Page 2 of Looking for Seth

"Yeah, I guess." A pang of pain travelled through me, making me realise that was exactly the way I was feeling, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Hmm. What about trying online dating? I heard Jinx have an app for that too."

"I haven't done that yet. I swear, Jinx has everything."

She snorted. "Aine was very persuasive when she was setting up Jinx."

"And this is why I shouldn't trust love gods."

"Well, you're going to trust this one. Hand me your phone, we're going to set you up on the app." She held out her hand and made a motion that had me giving it to her without thinking twice about it. She clicked on the screen to start downloading an app and handed my phone back.

"What do you know about dating apps?" I tried to keep the surprise out of my voice, but I didn't manage. She'd kept herself away from anything remotely social for years, I doubted she'd been dabbling in human dating in that time.

"People told me their life stories every time they came to adopt a cat. I've heard a lot about them."

"Huh, who would have thought it?"

"Many, many, humans," she responded. "But to hear them tell it, dating apps are where you'll find someone. You have to make your profile, then you get to decide on the people you like based on first impressions."

"So basically like speed dating," I muttered as I clicked through the instructions on the screen. "I should use my human name, right?"

She nodded. "I would. What is it? I've never asked."

"Merry. What's yours?"

"Betty."

I cocked my head to the side. "I don't think it suits you."

"That's what Sekhmet said. But that's what I picked, so that's what all my paperwork says. I don't use it very much anyway. No one ever cared about me when they were coming to look at cats."

"Just the way you like it," I pointed out.

"Exactly."

"Okay, will you check my profile?" I asked, handing my phone back to her.

"Sure. But I don't think you'll have put anything that I wouldn't. What did you put for your age?"

"I checked the box that hides it from people. I know it's an app that's only for paranormals and gods, but I worry that it'll put people off."

"Mmm. People might accuse you of lying if you put five thousand and thirty-three," she agreed. "If that even is how old you are."

"No idea, to be honest. I stopped counting a long time ago."

"Well, it all looks good. You can start swiping."

I took my phone back from her and stared down at the screen where a smiling guy looked back at me. At first glance, he looked nice, but there was something in his eyes that made me think twice about him. I pressed the X on the bottom left of the screen, sending him into the rejection pile. A woman with too many shopping bags in her picture quickly followed, and a man with a gym selfie as his profile photo.

"This is kind of fun," I said as I swiped on a few more people.

Bastet chuckled. "You're supposed to say yes to some of them, though."

"I know. Here's one. He's got a nice smile. I'll say yes to him." I pressed the heart on the right-hand side of the screen.

Bastet leaned back in her chair, seeming amused at my response to the swiping. And a little smug, but she could only claim that if I found someone interesting enough to actually date.

I paused when I came across the photo of a man who looked like he was in his thirties with a charming smile and what looked like secrets in his eyes. Something intrigued me about him, and he almost looked familiar, though I couldn't put my finger on what it was about him that made me think as much. Perhaps I'd seen someone who looked like him in passing at some point. I'd known a lot of people in my life, there was always a chance of that.