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We arrived at the Luxor with full tummies and a few minutes to spare before the opening speeches were made. Leo took Sawyer to the observation area where some excited bystanders had gathered along with the media. The seating around the stage was specifically reserved for clerics.
Several people were already sitting, some of whom I knew well, others whose faces I recognized but couldn’t immediately assign a role to.
Sunny and I stopped at the registration table and filled out our paperwork, then we were each handed a tote bag with our name badges attached to the outside. Instead of our full names mine just said: Tallulah, Rain Chaser, Temple of Seth and bore Seth’s sigil on the side, in case someone was too lazy to read the fine print.
Actually it was pretty clever. I knew the sigils better than most people’s faces, so having the symbol next to the name would help remind me who people were much faster.
Sunny was rifling through her purse and then did something to her name tag before she slipped it on.
When I glanced down, I saw she?
??d covered the black sun mark on her tag with a gold sticker version. She caught me looking and blushed. “We have the stickers in the lobby at the temple. They’re so much prettier than the plain black, don’t you think?”
She moved the tag side to side under the light so I could see the way the sticker sparkled.
My sister was an absolute gift.
I spotted Cade sitting a few rows from the front. He was still wearing a suit, this one a light-gray color, which was maybe just the tiniest bit too small, because it clung to his back muscles almost obscenely.
Throwing caution to the wind, I charged ahead and dropped into the seat beside him.
“Took you long enough, Spar—” My nickname stopped halfway out his mouth when he realized I wasn’t alone. “Hello.”
Like shutters coming down in front of a closed shop, he went from smiling to dead serious in a half second flat. It was instant and very weird to watch. He completely shut down.
“Cade, this is my sister, Sunny.”
He nodded at her politely, glancing down at her name tag. “Ah, you’re the new head cleric for Apollo, then. I was wondering who would replace Gina after she moved into the temple priestess position.”
“Someone’s been reading the newsletters,” Sunny said with a chuckle.
Cade ignored her teasing. “Tell me something, Sunny, are you a lot like your sister?”
“That depends on what you mean,” she hedged. Smart woman.
“Are you insufferable, stubborn, demanding, and a general pain in the ass?”
I slapped his arm. Sunny grinned. “Those are her best qualities. And no, I’m not. Those are strictly Tallulah traits.”
This time I slapped her. “You’re supposed to say, No, Cade, my sister is absolute perfection incarnate. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I would, but I’ve met you.”
Cade did the unthinkable and offered her a steely, tight smile. Since she was a relative stranger, this was a huge display of emotion.
“How do you guys know each other?” she asked.
Maybe I should have played it cooler when I walked over here. Obviously she had sensed there was a reason and was trying her best to suss it out.
“Our paths cross pretty often for work,” he said.
Her gaze drifted down to his name tag and the little black cat sigil. “Ah,” was all she said.
Someone dropped into the seat beside Sunny, and she visibly recoiled, which wasn’t a normal response from her. My sister was the type to always see the good in everyone, so for her to react in a negative way so obviously had to mean…
I leaned forward in my chair. “Prescott.”
“Corentines.” He nodded. “Cade. Sunny, you’re looking…vital.”
