Page 26 of Zodiac Beasts

“Well, it looks like you have this handled, Professor.” I squeaked, forcing a subject change, and doing a poor job of pretending to be aloof about the whole thing. “I’m going to go check out some of the other booths, if that’s okay. I have some friends I want to say hi to.”

“Of course. Everything is under control here.” Professor Karras no longer made eye contact, and I didn’t want it anymore.

I stepped away from our club’s space once I assured everything was ready to go, and I made my way through the large open field to look for Ceto, hoping to get my mind off these men.

The Picnic was in the Courtyard of Graves Academy, and a couple hundred different clubs had booths set up in rows upon rows of stalls and open air displays. It took me about twenty minutes to find the stall for the Sewing Club. The club itself was small—only about five people from what I saw—but it was surprisingly busy. Students were lining up to have their measurements taken, and different dress and jacket designs were displayed on a nicely decorated folding table.

The club was almost entirely women, not unlike my own. Ceto was the only guy there, actually. I wondered if he had a crush on any of them. Did he ever go on dates? What if he had a whole harem of seamstresses that he spent time with in between Calculus and the library. It was a strange thought to imagine Ceto interacting with other people by choice, even though I’d watched him many a time pull off flawless customer service.

But that was a fake, surface level interaction. I’d never seen him talking to a friend. I’d never even heard him talk about having friends. Somehow, I’d imagined he was the only member of his sewing club, just because he never brought up anyone else.

I tried not to distract him as he measured a tall, thin man that gave definite giraffe shifter vibes. He was probably just a regular human, but now that I knew I was a magic thing, I felt like I should be able to sense if he was a magic thing, too. I stared at him intently and sniffed the air, looking for any kind of weird, telling scars or giraffe spots or scents of… something, but no matter how awkwardly I fixated on strangers in public, I still couldn’t tell a damn thing about them. I sort of picked up the vague smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, but it always smelled a little like that around Ceto, and I just assumed that was his… uh… shifter smell or whatever. The sage around Marcus and the Rosemary and Tobacco notes around Adrian had never been cologne at all, I’d gathered. I wondered what I smelled like?

I night have to ask Marcus or Ceto later how shifters spotted each other, other than the weirdly colored eyes thing. There must be some rhyme and reason there. Ceto knew I was magic immediately, anyway.

When I made it to the front of the line, Ceto finally noticed me.

“Lila, I’m glad you came by.” He greeted me with a warm smile, then glanced at the long line and frowned. “How long have you been waiting? I would have let you skip the line. Employee perks and all.”

“Not long.” I reassured him. It had been a whole hour, but no reason to guilt trip the guy. If anything, I liked that he was so incredibly focused on his work that he hadn’t noticed me in all that time. Being that passionate about something was cute. “Do you think I can get some measurements for a new dress?”

Ceto’s expression softened to something unusually warm and evocative. I could practically feel the sense of peace and happiness that radiated from him at the request.

Odd. Maybe it was the night’s full moon that made me so sensitive right now.

“I promised I would.” He tipped his chin toward the measuring area, and I followed. There were a couple other club members within the little square space that was shielded from the sun by a pop-up canopy. A heavy rug covered the grass, with stools and work tables arranged neatly in each corner, covered stat sheets, pens, and differently colored measuring tape.

Each club member was busy measuring students and showing off the available designs. It was so pleasant and quiet, I mildly regretted not joining this club instead of Astrology.

“Where do you want me to stand?” I asked, as I glanced at the sketches of coats and dresses they had to choose from. They were all very basic but flattering in their classic simplicity.

“Right there.” He said as he pulled up a stool. “Don’t move a muscle, Lila.”

Chapter 14

Lila stood awkwardly in the measuring area, shifting on her heels with a curious unease. She met my gaze, and I took that opportunity to calm her down.

“I’m just going to take your measurements. No reason to be nervous.” I approached Lila with my eyes shifted, holding her in place. She couldn’t move a single muscle until I let her. I’d tested it on her enough times now to know it was effective. My paralysis gaze didn’t work on all magic species—vampires, specifically, I knew were immune— but it worked on her. It was then reasonable to conclude that she wasn’t even partially a creature with any sort of sight based magic like a Gorgon or Catoblepas. If anything, I gathered her sight was actually quite poor. I may need to factor that into my research.

I released her as I entered her space, and she exhaled naturally. She never seemed to notice she was petrified in my gaze. She was precious in an entirely too trusting way. It was no wonder she’d gotten mixed up with Marcus Emery when she was so easy to befriend. A woman like her would be a perfect target for an Alpha like him.

Maybe she was also a perfect target for an Omega like me.

Insane. I admonished myself in my head, not wanting to look at her like that at all. She was my curious and vibrant coworker. Maybe even a genuine friend.

Not a potential mate.

Never a potential mate. I wouldn’t risk another person like that. One day, I’d be forced to choose someone, and I would never want that life for Lila. Family dinners with Mother, Father, and Omari would be hell embodied.

Speaking of hell, Marcus must be somewhere around here, certainly. I’d not spoken to him since I left the Astrology Club last year, and yet he’d obviously stayed in it. It was an easy credit for an Astrology Shifter, and how else would he know Lila? He wasn’t one for the Sciences.

I wonder… is he watching us right now?

Should I be more careful about my interactions with her in this environment, or should I be more aggressive? I couldn’t decide which would be more enjoyable and antagonistic.

Ordinarily I would have been able to sense him, or at least scent him, but Lila carried his notes of sage on such an intense level, it would be impossible for me to discern her from him in an open space like this.

Now that I thought about it, her scent of sage currently overwhelmed the normal Rosemary and Tobacco that balanced her pheromones. But… the Capricorn mate scar still appeared on her lip, obvious even under her makeup. The scent was still there, but it was so vague and muted.