Page 51 of Zodiac Demons

“Omari, stop.” Ceto said through gritted teeth.

Omari, I presumed, ignored his brother and outstretched his hand. He released me from his magic so I could accept the introduction.

“Omari Arya,” he said with an assessing cock of his brow. His expression was soft and friendly and didn’t explain why Ceto was currently extremely the opposite.

“Lila Denton.” I took his hand against my better judgment, but instead of shaking it, he hooked his fingers under mine, and knelt to kiss the back of my knuckles.

“Enchanted, Lila Denton.” He met my eyes again, his lips still a breath away from my skin, and something about that made my cheeks heat. “I’ve never heard that family name before. Not from around here?”

“I’m not. I mean, my mom is. Her maiden name was Rodanthe, but she took my dad’s name when I was born. But I’m not human or anything so… so it’s fine that I work here.” I was flustered to the point I was rambling. The way Ceto was communicating nervous and overwhelming danger signals so silently between us was messing with my head. I didn’t want to be seen as less than or unimportant in front of his brother. Not when I was possibly—hopefully—a permanent part of the family now. Maybe my mom’s name would hold a little more weight than my dad’s did to leave a good first impression.

“Rodanthe?” He stood back upright, his height pulling my gaze to his 6’5” space in the clouds, and he glanced back at his younger brother before he released my hand. Ceto had his palm over his face, and I wished we had telepathy like I did with Marcus right now, because this was all very confusing. “That shouldn’t surprise me. You’re every bit as beautiful as I’d expect of the daughter of a serpent queen.”

And now I was blushing even harder. I was mated three times over and this was not the time or place to be getting hot and bothered by a total stranger, but here we were, living Lila’s precariously hypersexual life.

Omari was handsome, without question, in a similar way that Ceto was handsome, but he was significantly more muscular and intimidating and if both he and his brothers were technically snakes, Omari gave me solid danger noodle vibes, while Ceto was more like a spicy garter snake. Though he seemed polite enough, and I didn’t get the sense he wanted to hurt me.

I’d have to meet everyone in his family at some point anyway, so there was no point in hiding my identity. Everyone had told me if I’d just mentioned my mom’s maiden name from day one, everything would have been easier, so I was trying to do a better job of that.

And yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d just fucked up.

“I’m new to Graves, even though I guess my family name isn’t.” I continued, rubbing the back of my neck as I tried to sound casual and normal and interesting, smoothing over whatever tension was radiating through my fucking soul. “Ceto was one of my first friends when I moved here for Graves Academy, and it’s been great working with him.” Professional. Sound like a good, professional, normal employee. “So it’s great to finally meet some of his family.”

Omari’s smile had a charisma to it that made me smile too, despite the heavy dread in the atmosphere. He slowly dragged that sidelong glance back from a mortified Ceto to a perplexed me, and I opted to just put my foot directly in my mouth at this point. I really needed to learn how to block thoughts and emotions between my mates, because this shit was stressful.

“I didn’t know the Rodanthes had any heirs,” Omari said casually. He reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. I was frozen in his eyes again, though I wasn’t sure if that was by magic or social awkwardness this time. “How lucky I am to make your acquaintance, Lila. I hope this meeting is the first of many.”

“What are you doing here, Omari?” Ceto finally cut in, while I remained paralyzed, and Omari’s fingertips lingered on my temple. He slowly slid that feather-light touch down my cheek, then brushed along my jaw line. His gaze moved down to my neck, though his stone sight didn’t relinquish even when breaking eye contact. He brushed lightly over Marcus’ mark before withdrawing.

“I just got back from Mongolia. Had to help dad sort out an Olgoi-Khorkhoi problem in the Gobi Desert. Death worms can be unpredictable, you know. But it’s been so long since I’d seen you, I thought I’d just stop by and say hi once you got off work. Lucky me, you’re always easy to find.” His tone was upbeat, playful, genuine. It wasn’t mocking or cruel. It was only through that bond I had with Ceto that the air was making me claustrophobic. “So let’s catch up? How has it been going with the matchmaker?”

“Matchmaker?” I asked, and Ceto visibly recoiled. I looked between them, now wanting to know what I didn’t know.

“Lila, I don’t want to hold you up any longer. Please head home.” Ceto sank his chin, blatantly ignoring the question.

I frowned. “Of course. I’ll just go get my things.” I nodded and side stepped Omari before heading into the back room to grab my purse. I’d planned to take the bus home today, but I was starting to think I should call Marcus and get a ride.

Because that would make everything less tense for sure.

But what did he mean about a matchmaker? Was Ceto dating other people? Was that why he’d been struggling so much with our mate pact? The thought struck something painful in my chest, and it wasn’t fair of me to be jealous.

Of course he was with other people. He was from some ancient, important bloodline. They probably still had old traditions and expectations of worthiness or something. I guess I was of an important bloodline too, but I wasn’t anyone in the grand scheme. Being born from someone special didn’t make me special by default.

It was no wonder he’d never actually asked me out in any official capacity. He probably had some breathtaking heiress of the gods that he was supposed to marry. He’d said he wasn’t dating anyone when he asked me to do inventory with him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t betrothed to marry someone.

God, I feel so stupid.

We were just friends who made bad choices on full moons. Friends with mate marks that were akin to marriage, but that was definitely a mistake.

I pulled my phone out and texted Marcus. Despite being a bit flighty, he wasted no time agreeing to pick me up. If he was going through something right now, he was still there for me when I needed him at least. I was about to step back onto the sales floor so I could leave out the front, when I heard Omari through the door.

“Are you fucking her?” He asked in a voice that was as amused as it was accusing.

“She’s not your business.” Ceto dodged the question, and that made me frown too. I should go. I shouldn’t eavesdrop. This was a private conversation, and I didn’t know their dynamic well enough to judge.

“The hot and very interesting daughter of Lamia is definitely my business.” I’d never had a total stranger call me ‘hot and very interesting’ by first impression, and I certainly wouldn’t expect that when I wasn’t in the room, so my self-esteem was going to keep that in my pocket forever. “You’re meeting at least one new match every week right now, aren’t you? More if you have a few promising prospects who made it to round two with you. I don’t know why you would when that pretty little thing is right there. If you don’t want her…” Omari ‘s voice got more distant, as if he was moving away from the door, and I couldn’t hear what he said after that.

“I’m not discussing this with you” was the last thing I was able to hear before the doorknob started to turn, and I hustled to move back and look like I was just collecting my things, and definitely not listening in on their conversation.