Aries Rising (17 page)

Already the musicians’ stage had been set up, already the stations for appetizers and alcohol. Soon the costumed guests would begin arriving. I followed Bobby and Stacy into the large banquet room overlooking the city.

“Hi, Stacy,” I said. “Have a minute?”

“Sorry, but there’s just too much to do right now. Let’s chat soon.”

“I don’t want to chat,” I told her.

“What then?”

“I’d like to talk.” I said it with such force that I actually got her attention.

“I have five minutes, no more.” She glanced back at Bobby, and I realized how wound up she was. “Let’s go outside.”

The foggy air on the balcony was cool and sharp, the skyline smoky.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“Why did you lie to me about Arianna’s sign?”

She grabbed the rail and glared at me. “I never said it was hers.”

“And more important, you never said it was your sign. But it is yours, isn’t it?”

“You’re way out of line here, Logan. As much as I respect Henry, you’re a little too weird with this astro stuff, and I’m not telling you anything else.”

“You don’t have to,” I said. “I know you’re the double Gemini with the Aries Moon.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Gemini Sun, Gemini Rising. Aries Moon. That’s the chart you gave me to figure out. You need to listen to me, and you also need to figure out a way to stop this party. If you don’t, something terrible is going to happen.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Stacy said. “The party is on, and no one can stop it. I’ve had enough of this.” She turned away from the rail, her expression icy. “Now, I need to go change into my costume. I owe your shy little friend for that one. Remind me to thank her.”

 

22

YOUR ASTROLOGICAL CHART IS A MAP THAT WAS BORN
THE MOMENT YOU WERE. IT IS A GUIDE TO YOUR
STRENGTHS AND CHALLENGES, AND ON OCCASION, THE
TIMES OF YOUR GREATEST DURESS. TRAGEDY BEFALLS
US ALL. SOONER OR LATER, WE ALL MUST DEAL WITH
ENEMIES, SOME MORE THREATENING THAN OTHERS.
CHOOSE YOUR ENEMIES CAREFULLY. WHEN YOU KNOW
THEIR ASTROLOGICAL CHARTS AS WELL AS YOU KNOW
YOUR OWN, YOU WILL PREVAIL.

 

 

 

 

The Gemini night had finally arrived. Dusk had settled over the city, transforming it to a living lithograph of gray, black, and white. I tried to forget the sound of
Jeremy’s girlfriend’s voice on the phone. He was a supposed-to-be-true Taurus. How had I lost him so soon? Francis, the angry chef, had told me that I could change in the staff rest-room. That made me like him better. Besides, I could see that he loved his kitchen. It couldn’t be fun to have Alex taking it over and treating him like an assistant.

Once I had finished putting on my Sherlock, I looked into the mirror and had to admire myself in the short skirt and cool hat. The pockets were deep, so it was easy to stash my pipe, cell phone, and notebook.

The door swung open. Two women in black dresses and sequined face masks flew in like crows.

“Sherlock,” one of them said. “You go.”

At least she had recognized who I was supposed to be. I couldn’t help wondering why they were in the staff rest-room, but I couldn’t obsess about that right now. It was time to join the party.

With the wide windows reflecting the lights of the city, it seemed as if the night had come inside. I stepped out of the elevator and tried to pretend that I wasn’t buzzing with anxiety, fear, and a major broken heart.

The rooftop hotel ballroom was filled with everyone from Tarzan, Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette, Shrek, Princess Leia, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman. Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett mingled with Napoleon and Josephine. Flavor Flav, with a clock around his neck, flashed his grill and adjusted his Viking horns as he checked out Stacy in her Queen of Hearts gown.

Behind her was the tall, muscular King of Hearts, long dark hair pulled back behind a red-and-gold hat trimmed in fake ermine. Paige hadn’t had time to help Cory with the design of his costume, and it showed. The same fake ermine trimmed the sides and bottom of his matching red coat. A mask covered most of his face, but I knew that the eyes would be blue trimmed with thick, dark lashes.

When he saw me, he turned away, and I wondered if he was embarrassed for me to see him dressed up in a matchymatchy version of Stacy’s costume. He’d done this, I knew, so that he could be in the magazine to resurrect his career.

A string quartet played at a low volume at one end of the suite, but the laughter and conversations among the guests drowned out the music. No wonder the magazine had rented and closed off the block of rooms below us. No one down there would be able to sleep tonight.

Just then, Henry Jaffa walked in. One look, and I knew he was supposed to be Edgar Allan Poe, complete with the black velvet raven perched upon the shoulder of his topcoat. He caught my eye and grinned. Finally, I had a friend here. I ran up to him.

“That’s an original costume,” he said, “and appropriate. How’s it going?”

“I’m worried,” I said. “Something bad is going to happen tonight.”

“Are you speaking from an astrological perspective?” he asked.

I nodded. “More than that, though. I tried to talk to Stacy
about it.”

“She mentioned that there had been some . . .” I could see him try to search for an appropriate term. “... some tension between you two. I was sorry to hear that. She’s been very successful at a very young age and could be an excellent role model for you.”

“She’s been dishonest with me from the start,” I said. “Remember when she gave me the astrological chart to figure out? She said it was the chart of a celebrity who would be attending the party. Only it was her chart, and there’s what we call a square, a potential for disaster for her tonight. She won’t listen to me.”

“What sort of disaster?” I could see that I had his attention now.

“I don’t know. The stars aren’t that exact.”

“Then there’s not much we can do,” he said. “And what if you’re wrong? You know that you’ll lose Stacy’s respect and the magazine astrology column right along with it.”

“I know that, but I don’t think I’m wrong.”

At that moment, Josh Mellick stepped into the room. He was dressed as both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and his costume was half lab coat, half tuxedo tails, half professor mask, half ghoul. Gemini Arianna must have picked it out. He was even better looking than his photos. His teeth were so white I knew he must be seriously into bleach strips, and I could see the famous spiked hair over the top of his mask.

Arianna walked in behind him, no more baseball cap and jeans. In her ’90s Madonna costume, complete with cone
bra, she looked like the star she was. Capricorn Josh could be a good sign for her. I hoped, for her sake, that it worked out. Like most Gemini Sun signs, she had two sides, and I still didn’t know what she’d been doing with Alex that night.

The elevator opened. Catwoman slinked in alone. She was cute yet edgy with the super lashes and long, black whiskers painted on her face. Then came Aphrodite. I barely recognized Paige. Without her glasses and her pale hair pulled straight back and topped by a wreath of burnished leaves, she was beyond beautiful. Now I realized how smart she had been to forego wearing a mask. That face was all she needed.

How much of beauty was attitude? I wondered. Although she had the same features as regular old Paige, she didn’t look anything like that girl.

I started toward them, one so sexy and the other so stunning. Then I glanced over at the top of the stairs beside the elevator. There stood a slender, golden-skinned woman in an aluminum miniskirt and a mass of hair the same color. She inhaled slowly, as if breathing in the room. Once she spotted Paige, she paused, then boldly approached her.

“Your costume,” she said. “Who designed it?”

“I did, Graciela.”

Graciela.
The Platinum Dragon. She was here, and she was actually speaking to Paige.

“You designed it? Then, you are very talented, my friend. You have, perhaps, a mentor, someone older, who maybe guided you?”

“Paige is a design major,” I said. “Isn’t she, Chili?”

“She loves your beachwear.” Chili flashed her a killer
smile, and the whiskers Paige had drawn onto her face broke into dimples.

“I have followed your work since I was a kid,” Paige said, speaking over our words. “I love the way that all of your fabrics are cut on the bias. And those iridescent tones.” She spoke with a confidence I had never seen in her before.

“We must talk,” Graciela said. “But first tell me, please. Where is Arianna? I designed her Madonna costume, you know.”

“She’s right there.” I turned to point her out, but Madonna was nowhere to be found. It was as if she had melted into the crowd.

23

WHEN YOU ARE UNCERTAIN WHICH ACTION TO TAKE,
YOU MUST REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. WHAT IS YOUR
STRENGTH? FIRE IS AGGRESSIVE. EARTH IS STABLE. AIR
IS ANALYTICAL. WATER IS EMOTIONAL. BUT ALL SIGNS
HAVE THAT INNATE GIFT OF FLYING, MOVING, THINK-
ING, OR FEELING THEIR WAY INTO ACTION IN TIMES OF
CRISES. YOU CAN DO THAT, WHATEVER YOUR SIGN.

 

 

 

 

I had read that earlier today when I was hoping for any message that would make sense to me. Remembering it just then, I knew that my strength was all in this pondering head of mine. And this pondering head insisted that I needed to find Madonna. Needed to find Arianna. Even though Stacy was the Gemini who was supposed to be in danger, something
was going on with Arianna, and I was worried about her.

I would start my search in that tiny area off the party room. It was reserved for the catering people, and although Alex Keen’s staff dashed in and out of it, no one stayed for long. The tiny room smelled of garlic, cilantro, and something piercingly sweet. Ginger, maybe. Cinnamon. But no one was there. Then I saw it. A large square door in the wall. Another entrance to the service elevator.

“Oh no.” I said it before I realized that I was talking to myself.

“Get me out of here.” It was a low-pitched moan, and it was coming from the louvered doors of the pantry to my left. I opened it and found Josh, partially in and partially out of his Jekyll and Hyde costume, the mask around his neck.

“What’s going on?” I asked him. “Who did this to you?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see the guy.” He rubbed his spiky hair, and I caught sight of the dried blood there.

“Where is Arianna?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Someone just hit me from behind.”

“But why?” The Capricorn knew more than he was telling me. “Why would anyone want to hit you?”

“Because of Arianna,” he said. “Because of what she had planned.”

“Tell me. The only way we can help her is if I know what’s going on.”