Leo Rising (Zodiac Guardians #3) - Tamar Sloan Page 0,1

The motion makes her catch sight of her nails. She brings up her hands to inspect them.

Dammit.

Several of her nails have broken. She’ll need another visit from Bing—that woman may be small and only know a handful of non-Japanese words, but she’s a miracle worker with nail emergencies. And this absolutely is an emergency.

Cassandra pulls out her phone and texts the woman, requesting her help ASAP. Then she slips the phone in her back jeans pocket and looks up at the ornately carved French mirror hanging on the wall above her desk. She straightens her shoulders and tosses her hair over them, examining her reflection.

Golden locks that bounce perfectly with each step and frame her beautiful face like a halo. Amber eyes that shine like gems beneath her thick lashes, and lips so plump and pink they hardly need lip gloss. She’s tall, thin, athletic, with enviable breasts and an ass you could bounce a quarter off of.

“You are perfect,” she says to the gorgeous blonde looking back at her. At least on the outside, which is the only thing that counts. The only thing the world can see. “You are in control.” She plasters on her winning smile and winks, then proudly walks out of her room to join Julia and the housekeeper in the kitchen.

2

Tristan

Swirling the red, orange, and yellow fro-yo flavors together, Tristan admits Veronica is onto something with her signature Sunrise Surprise. Sweet and tangy, the cold dessert slides over his tongue like daybreak over the horizon.

He can’t believe it was only yesterday that he was here with the others. Celebrating. Trying to find a new middle-ground with Brielle.

Seeing the small sparks of light flicker along Cassandra’s fingertips as she progressively became more frustrated waiting for her frozen dessert…

Tristan plonks the spoon into his half-finished cup, and his head sinks into his hands. They suspected Cassandra was a Zodiac Guardian from the beginning, until she was captured and tortured and she didn’t protect herself.

Which means she either has some serious static electricity issues going on, or she’s someone who can sure as hell keep a secret.

And the Zodiacs need to find out which is the case. Whether Cassandra is one of them.

Tristan pokes his fro-yo, the three colors are starting to blend into one, looking more like a dirty sunset. If only that was the hardest part of this next step forward. For that, he just needs to find a way to get Cassandra close to the stones and see whether one glows.

But before that, Tristan has to tell Brielle.

And he’s never seen two people push each other’s buttons as much as those two. It’s quite possible Cassandra and Brielle are each other’s triggers.

How can they defeat Chardis with two of the Zodiacs more focused on killing each other than Skins?

They can’t, which is why Tristan’s here, wasting precious fro-yo, wondering what he’s supposed to do next.

He thinks back to the last few weeks. When Tristan and Jareth first met, neither of them were convinced they had much in common, and now they’re roommates. In fact, it’s kinda cool to have someone else rattling around in that giant house. Just this morning, they burned pancakes together, then took turns using them as frisbees. At each other.

Tristan sits up a little straighter. Brielle had tried to coordinate a meetup with the three of them not that long ago. She wanted Jareth and Tristan to meet, spend a little time together, get past the conclusions they’d drawn. And that’s exactly what Tristan has to do with the girls!

He shoves away the fro-yo, excited that he has a plan. He just needs to find a way to get Brielle and Cassandra on talking terms. If Cassandra is a Zodiac, then surely the Zodiac bond will take care of the rest.

The cloying scent of too much perfume hits Tristan before Madge’s voice does. “It’s because you didn’t have your usual gummy bears,” she purrs.

Glancing down, Tristan realizes this is probably the first time he hasn’t finished a fro-yo. In fact, the half that’s left is turning into a melted puddle. “Probably.”

Madge leans her elbows on the counter and slides forward. “I could make you one of my specials.” She winks. “On the house.”

Tristan scrambles to try and find a way to extricate himself. He can’t guarantee that fro-yo won’t be drugged.

“Excuse me. Are you Tristan?”

Glad for the distraction, Tristan turns to find out why a child is tugging on his shirt.

A boy, probably only eight, is standing beside him. He