“I agree with Merc,” I say.
Both sets of brown eyes meet mine. Vee beams, and Merc raises a brow.
I clear my throat, adjusting to the attention. “The Scorpio and Aquarius pairing could either be transformative in the positive, all-consuming way, but it’s more likely to be in the wreck-your-life way.”
“He shows up!” Merc says, and I roll my eyes. They think I don’t talk because I don’t care, which is true. But mainly I keep quiet because those two go so fast I can’t keep up.
“Two against three?” Merc asks, and we nod in agreement. Venus is more reluctant, but she goes with it because that’s always been the protocol. When three are gathered, two dictate the flow in a blockage. Most of the time, the two are Vee and Merc, almost never Merc and me.
Merc clicks out of the charts, and I breathe a sigh of relief as I get ready to head out for my evening pottery session at Aaron’s studio.
“Don’t we have to talk about the mixer coming up?” Vee’s question halts me. I completely forgot about that, and by the way Merc pauses in their cleanup, I guess they did too.
Merc winces and curses under their breath. “I forgot. Shit.” They run their hands through their locs. “Okay, our first event as the core three. Vee, are the former couples ready?”
“The two people I previously coached, and their new partners, are all excited to share their stories.” She beams. In the past, clients who haven’t found a partner through our typical methods have done personal sessions with Venus, and after she works her magic, they find their person.
“The event planner is scheduled to come in on Monday to decorate the hall,” Merc says.
“Caterer booked,” Vee says.
“DJ playlist approved.” Merc counts off item four with their fingers.
“Great. So, I’ll be skipping out, if that’s cool.” I rock on my heels. That leaves me nothing to do for the event. Luckily for me, Vee and Merc had this gameplan set up from back when they worked with my dad.
“You have to be there,” Merc emphasizes. Their eyes widen, shocking me with intensity. “Membership has taken a dip in the past year, and we need to put on a united front for the Board.”
My eyes bulge. “Board members are coming?” That’s never happened, at least to my knowledge. The stuffy white shirts have always been content in their ivory tower.
“When you drop from a ninety-nine percent success rate down to ninety percent in less than a year, they ask questions.” Merc tries to keep their voice light and not look my way, but I know it’s my fault. I am not my father, for better or worse, and in this business, it’s definitely for worse.
“Guys—” I begin.
“No, don’t worry, you’re still finding your footing. It took me a while to adjust too.” Merc sweeps aside my concern. That’s a lie, but all right.
Vee places a pitying hand on my shoulder. I let her soothing touch linger for a second before shaking her off. I don’t need any pity.
“On the bright side, your production is increasing. The Sight is coming in slowly but surely.” Merc says.
A shaky laugh bubbles up from my throat. “Yeah, every day is easier,” I lie.
As much as I detest this job, I don’t want to be the reason why all of Merc and Vee’s hard work goes down the drain. And deep down, as much as I dislike him, I want to make my dad proud. It’s why I started reading up on astrology again. It’s part of why I won’t walk away, besides the fact that I literally can’t stop being Saturn.
“Soon enough, we’ll getCupid’s Bowback where we were.” Vee rests her head on my shoulder. The weight of her belief crushes me. I gulp and give my cousins a shaky smile.
Two options run through my head as we say our goodbyes. One, fine-tune my algorithm to perfection and make sure they don’t find out. Or two, unlock the full extent of my powers and retrieve The Sight.
I’m supposed to help Aaron out tonight by creating some novelty pieces for a client, but I can’t…not with this hanging over my head. I’m a realist. I call Aaron to cancel my pottery session, head back to my office, and fire up theCupid’s Bowsystem backend.
3Moyo
THE FAMILIAR VANILLA SCENT GREETS ME AS I STEP INTOCole’s empty apartment. Muscle memory carries me to his bedroom, and my brain succumbs to nervous excitement.
I never thought astrology would be my thing, but this past year with Cole has made me a believer. Standing in my boyfriend’s house in a trench coat and sexy black lingerie, I’m glad I followed in the Three Wise Men’s footsteps and let the stars lead me.
A satisfied smile forms on my lips as I take in my first-anniversary surprise. A royal blue bag holds the out-of-production perfume I spent months hunting down, and various sex toys are strewn across his silk sheets, waiting to be used. Even before he arrives, I know this pivot to something more intimate, moreus, is the right decision. I can’t wait to glimpse the lust on Cole’s face when he sees me in this set.
After my inspection, I glance at the clock for the fifth time in thirty minutes. Initially, I checked to make sure my surprise would be ready for his arrival, but now my nervous excitement has morphed into full-blown anxiety because Coleshouldbe home by now.
