Seth by Laura Greenwood

CHAPTER6

Menhit

The atmosphereat DeLux Café was as electric as always, but something about it felt off to me. I supposed I hadn’t been to one of their 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 of 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.

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.

“You’re supposed to be talking to Seth,” she reminded me.

“I’ll do that too,” I promised. Especially because he was the person I actually wanted to see.

I pulled my phone out and typed a quick message to Seth. < So sorry, something happened and my friends pressured me into signing up for speed dating. Either sign up and find me, or we’ll meet once the final bell rings? > 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 in one of the women’s seats and smoothed down my name tag, briefly wondering if I should have put Merry on it instead of Menhit, but that would have 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 man with white-streaked dark hair sat down opposite me and offered me a toothy grin, two fangs poking out from the side of his lips. A vampire then. Not really my type, but there was no reason to dismiss him just because of that. Though perhaps it was reasonable to dismiss him based on the fact he wasn’t who I wanted to be speaking to right now.

“Hi,” he said. “I’m Stefan.”

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

“Bigger than I expected,” he admitted. “But good.”

“Eve and Aphrodite put on good events,” I said. “And they’ve had a few success stories of couples getting together, which I think helped spread the word.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

I shook my head. “I like meeting people and this seemed like a good way. I was hooked after the first time I came.”

“I can see why. If you like people, this is the perfect place to be.”

“Do you like being around others?” I asked, surprised at how easy it was to talk to him even if he wasn’t the man I wanted to be sitting opposite me.

“I do. It’s how I got into real estate.”

“And I imagine that also means you get invited into lots of houses,” I joked.

He chuckled. “Yep, that’s the secret most vampires won’t tell you. What do you do?”

“I make knives,” I responded, though I realised that didn’t quite summarise the extent of what I did, but it was enough for now.

“Hmm, so we both have pointy weapons.”

I shook my head in bemusement, only to be semi-disappointed when the bell rang, signalling the end of the session. We said our goodbyes and he moved only, being replaced by another stranger who wasn’t Seth.

I hoped I hadn’t wasted my chance at meeting him.