San Diego, California

Davin Cross knew that shooting arrows at unsuspecting civilians was not a normal line of work. Neither was creating happily ever afters. But that was exactly what he had been doing for hundreds of years.

Davin longed to glide over the wide expanses of the ocean, to soar over the crowded beaches filled with people basking in June's blazing splendor. But he couldn't waste any more time. His boss was expectantly waiting.

Davin folded his feathered, white wings. All at once, he descended down from the the blue sky, landing smoothly on the cracked pavement of an abandoned street corner. His wings twitched with yearning to be gliding back in the sky again, shedding dancing feathers at Davin's feet.

He chuckled slightly, and his wings vanished from his back in a flurry of golden flashes.

He looked much more like a mortal now.

Davin gripped the leather handles of his long, black work case. He fidgeted with the collar of his white shirt. In the blasting heat, he was beginning to loathe the fact that he was wearing a suit and a tie. He was never a fan of Aphrodite's dress code.

Briskly walking down the steaming sidewalks, Davin noted the suffocating odor of gasoline as vacationer's cars sputtered past, blending with the smell of cooked barbecue. He checked his watch as he made his way past a group of teenage girls hoisting surfboards over their heads. They sent admiring smiles his way, giggling amongst themselves.

Davin had the sudden urge to laugh. Even though he was hundreds of years old, he still maintained the youthful appearance of a young man at about eighteen. For all he knew, it could have been his doing that made those girl's  grandparents fall in love.

He tried not to hold onto that thought for very long.

It was because of Davin Cross that Kate married Prince William. It was because of Davin Cross that the president of the United States and the First Lady came together. It was also because of Davin Cross that Romeo and Juliet found each other. Although that wasn't his greatest accomplishment due to the following tragic suicides that occurred afterwards.

Davin turned a corner and found himself exactly in the place he needed to be. The beach was pulsing with loud music as waves crashed violently onto the shore. People of all ages were everywhere, a mass of lounging, surfing bodies that moved endlessly about beneath the sweltering glare of the sun. Davin, with a stab of annoyance, realized that it was going to take him a lot longer to spot his targets than usual.

But as he stood on the edge of the sand, his mind couldn't help but gingerly wander across each person. Davin faintly wondered what strange, vibrant lives these mortals had and what it was like to be a part of them. Even after hundreds of years of existing in this world, Davin had never truly belonged to it. He was set apart from the constant growing of humanity. He would never know what it would be like to become old. But most of all, Davin Cross would never know what it would be like to fall in love.

His heart faltered slightly as his gaze locked onto a couple eating sandwiches on a colorful, bright towel. On their chests, right where their hearts were located, Davin could see the marks. The ever present, ever shimmering silver marks of a cupid's arrow. No mortal was aware of these marks, but all cupids knew of its unmatchable power. The power of magical, raw love. The minute a cupid's arrow was shot at them, those two mortals were destined. Their fates had been sealed. They were soul mates forever.

Davin could see it in their eyes. There was this look that he had seen thousands of times, over and over.

If only someone would look at him that way.

A loud, cheery buzzing noise jarred Davin from his thoughts. His cell phone was vibrating from his back pocket. Fumbling to accept the call, Davin held the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Thank the gods you picked up, I've been placed on Oracle duty and I feel like ripping my own wings off."

Davin's face broke into a wide grin at the voice of his friend.

"That's what happens when Aphrodite assigns you a desk job, Beck." He said knowingly.

"Why do you get to be out in the field? I'm in a forsaken cubicle!" Her voice whined.

Davin snorted. "You're in a cubicle because you couldn't even shoot the rear end of Zeus if it was right in front of you."

"Ew, I don't appreciate the visual, Cross."

Davin rolled his eyes with an amused sigh. "Do you have a report for me or not?"

"Oh! Right."

There was a scuffling sound that filled the phone as Beck most likely began shifting through papers.

"You won't believe how long it took for The Oracle to foresee this one," She told Davin. "I had to get him three beers before he made the soul match."

Davin raised an eyebrow. "Only three?"

"Ah!" Beck suddenly exclaimed loudly into the phone. Davin cringed, moving his ear slightly away. "Here it is. Your targets are Monica Court and Garret Whitman, ages twenty nine and thirty. They'll be at an ice cream stand in approximately ten seconds."

Davin nodded, memorizing the information.

"Thanks, Beck. I should be back at headquarters in a few hours."

"Please hurry. I'd rather not have to tell Aphrodite that her golden boy is running late."

"Where did golden boy come from?"

"Just shoot the love birds already, Cross."

Telling her goodbye, Davin hung up and slipped the cell phone back into his pocket.

His gaze scanned the beach until his amber eyes rested on a quaint ice cream stand a few yards away. There was a small line of people, and waiting patiently was a rather tall, lanky man with dark hair and hazel eyes. Garret Whitman. Behind him was a young woman in a wide sun hat. She was smiling at the children that screeched in the waves as they battered sand castles to the ground. Monica Court.

Monica chuckled at the wild kids, causing Garret to turn his head around slightly and catch sight of her.

There it was. His eyes. Something inside them seemed to light up.

Davin looked down at his watch and crept out of sight into a quiet alley. He had a good view of the ice cream stand from here, and he carefully unlocked his case with light fingers. Inside was a deadly bow that Davin had been shooting with for years, designed with sleek efficiency. He pulled the weapon from its case, admiring its glossy surface and black bowstring. His bow was like a part of him. He was connected to it.

Next he clicked open a separate compartment in his case and selected two glowing arrows. They shimmered a bright, passionate red, swirling with hues of every color imaginable. Davin's fingers trembled slightly as he knocked the first arrow. The pure magic that was crafted inside its shaft was nearly intoxicating.

Taking a measured breath, Davin pulled back the bowstring. He anchored it against his lips, his muscles still. For a heartbeat, he waited at full draw. Sweat dripped down Davin's neck. He made no move to wipe it away. In front of him, Garret Whitman paid for an ice cream cone. Davin continued to wait, his aim trained at the man's back. Then, in a split second Garret turned around, his ice cream cone held in his hands.

"Time to shoot some love birds." Davin smirked to himself.

That's when he took a breath and let go.

Once he fired, the arrow whistled through the air and embedded itself straight in Garret Whitman's heart. The man stumbled slightly at the force of the invisible arrow blow to his chest, the ice cream cone slipping from his fingers and splattering onto the baking sidewalk. And also onto Monica Court's shoes.

"Sorry!" Garret Whitman apologized, a blush creeping into his cheeks as a luminous silver cupid's mark appeared on his chest.

Monica Court let out a light laugh. "Don't worry."

"Let me wipe that off for you," Garret Whitman offered, stooping down with a bundle of napkins. At the same time, Monica Court was reaching for her shoes.

In one fluid motion, Davin knocked the second arrow and released it at lightning speed. It flew across the street and buried itself into the heart of Monica Court. In surprise, her hand lifted, only slightly, touching Garret's.

That was the moment.

The cupid's mark appeared on Monica Court's heart as well, binding her together with the man that she was unknowingly destined to love for the rest of her life. Fate was sealed.

The two both laughed, and once they had cleaned up the mess, Garret looked at Monica's face for a long time. The tips of his ears were pink.

The magic of the arrows was taking effect.

"It looks like I should make that up to you." He said, gesturing to Monica's shoes.

Monica Court grinned. "How about you buy me a drink?" She suggested.

Snorting with laughter, the two began to stroll down the boardwalk through the masses of people. Like ghosts, they vanished among the crowds, out of Davin's sight.

Davin couldn't help but smile. He has never missed a single shot.

"Sometimes giving mortals their happily ever afters is worth my small paycheck." He chuckled.

After Davin deposited his bow gently back into its case, he snapped it firmly shut with a satisfying click.

To everyone on that street, he was just an average, attractive businessman on his way through a summer's day. None of the passerby could see that behind the sunglasses and the tie, Davin was a young god that had no other life then serving love. He had never experienced the feeling. Love was something beneath the divine. And as Aphrodite had proved to every cupid at her headquarters, they were never meant to find it.

But that didn't stop Davin Cross from wanting to feel love more than anything.

"I'm growing soft." He muttered, shaking his head in disappointment at himself.

As he ventured deeper into the city, he thought about that look in those people's eyes for a very long time. He captured it in his memory, viewing the image over and over in his mind. Davin never truly stopped thinking about what love looked like inside the eyes of those who knew it; not even when he ran straight into a dark figure with a gun to his head.

"Hand over the case, lover boy."

Davin froze, the cold barrel pressed against his skull. His grip tightened on the handle of his case. In a fleeting moment of panic, he wanted to run. But the gloved hand tightening on the trigger told him that he'd be shot instantly.

"If you're looking for money, you have the wrong guy." He smirked, regaining his composure.

Davin slowly turned around, the gun still trained on him, and came face to face with the most mysterious stranger that he had ever seen.

The stranger was shorter, but dressed head to toe in black: leather pants, dark jacket, and combat boots. Over half of their face was a black bandana with an odd symbol on it cast in white. Davin's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. The image was a broken arrow next to a bleeding heart.

His mouth fell open in shock and recognition.  "I thought you were just a myth."

"And this is coming from a winged god that shoots people." The stranger snorted. The voice, to Davin's surprise, was female.

That fact seemed to intrigue him even more.

Davin's gaze then settled on her eyes. The only things exposed by the black bandana, they were a bitter gray like ash and smoke.

There was no love behind those eyes.

"Yes, pretty boy, I know exactly who you are." The stranger spat as she pressed the gun harder against his head. "A Cupid."

Davin smiled, gently flipping down his sunglasses to get a better look at her.

"And you," he said. "Are an Arrow Thief."