Great Goddess, my life was complicated.
“Hey, Sailor,” said Maya. She’d stopped searching for mysterious bleegs and was making sure the store’s Web site was up-to-date. “What was the deal with you yesterday?”
“Yesterday?”
“At that Chinese herb place the Lucky Moon, on Sacramento near Grant? A little after four?”
Sailor frowned. “The Lucky Moon is my regular herb shop. But I wasn’t in Chinatown yesterday. I worked with Patience all afternoon, then came here for dinner.”
Maya tilted her head, the way she did when she was puzzled. “But... this is so weird. Honestly, Sailor, you’re not easily mistaken for someone else. We were standing right next to each other at the cash register. Motorcycle jacket, black boots...?”
Sailor shook his head again. “I don’t know what to say, Maya. I wasn’t there.”
“Do you have a twin brother, by any chance?”
He let out a quick bark of laughter. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“Can you imagine?” I breathed, nearly fanning myself at the thought oftwoSailors walking around.
“It must have been someone who looks like me,” said Sailor.
I stared at him, and my stomach fell. He wasn’t being entirely truthful.
Don’t overreact,I told myself. Sailor and I were both new to this romantic-relationship deal; it was only natural to experience a few hiccups along the way. I would ask him about it tonight, when we were alone.
“Nice dress,” Sailor said, checking out the wedding dress Wind Spirit had brought in. One eyebrow rose. “Or am I not supposed to see that before the big event?”
“You don’t find it a little... meringue-y?”
He inclined his head. “It does make me think of pie.”
“Sailor, did you feel anything when you met Tristan?” I asked, changing the subject.
“No, he was strongly guarded,” Sailor said. “All I felt was a simmering threat.”
“I would imagine that had more to do with your regular old human radar than anything psychic,” Maya said. “That Tristan is one creepy dude. I could feel it through the glass, and I’m about as psychic as my dog, Loretta.”
“Actually,” said Sailor, “most animals are highly intuitive.”
Maya smiled. “Bad example. You know what I mean.”
“I do.” He returned her smile. “Anyway, I have to rush off; I’m due in Oakland in half an hour. Sorry about yesterday, Maya; I can’t tell you who that was.”
“No worries,” she said.
“What’s up in Oakland?” I asked.
“I’m working with my aunt Renna today.” Once upon a time Sailor had been a powerful psychic, under the wing—and the thumb—of Aidan Rhodes. He had recently gained his freedom but at the cost of some of his psychic abilities. Ever since, Sailor had been training intensively to relearn how to interpret and control his natural talents.
“Oh, um... say hi to her for me. If it feelsappropriate,” I said. Sailor’s aunt Renna was a talented Rom fortune-teller. She was another person who was angry with me. Since I’d arrived in San Francisco, I had, for the first time in my life, made several good friends, but had also made some powerful enemies. I might want to watch that.
Sailor smiled and brushed a lock of dark hair off my forehead. “She’ll come to the wedding, and peace shall be made.”
“Is that some sort of ancient Rom saying?”
“As a matter of fact, it is. Though I may have mangled the translation. But Renna wouldn’t miss out on what I promised her would be some amazing hors d’oeuvres, and in our family, at least, once someone attends a wedding and eats something, they’re obligated to support the marriage.”
“Well, then,” I said, a little fluttery sensation in my stomach. “We’ll have to make sure those are some darned yummy appetizers.”
