Page 11 of Looking for Seth

"Why wouldn't it be a good idea? I thought you were pro-Seth?" She cocked her head to the side. "You said you thought he was misunderstood."

"He is misunderstood," I countered. "You were there. You know he didn't do all of those things he was accused of."

She sighed. "I was there for some of it. And that does make me think that the rest is unlikely," she conceded.

I nodded. That was always how it had seemed to me, especially because I seemed to have some memories of meeting Osiris at some point, which wouldn't be possible if Seth had really killed him, even if there was a necromancer involved.

So why was I being so protective of Seth? Especially when I also wanted my friends to be there when we met. I shook my head. I just needed to relax and let things progress the way they should. Maybe after the speed dating event, I wouldn't want anything else to do with Seth ever, and then Ptah could have him.

Chapter 6

Menhit

The atmosphere in the hotel bar was as electric as always, but something about it felt off to me. I supposed I hadn't been to one of Venus' speed dating events since Seth and I had started sending daily messages, and I was a little taken aback by the way it made me feel.

I supposed there was no denying that I'd started to feel something deeper for him, even if I still hadn't managed to tell him who I was.

Then again, I supposed he hadn't revealed his identity either.

Perhaps this wasn't quite as good an idea as I first thought it would be. It would probably be rude of me to message him and claim that I was sick. Or to say I cut myself badly while knife-making. That was potentially more believable.

But I shouldn't do that. It was better that we didn't prolong this charade for longer than we had to. The sooner he knew the truth about me, and the sooner the truth about him was unavoidable, the better it would be for us both and we could actually explore what was between us.

I took a deep breath. It wasn't like me to want to back down from anything, particularly not meeting someone I wanted to spend time with.

This was a simple omission that needed to come to light, nothing more. It wasn't even technically a lie. Though I supposed I could have admitted something around the time he asked if I was a fire fairy.

I stared at my glass of wine, trying to ignore the disappointment that Seth wasn't here yet. And the fact that I hadn't told my friends about the real reason I'd wanted them to come tonight, so I couldn't even talk to them about why I was feeling this way.

The bell sounded, signalling that it was time for the daters to take their places.

"Are you not going?" Bastet asked.

Oh. Right. She thought that I was here to go dating, like normal. "I'd hoped to have more time to get ready." And more time for Seth to arrive so I didn't have to join the daters. I wasn't sure exactly why I'd thought this was a good idea.

Maybe that was why he hadn't shown up. He hadn't seemed particularly enamoured with the idea that this was a speed dating event in the first place. Perhaps he disappeared the moment he realised who the guests at this event were.

"We can catch up after the dates. Come find us when you're done?" Bastet said, completely missing the conflict warring within me. Which wasn't really her fault, I was particularly good at covering up how I was feeling when I wanted to.

"I will unless I find someone fun to spend the night with." I tried to smile at her, but didn't feel like it reached my eyes. I didn't want to spend the night with anyone.

I pulled my phone out and typed a quick message to Seth. I hit send, hoping it was enough to make him join the tables.

I said goodbye to my friends. They really did look sweet together, and I was happy for them, but being around an established couple so much was starting to get to me. Which was how I'd ended up in this situation in the first place.

I sat down at one of the empty tables and smoothed down my name tag, briefly wondering if I should have put Merry on it instead of Menhit, but that would only perpetuate the complicated situation I'd ended up in the first place.

I glanced towards the stairs, half expecting Seth to appear, and only ending up more disappointed when he didn't.

Nerves fluttered in my stomach, more acute than any I'd felt in the past, including before important ceremonies and marches into war. How had I gotten into this position? I should have just used my real name on the dating app, even if I thought it was wise to use my human one at the time. I chided myself for the foolish thought. Of course it was better to use my human name. A lot more people than just Seth had seen my profile and my name. It was safer for all of us for me to use a pseudonym.

A woman with white-streaked dark hair sat down opposite me and offered me a toothy grin, two fangs poking out from the side of her lips. A vampire then. Not really my type, but there was no reason to dismiss her just because of that. Though perhaps it was reasonable to dismiss her based on the fact she wasn't who I wanted to be speaking to right now.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Stefana."

"Menhit," I responded with an attempt at a smile. "How are you finding the event?"

"Bigger than I expected," she admitted. "But good."