I’d like to dedicate this book to Kim, my research assistant and sounding board, to Ellie, my troubleshooter, to Kevin, my tech guru, to Victoria, one of the best teachers I’ve ever had, and to my fans, whose enthusiasm keeps me going.
ALSO BY E. D. BAKER
THE TALES OF THE FROG PRINCESS:
The Frog Princess
Dragon’s Breath
Once Upon a Curse
No Place for Magic
The Salamander Spell
The Dragon Princess
Dragon Kiss
A Prince among Frogs
The Frog Princess Returns
Fairy Wings
Fairy Lies
TALES OF THE WIDE-AWAKE PRINCESS:
The Wide-Awake Princess
Unlocking the Spell
The Bravest Princess
Princess in Disguise
Princess between Worlds
The Princess and the Pearl
A Question of Magic
THE FAIRY-TALE MATCHMAKER:
The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker
The Perfect Match
The Truest Heart
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER
1
Cory shoved the letter through the mail slot in the door, rapped the door knocker three times, and ran to hide in the shrubs. Greener Pastures, the retirement community, was old-fashioned, although the residents called it quaint. No one there had message baskets the way they did in the big cities like New Town. Instead they relied on a letter carrier to go from house to house. There was only one letter carrier in Greener Pastures, so sometimes it took days or even weeks for a letter to reach its destination. Cory didn’t have that kind of time. Besides, she was deliberately putting the letter in the slot at the wrong house, something a letter carrier would never do on purpose.
Cory sat down to watch the tree-stump house. Although it was only as big as her uncle Micah’s garden shed, it was just the right size for a retired gnome living alone. If all went well, that situation was about to change.
Cory was the Cupid for the land of the fey. It was up to her to bring people together with their true loves. Her visions told her who belonged together. They were always right, but they didn’t always come at convenient times.
Cory had taken over the job of Cupid from her grandfather only a few days before. The visions started coming thick and fast after that. Since that day, she had matched five sets of fairies, a pair of dwarves, and a human couple, all of whom lived in New Town. She’d had the vision of the two elderly gnomes for three days, but had been putting off the trip so she could handle the matches closer to home. When the visions started taking over her dreams, she knew it was the gnomes’ turn.
The door opened and a man no taller than Cory’s knee stepped out and looked around. He was holding Cory’s envelope and he looked annoyed. “Gilbert Beanworthy, you’re the worst letter carrier ever!” he shouted, although there was no one but Cory to hear him. “You know my name isn’t Mildred Treesap! This isn’t even my address!”
The old gnome shut the door behind him and stomped down the path to the road to look both ways. When he didn’t see anyone, he grunted and started walking. “Darn centaurs!” he grumbled. “Don’t know why they’d let one be a letter carrier anyway.”
Cory crept through the underbrush, following the gnome at a distance. She moved as quietly as she could, although she doubted he could hear her over his own voice. When they reached an intersection, she darted across. He still didn’t see her. It took almost ten minutes to reach the address on the envelope. The old gnome complained the entire way. He didn’t stop even as he left the road and turned toward a house shaped like a giant mushroom. Cory thought the bright red mushroom with big white polka dots was pretty, but the old gnome started complaining about that, too.
“Must be rich, living in a mansion like this,” he muttered. “Way too fancy if you ask me.”
Cory was hiding behind the tall patch of decorative grass only a few yards from the door when the gnome started knocking. Less than a minute later, a white-haired lady gnome with a sweet face opened it. “Hello?” she said when she saw the grumpy-looking gnome.
“A letter for you was misdelivered to my house,” he told her.
Cory was relieved to see both people from her vision standing face-to-face. Locating the two people who she was supposed to match, then getting them in the same place at the same time wasn’t always easy. Her grandfather had suggested the wrong-address method, claiming it had often worked for him.
Bow! thought Cory, and her silver bow appeared in one hand, the quiver holding two arrows in the other. Time froze for everyone but Cory as she took out the first arrow. “Timothy Alfalfa Greengrass” was written on the shaft. She set the arrow even as she walked around for a better shot, then aimed it at the male gnome’s heart. It hit with a soft plunk amid a shower of gold sparkles.
Turning toward the lady gnome, Cory took the other arrow from the quiver. “Mildred Springleaf Treesap” read the name. This time when the arrow hit its mark, the gold sparkles engulfed both gnomes. Cory was walking away when the sparkles faded and the two fell into each other’s arms. She didn’t glance back until she reached the road. When she saw their tender embrace, she smiled at a job well done.
Cory landed in the backyard of the house she now shared with her grandfather. With the powerful wings of a Cupid, she could fly higher and farther than she ever could as a fairy. As long as she could take off and land out of sight, she could fly on even the sunniest of days. Keeping secret the fact that she was Cupid was always on her mind. Everyone in her household knew, of course. Even Macks, the ogre who had become her permanent bodyguard, knew that she was Cupid. Once she’d decided to employ him like the putti who had served her grandfather for years, she had told Macks the truth. To her surprise, he had been delighted and seemed to take great pride in working for her.
“Hey, Cory!” Macks called as she walked across the yard. “How’d it go?”
Shimmer, the copper-colored baby dragon, had been flying circles around Macks. Seeing Cory, she flew straight to her, landing in her arms. Cory laughed and petted the little dragon’s head, saying, “It went very well. Did anything unusual happen here?”
Macks scratched his jaw and looked thoughtful. “I don’t know if I’d call it unusual, seeing that we’ve had so many unwanted visitors, but Shimmer and I had to chase off two more flower fairies trying to plant poison ivy in the garden.”
Although the courts had ruled against the guilds that had been persecuting Cory, angry guild members were still trying to make her life miserable. It was one of the reasons Cory had decided to make Macks’s job permanent. The other reason was that everyone in the household liked him and didn’t want to see him go. Even the putti had asked her if he could stay.
“Thank you, Macks,” said Cory. “They can’t get away with much of anything with you and Shimmer patrolling the grounds. Excuse me, you two. Sarilee is already looking for me. I don’t know how she knows I’m back already.”
The little putti woman was standing on the back terrace with a sheaf of leaves in her hand, waiting for Cory. Without being asked, she had started acting as Cory’s assistant the morning after the position of Cupid had passed from grandfather to granddaughter. Cory sometimes though
t the putti woman was a little too efficient.
“I need your reports before you do anything else,” Sarilee told her. “You have to do the one for this morning and two for the matches you did last night. You really should fill them out while the names are still fresh in your mind. How did the match go today?”
“Very well,” Cory said as she reached down to take the leaves from the putti. “The trick with the wrong address worked perfectly.”
Sarilee nodded. “That was always one of your grandfather’s favorites. We received a reply from your uncle, Micah. He and Quince will be happy to join you for supper tonight.”
“Thanks,” Cory said as she started into the house. “I’ll be in my office if anything comes up.”
She passed three more putti on the way to the room she’d claimed as her office. They all grinned and waved as she walked by. Cory had agreed to keep her grandfather’s helpers and was already growing fond of them. Although she’d been surprised when she first met them, she’d become so used to tiny people who looked like chubby, bald-headed babies that she no longer thought they were unusual.
Cory was seated at her desk and had just begun to fill out the leaf work when Orville knocked on the open door. The head butler and one of Cory’s favorite putti, he was in charge of making sure that the household ran smoothly. When Cory waved him in, he toddled to her desk carrying a tray and saying, “Lunch won’t be for another two hours, so I brought you a sandwich.”
Cory grinned as he set a plate and a glass of juice in front of her. Flying long distances didn’t tire her out, but it always left her with a raging appetite. She was about to take her first bite when Orville handed her a leaf. “I also brought the menu for tonight if you’d care to read it,” he said.
Cory reached for the leaf. She had enjoyed taking care of her uncle’s house while she lived with him. Cooking and cleaning had been ways to thank him for letting her stay there. They also kept her busy when she wasn’t making matches, or doing odd jobs for people or drumming with her band, Zephyr. Moving into the big house and becoming Cupid had changed a lot of things in Cory’s life. Now the putti handled all the cleaning, and the excellent chef, Creampuff, did all the cooking. Cory no longer did odd jobs for anyone, and the only matches she made were because of her visions, not because people had hired her to do them. She was still playing with Zephyr, however. It was something she swore she’d never give up. When she had the time, she’d also started to write songs on her own.
Orville waited while Cory glanced at the menu. Although she had enjoyed cooking, she knew that the putti chef’s food was a hundred times better. After reading the menu, she was already looking forward to supper.
“It looks perfect,” she told Orville. She was smiling at him when a vision of two very ugly ogres with oddly shaped heads and large, hairy warts came to her. She knew that other ogres would consider them very attractive, but Cory thought they were almost frightening.
“Will you be leaving soon?” asked Orville. All the putti knew that when Cory got a certain look in her eyes, she was having another vision.
Cory nodded. “But not until I’ve eaten this,” she said, and took a bite of her sandwich.
Cory was off making more matches until late afternoon. When she came back, she tried to hurry through the leaf work before her uncle, Micah, and his fiancée, Quince, arrived. She was looking forward to seeing Micah again and getting to know Quince.
Setting the leaves in the basket for Sarilee to collect, Cory hurried to her room to change her clothes. She loved the bedroom and adjoining bathing room that she’d chosen, as well as the fact that she didn’t have to share either one with anyone other than Shimmer. After brushing her hair and changing into a new green dress made of silk, she hurried to the stairs.
Cory was partway down the elegant staircase when the door opened and Blue walked in. Johnny Blue was half ogre, half human. He was over seven feet tall, which was short for an ogre, and tall for a human. He also had a rough, craggy face, which many people found unattractive, but he was handsome in Cory’s eyes. He was an officer-in-training at the Fey Law Enforcement Agency, or FLEA, as most people called it. More importantly, he was Cory’s very own true love. Like Macks, he had a room on the first floor of the big house and was there when Cory needed him. Protecting the love of his life was his top priority.
Blue looked up and saw Cory. Opening his arms, he waited as she ran down the last few steps and into his embrace. They kissed, and Cory knew that whatever else might happen, everything was all right as long as he was there.
“Ahem!” Orville was standing by the door to the hallway. “Beverages are being served on the back terrace,” he announced before walking away.
“I got called into the chief’s office today,” Blue said as he and Cory walked hand in hand toward the terrace. “It seems that I’ve put in enough hours and my work has been good enough that I don’t have to wait the full year to take the Culprit Interrogator test.”
“That’s wonderful!” Cory cried. “Congratulations!”
“I’m afraid it means that I’ll have to spend most of my free time studying. The test is next month.”
“Then I’ll tell everyone to be extra quiet around you so you can concentrate,” Cory told him.
“Why do we need to be quiet around Blue?” her grandfather asked as he joined them in the hallway.
“He’s going to be studying for his CI test!” Cory replied. “Isn’t that wonderful!”
“It is indeed,” said Lionel. “But I must say that I’m not surprised. I’ve heard only good things about your work, young man. Imagine, a CI in the family!”
Although Cory and Blue were waiting until they were older, everyone knew that they were going to get married someday. The only family member who hadn’t given them her blessing was Cory’s mother, Delphinium, who didn’t seem to approve of anything Cory had done once she’d quit the Tooth Fairy Guild.
Cory, Blue, and Lionel had just accepted glasses of berry juice from the putti carrying a tray when Micah and Quince walked through the glass doors onto the terrace. Cory hadn’t seen her uncle since the day she moved out of his house. Setting her glass on a table, she hurried to give him a welcoming hug. “It’s so good to see you!” she told him.
“You too!” he replied. “How is everything?”
“Busy,” Cory said, and turned to Quince. It felt natural to give her a hug, too.
“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you!” said Quince. “A few minutes in my office doesn’t count,” she added with a laugh. “How is your woodchuck doing, by the way?”
Quince, a chiropractor for animals, had treated Weegie, the woodchuck, for a sore back. Cory had seen Quince in a vision, and knew that she’d finally found the match for Micah.
“She’s fine,” Cory said. “Actually, we have two woodchucks living with us. Weegie and Noodles have dug a den in the woods down by the river.”
“Go long!” Macks shouted to Shimmer as they came around the house. The ogre threw a ball and the baby dragon shot after it, catching the ball with her front talons.
Quince gasped when she turned and saw them. “Micah said you had a baby dragon! She’s adorable!”
“And very talented,” said Lionel.
Micah was introducing his fiancée to Cory’s grandfather when Orville toddled out of the house. “If you would all care to come inside, dinner will be served shortly,” he announced.
“Good, because I’m famished,” Cory said. Taking Blue’s hand, she started for the door.
“Any idea what we’re having tonight?” Blue asked her.
“Stir-fried vegetables,” said Cory. “And roast beef for people who like meat.”
Ogres loved meat and Blue was half ogre. He’d been doing without it lately because Cory had been raised as a fairy and was still a vegetarian. She appreciated Creampuff’s efforts to make everyone happy.
“Roast beef, huh?” Blue said, and smacked his lips. “That chef sure knows the way to a man’s h
eart!”
Cory laughed. “Should I be jealous?”
“Never,” Blue said as he picked her up and spun her around. “I’d take you over roast beef any day!”
Because there were only five of them, they ate in the family dining room. Cory was enjoying her vegetables when Quince turned to her and said, “I have a favor to ask of you. Would you be my maid of honor? It would mean a lot to Micah and to me if you were part of our wedding.”
“I’d be delighted!” Cory cried. “And if there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” said Quince. “The wedding is only a week and a half away. I thought I could handle it all, but I’m getting a little overwhelmed.”
“Actually, I might be able to help,” said Lionel. “I was wondering if you two would like to hold your wedding here. You can have it inside if it rains or on the back lawn if it’s sunny. Either way, you can invite as many people as you’d like. Creampuff would be happy to prepare all the food.”
“That’s a very kind offer,” Micah told him, “but Quince and I have already decided that we want to have a simple wedding in the park across the street from my house.”
“I’d be happy to help you with whatever you need,” Cory told Quince. “Let me know what you want me to do and—”
A high, thin shriek made everyone look around. It seemed to be coming from the fireplace. When the sound faded, Lionel gestured to Orville and said, “Please go find out what made that awful racket.”
“Of course, sir,” said Orville. He was back a few minutes later. “It appears that Shimmer lit her fire under some fairies who were attempting to drop weasels down the chimneys.”
“How odd,” said Lionel. “I wonder why they chose weasels.”
“I think I can answer that,” said Blue. “When I finally caught up with the fairies who had brought rats to the Shady Nook when Zephyr was performing, one of them told me that they had paid a deposit on the rats, hoping to collect them and take them back to the rental shop the next day. The fairy was irate that the shape-shifter in the audience had turned into a cat and eaten them all. I can only assume that the shop was out of rats and the fairies who came by just now thought that weasels were the closest thing.”