Read Online Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction by Dominica Malcolm - Free Book Online

said.

    “How did—”

    “I know everything, and I never fail, Sir. The moment I learned about your dreams I knew what the reason was. It’s all because of this.” The messenger pointed to Damian’s chest. He whispered the words as if it was top secret. “You still love her.”

    “I don’t love her,” Damian’s words were a futile and worthless attempt to deny his feelings.

    “You do. And the big bosses know, Sir. This is the perfect mission for you. Make her fall in love, and you can move on. Forget about her, be a Cupid, be immortal. The agency can force love to any heart, but we cannot take it away. It’s like death, only worse.”

    The words pierced Damian to the bone. Sunet’s eyes sent a creeping fear all over his body. The old man’s smile froze his heart and his soul. Damian always saw Sunet as an old man, but at that moment, he feared Sunet.

    “You will do this, Sir,” Sunet continued. “Because if you don’t, you’ll break our contract, and as you already know there is no place for an ex-Cupid, even one in training, in the world of mortals. The agency will make sure hell reserves a special place for you.”

    §

    “I want red wings when this is all over.”

    Rain poured down on the city. Ankle deep flood sunk the city roads. The water sliding on the windshields made the city outside appear it was under a wild current of ocean. Damian was getting bored waiting and had started talking about all the things he wanted as a Cupid.

    “And no one can force a bow and arrow on me, I’ll keep Y,” Damian continued. “I’m more troubled with immortality. I don’t know what I’ll do forever besides missions.”

    “You’ll soon figure that out,” Carmelo replied. The senior would assist Damian in his final mission, but Damian thought it was more of a precautionary measure for the agency.

    “There are a lot of things you can do,” Carmelo said. “You’ll live forever right? You can actually just keep on thinking what to do, and you’ll still have infinity to do it once you’ve decided. In that aspect, immortals are blessed. Mortals need to rush and decide what they’ll do. If they don’t, they’ll die the next day without even accomplishing anything.”

    “Really? Cupids have the luxury of not dying?” Damian asked. “Then I wonder why I’m here. As far as I know, the agency needs five Cupids. There are four of you, what happened to the one before me?”

    “Look here kid,” Carmelo said, “Cupids are immortal, but if you ever find forever to be overwhelming, you can always decide to spend eternity in darkness and silence, in short death. That happens all the time.”

    “So we have that choice, huh? I never thought of that. Why did the last one decide to die?”

    “He never decided to. It just happened.”

    “He got killed? He’s immortal. He can’t be killed.”

    “Unless he falls in love, love for a day and death for eternity. Demetrio never regretted it though. I saw it in those dying eyes of his.”

    “Love and then death? Talk about going from bad to worse,” Damian said.

    Sunet laughed, “I think you got it the wrong way around, Sir. Although the sequence is right, the severity is wrong. Love is always worse than death. Dying is an escape from love’s tortures.”

    “So that’s why the agency is making me do this,” Damian said. “I can’t become a Cupid if I’m still in love with Sarah.”

    “Yes,” Sunet replied. “You can lie all you want. If the agency turns you into a full Cupid even with a single hint of love for Sarah still in your heart, you’ll die in an instant. And that would be just a waste for the big bosses. They need to be sure first. Finding new trainees are not hard though, so you better make this.”

    Sunet parked the car on the sidewalk. The wind blew rain to almost a horizontal. Gust shook the buildings.

    “Make this quick, Sir.” Sunet said. “You know where she is. Do it. Then go back immediately. This storm is not