We get out of the car.

The night is dark; the sky spattered with white blinking stars. On one side of the road the landscape is mountainous, on the other a track leads down the sloped rocks toward the ocean. Other than the overly dramatic yawn that escapes Cupid's lips as he stretches, the lulling sound of crashing waves is all I can hear.

Despite the surrounding serenity – my skin prickles. There's a sense of foreboding lingering in the air among the scents of salt and seaweed.

Cal throws a sideways look at me, then at Cupid.

"I don't like doing this in the dark," he says. "We don't know what we're going to find."

"What choice do we have," says Cupid. "You were right before – if Valentine hasn't already got his life thread – he'll certainly be looking for it now. We can't risk waiting until morning."

Cal exhales sharply out of his nose.

"Well maybe if we hadn't made so many stops..." he looks pointedly between me and Cupid.

Before either of us can retort he heads to the trunk of the car to pull out some weapons. Cupid rolls his eyes at me, stretching out his arms again and allowing his grey T-Shirt to ride up slightly - exposing the bare skin of his hips. My eyes linger for a moment before I quickly avert my gaze away.

Now is probably not the time for me to be imagining what Cupid would look like with his top off...

Cal tosses a bow and quiver to Cupid. He catches them and slings them over his body in a smooth movement before wandering over to the edge of the road to look down onto the black rocky beach below. Cal passes another set to me before arming himself.

I shiver a little in the bite of the sea breeze. To my side Cal uncurls his scarf from his neck and thrusts it out in front of me. I look at him in confusion a moment.

"You're cold," he says. "Here."

"Oh...No...I'm fine, thanks..." I say. "If we end up in a fight I'll probably end up tripping on it or something..."

A ghost of a smile flickers on his lips before he shrugs and tosses it into the backseat of the car.

"Your loss," he says.

"Where is this loom then...?" I ask.

Cupid – stood staring toward the ocean, his broad frame backlit by the moon, looks over his shoulder.

"Down here," he says.

Cal and I come to stand on either side of him. He points down the wild rocky track into the darkness.

"There's a cave in the rocks by the ocean, see it?"

My eyes find a black, ragged looking hole in the cliff – waves crashing into the rocks by it. It's pitch black – and darkness seems to leak out of it into the night.

I nod.

"It'll be in there," he says.

I shiver again, running my hand along the edge of the black bow across my chest for comfort – suddenly feeling like whatever is in that cave, I don't want to see it.

"You sure?" says Cal.

"Where else would it be? It'll be somewhere where people are unlikely to stumble upon it. Plus – that cave is giving me the serious heeby jeebies..." he makes an exaggerated shuddering movement, "even from up here."

Cal looks at him distastefully then nods.

"Well, shall we go?"

Cupid nods.

"May as well get this over with," He looks down at me. "Ready?"

I take a breath, then nod. He gives me a half smile before setting off down the path toward the cave in the rocks.

Cal waits for me to follow, and moments later I sense him close behind.

***

We stand on the craggy beach, painted black by the darkness, and look at the gaping hole in the cliff before us.

I'm filled with a great sense of awe - a sense of trepidation. The wind seems to whisper from within – and it seems to be whispering to leave this place, not to enter the darkness. I pull my leather jacket closer to my body as the hairs on my body stand up on end.

Cupid stares into it – a jagged mouth in the rocks. He subconsciously reaches over his shoulder, lightly stroking an arrow, before dropping his arm to his side again.

"This is it. I can feel it," he says.

He strides purposefully within and Cal and I follow him.

It's dark inside. I pretty much walk straight into Cupid the moment we leave the beach behind. I hear a fumbling before me, and Cupid turns on the flashlight of his phone which he points ahead. I can see nothing but black, slippery looking rocks. The ceiling is low – like we're in a tunnel. Ahead it twists around a corner.

"This way," says Cupid, his voice echoing around us with the sound of dripping water.

We walk slowly forward in single file, Cal tense behind me, following the bend in the cavern. My body is alert – I find myself flinching at every sound, every shadow created by Cupid's light.

Something doesn't feel right about this place.

My skin crawls.

As we progress through the low ceilinged, damp scented cave – it begins to get lighter. Cupid slows his pace, checking over his shoulder that me and Cal are still behind him. He puts his cell back into his jeans pocket as the white light ahead gets brighter. The tunnel we're in begins to get wider too.

What is that? What are we being led to?

Then suddenly Cupid stops.

He puts his hands out – stopping me and Cal from getting past.

We come to stand just behind him, peering over his arms.

And my mouth drops open. My heart begins to pound.

"Woahh," I say quietly. "Are they...?"

"Yeah..." says Cupid.

We're at the top of some smooth, dark stone steps that reach around the circular space and lead to the bottom of the cave. Looking above and below us, thousands of white threads criss-cross and twist around one another like a thick, silky cobweb – extending the length of the cavernous space. They emanate white light, and a low, gentle hum.

The threads of life.

Looking down I am instantly filled with a profound feeling of awe. I'd been expecting to see an actual loom – but it seems more like the entire cave is the loom. Beside me I hear Cal inhale sharply, and Cupid lets out a low whistle.

"How are we meant to find Valentine's thread?" I speak in a whisper though it looks like we are alone. "I mean...there's like a million threads or something..."

"There's hardly a million," says Cal sharply. "A couple of thousand maybe."

I roll my eyes.

"Whatever. I mean there's a lot."

Cupid nods.

"I don't know..." says Cupid. "But they must be attached to something –" he points down into the bright white light, "look, they're all threaded into hooks at both ends." He looks over his shoulder, "did Cassie give us any extra info?"

"I think there should be some identifier on the loom – but they're life threads," says Cal. "We should be able to recognize his if it's here, anyway."

Cupid nods, seemingly satisfied.

"Well, shall we?"

Forced back into single file we make our way down toward the white, humming strings. As we get closer to them I can feel their power. I can't believe each one of these represents a life.

"If Valentine's is here – can we just snap it?" I ask.

Cupid shakes his head.

"Only the shears will cut through."

When we reach the bottom step we're forced to step into the threads. We navigate around them – stepping over, and under them as we head around the walls to determine where the threads are attached – until Cupid stops suddenly.

The action fills me with dread.

"What is it?"

He points.

Instead of the white light everywhere else – there's a pinkish tint ahead.

Slowly Cupid makes his way toward it. We follow – weaving our bodies around the threads. By the wall Cupid stops again – a low, throaty noise escapes from his lips. We hurry beside him and follow his gaze.

My stomach plummets.

There are three empty hoops in the wall – no life threads hooked around them. The one in the center has a red bow looped into it – and attached to it a Valentine's Day card.

Valentine...

My pulse races.

Cupid reaches down and rips it from the wall. We read over his shoulder – a darkness filling me.

Sorry for the wasted journey, brothers! See you soon. Valentine.

P.S. await my instruction. I have something of yours!

My blood runs cold. What does he have?

"DAMNIT!" roars Cupid – slamming his palm into the rock. "HE TOOK HIS DAMN THREAD ALREADY!"

Cal however bends down and touches the empty hoops in the wall. His face whitens.

"Cal?" I say. "What is it?"

"This is where Cupid's thread will have been. I didn't expect it to be here, because Valentine found a way to put it in the system. But me...I'm not in the system..." he touches the other empty hook beside the red ribbon.

My stomach plummets as I realize what he is saying.

I have something of yours...

"Valentine has my thread," says Cal quietly. "And now he has the shears."

He looks up at us.

"He could kill me at any moment."