Free The Healer: A Young Adult Romantic Fantasy (The Healer Series Book 1) by C. J. Anaya Page A

she have something that made people fall in love with each other too?”
    “Actually, there are some similarities there as well. Freya acquired a necklace that was made by four dwarves. This necklace was called the Brisingamen, and some have referred to the necklace as the necklace of desire. There isn’t much folklore that supports my own theory on what the necklace was capable of, but I’ve always suspected that it symbolized Freya’s abilities to bring young lovers together in much the same way that Cupid’s arrows and Musubi’s cherry blossoms did.”
    “But it isn’t actually bringing people together. It’s forcing them to love each other mindlessly,” I said in disagreement.
    “Interesting, Ms. Fairmont. Please continue,” Ms. Mori said.
    It really was weird how she kept waiting for me to have some kind of strange epiphany. She always tended to rub me the wrong way—nothing I could put my finger on—but today her intense scrutiny unsettled me.
    “Well, Cupid is shooting arrows at people to make them fall in love with each other. He wasn’t even in love with Psyche until he was stupid enough to stick himself with his own arrow. And Musubi is playing with fate by handing out cherry blossoms to people who will then turn around and give them to the person they desire, forcing that person to fall in love with them. How is that love when it isn’t even your choice?”
    “So you believe that love is a choice? Surely you’ve read books and watched movies where people fall in love with someone and wish they hadn’t, as if they could choose to stop simply because they wished it.” She looked like she didn’t agree with my opinion.
    “I’m not talking about stopping once you’ve already started. I’m talking about not being forced to fall in love with someone in the first place. What if you love the wrong person? What if the person you are supposed to love isn’t the person you end up loving all because some stupid, over-privileged god thinks he has the right to shoot you with an arrow and change your fate completely?” I was upset, but wasn’t sure why. It was weird to feel so passionate about something I’d never really considered before.
    “Do you think you could actually be forced to love someone if those feelings weren’t already buried deep within you? I’ve always assumed that Cupid’s arrows and Musubi’s blossoms merely brought out the love that humans are afraid to confront and explore. They ensure a happy ending. If your destiny is your soul mate then why fight it?”
    “All I’m saying is this: forcing someone to love anybody isn’t doing anyone any good.”
    “So you think the arrows and cherry blossoms are actually symbols of blindness, stripping one’s ability to choose.”
    “Yeah, I guess I do.” I realized the class had become very quiet during the last few minutes.
    “I think they symbolize second chances, personally,” said a new voice directly behind me.
    At the sound of that new, distinct voice it felt as if time slowed to a halt. My insides ignited and my heart lurched within my chest, beating like it never had before, as if it had been dormant for a while, but had found a new reason to awaken. I slowly turned myself around and saw a pair of cold, calculating eyes looking at me with a surprising amount of familiarity. Not to mention an uncalled for amount of hostility. His eyes were ice blue, his hair was golden blond and his demeanor was chilly. His tanned skin deepened the color of his eyes and his square jaw jutted out proudly. He was an absolute Adonis.
    In all honesty, I was having trouble looking away from him, but from the way my body was reacting to him it was clear that I needed to. I was hyper-aware of the affect he had on my beating heart, and the smug, knowing look on his face made it obvious that he knew it and wasn’t at all surprised by it.
    “Hello Tie,” Ms. Mori said.
    I spun around to face my teacher, feeling relieved her voice had managed to