Celestial Bodies by Laura Leone Read Free Book Online Page A

birth.”
    “So what made you quit?” he asked curiously.
    “A lot of things. Mostly reevaluation of my priorities.”
    “Such as?”
    She sipped her tea and looked thoughtful. “It was killing my health, for one thing. It was a high-strung business of sudden unemployment, long hours, clashing temperaments, strained budgets. For three years it seemed thrilling, then it just started to seem exhausting.” She shrugged and admitted, “Some of the exhaustion level was my fault. People kept telling me to take a vacation, but I was very ambitious. As soon as I could see one job coming to a close, I would start pushing for another. I worked constantly.”
    “Then I started eating wrong, sleeping too little, neglecting my yoga. I started blowing off steam unfairly at people, misdirecting my anger and tension. I didn’t like myself very much.” She sipped her tea again. “As busy as I’ve been here, running the House of Ishtar, it’s nothing compared to the way I used to live. But I learned the hard way that stress and overwork are no good for me.” She glanced at him. “That’s why we hired you.”
    “No, you hired me because I’m your destiny. Just ask your father,” he said solemnly.
    Diana grimaced. “And how do you like your destiny so far?”
    He leaned forward and said honestly, “It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced in a long and varied life.”
    “Just how varied?” She pounced on the opportunity. She had told him something about herself. Maybe he would return the compliment.
    As usual, he deftly changed the subject. “Why did you name your business after your cat? Did Ishtar already live here?”
    “No.” Diana was disappointed for a moment, then looked forward to surprising him. Her eyes glinted with amusement as she looked at him. “My father has had Ishtar as long as anyone can remember.”
    “How old is she?”
    “No one knows. At least twenty-eight, certainly. She was full grown when, one day just before I was born, she walked into my father’s study in Chicago and introduced herself. She’s been with Felix ever since.”
    Nick’s eyes widened. “You mean to say that that cat is... is...”
    “At least as old as me. Probably older. The interesting thing is that our vet here estimates her age to be between three and five years—the same estimation as we got when she moved in with us, twenty-eight years ago.”
    “Is that possible?”
    “Since she’s here, I would have to say it is.”
    He regarded her suspiciously. “You’re putting me on.”
    “No. She’s the original. Even if Felix were given to subterfuge, you can always tell that she’s the real Ishtar because of a tiny crook halfway down her tail. I guess she broke it once during her youth.” Diana looked at him innocently.
    “So Felix even has a wizard’s familiar,” Nick murmured.
    “It’s certainly good for his image, isn’t it? But it happens to be true.”
    “Why not?” Nick asked and sighed. “A lot of strange things happen around here that seem to be true. Do you know Felix walked up to me the other day and started explaining my nature as a Scorpio?”
    “So?”
      “So I never told him I was a Scorpio! I haven’t given you or anyone else my birth date since arriving. How did he know?”
    Diana chuckled. “Oh, you’ll get used to that. He does it all the time. I have no idea how, but he knows, all right.”
    Nick was about to say more, when he remembered he was posing as Felix’s acolyte. His rational questions and reasoning on the subject might make Diana suspicious. Once again she had made him forget why he was here.
    “So how’s your reading coming?” Diana asked after a pause.
    “Slowly. The ascendant and descendant axis. The upper and lower meridians. The houses of the planets, regeneration and reorientation, aspects of the zodiac—it’s pretty confusing,” he said truthfully. “I don’t see how it relates to the tarot, either.”
    “That’s more advanced, I believe,” Diana