
They had been so close this time. With the two Fortuna girls’ good fortune, and a protective spell a son of Trivia had whipped up for their chariot, they had managed to avoid the worst mishaps. Except at the very last turn, Caelan had shot a volley of explosive arrows into the finish line and their horses had reared up. With their good luck, the chariot hadn’t tipped over, and the horses had kept moving forward, but it had given them enough time to get just close enough for the asshole to take up a spear and slam it repeatedly into her shield. Shreya had driven grimly on, until Cae had jammed the spear between Ting and the back of the chariot and yanked, sending her tumbling from the vehicle. It had hurt to Pluto, and Shreya had gotten so distracted, she had forced the horse to a stop while the boys pulled right past them to cross the finish line first.
Her blood pressure rising with the memory, she snapped back at him, “Amor can suck Fortuna’s dick, bitch. The Chinese say, 有缘千里来相会，无缘对面不相逢. With luck people can meet even separated by a thousand miles, without it they might never meet only one street apart. Fortune is what makes your precious love possible in the first place, you flaming ass.”
“Ting…” Shreya said, grabbing her arm, worry and frustration in her eyes. She shook her head, telling her silently to leave it alone.
Ting shrugged her off again roughly, but gave her her full attention. “Doesn’t his arrogant behavior bother you? He’s just the son of a minor god of love. Not even Venus, but Cupid. You know with the diapers and the cute little heart shaped arrows. What right does he have to go strutting around like a big shot when he’s the son of a superfluous sweet little baby god?”
Cae smiled at her, but it wasn’t a nice smile, there was not the smallest shred of warmth in it. “It’s cute how you think my twisted personality only comes from one side of the family.”
She harrumphed and began to take off her leather arm braces, turning away from him as she unlaced them. “It’s not like Jamie has a twisted personality.”
“Ti-” Shreya said in alarm, and the Asian girl turned back around just in time for the son of Cupid to grab her lapel and pull her close.
He was grinning like a shark as he put his pale lips right next to her ear and said softly, but threateningly, “That’s why Jamie needs me, daughter of Fortuna. He is incomplete without me. There wasn’t enough sanity between both of our parents to make a full person, so I am his insanity for him.” For half a second, Ting was actually scared, but then he thrust her away from him and turned to walk out the door. As he left, he called over his shoulder. “And this is just a warning to you. Cupid is the son of Mars and Venus. He’s not so kind as to forgive you for calling him superfluous, so if I were you, I’d watch my back if I ever felt something like love.”