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Her expression fell. “But. . . he told me just last night to give him a little more time. ”
Seb was getting it clearly now. Not only did Carlos have two other girlfriends on the go, he was married already. The woman had no idea; she’d believed everything the cabrón had told her. It was hardly uncommon – a lot of men didn’t seem to know the meaning of the word “faithful”, unless they were talking about what their wives and girlfriends had better be to them – but Seb had given too many readings over the years to stomach this attitude. He knew only too well by now what it did to women; how it made them feel.
“Carlos’s life is complicated,” he said, managing to hide his irritation at the man. “I’m sorry, Señorita, but he isn’t in a position to propose to you. I’m afraid he never will be. ”
He wasn’t usually this blunt, but he could tell that on some level the woman already knew it was hopeless; it was why she’d stopped to get a reading from him. Now she winced, and ducked her head down. “I’ve been praying so hard to the angels that things will work out,” she said in a whisper. “I thought – I thought so many more of them arriving might be a sign they’d heard me. ”
“The angels are very kind,” said Seb diplomatically. He could see that the woman’s energy field was undamaged; she was just one of the ones who loved the angels anyway. There were plenty of them, and now that the angels’ numbers had increased by so many, he supposed there’d soon be plenty more. “But I can hear them now,” he went on, “and they’re saying to me that you shouldn’t wait for Carlos. ”
The woman’s eyes widened. Okay, he was making this part up – but he had to give her something, or else she wouldn’t make the break. “They want you to get on with your life,” he said firmly. “To be happy. You haven’t been happy in a long time, Señorita. ”
By the time the woman left, her expression was thoughtful; Seb could sense the hope that had taken root in her. He leaned back against a palm tree, savouring the mental silence. A few hours of readings had left him as drained as an empty bottle. He wasn’t really sure why he put so much into them, for only a hundred pesos. When he’d made the decision to quit thieving, readings had just been a way to keep from starving – and back then, he hadn’t bothered to make much effort; he’d cobbled together quick fortunes from whatever he saw. Somehow, as the years had passed, he’d started caring a lot more.
Thinking of the angels’ arrival, Seb sighed. When he’d glimpsed some of the TV footage in a cafe two days before, he’d wondered for a heart-pounding moment if the presence of so many more angels might somehow lead him to his half-angel girl after all. But he couldn’t see how it might – and so for him, the world hadn’t changed, despite how much happiness the angels’ arrival might have brought everyone else. The realization had depressed him; he’d avoided looking at the footage after that.
Seb scraped a hand roughly across his stubble – enough of this. As he got to his feet, a female voice called his name. Turning, he saw two girls a year or two older than he was heading towards him – both with bright American smiles and bouncing ponytails. “Hey, remember us?” said the redhead in English as they reached him.
“How could I forget?” Seb swung his knapsack over his shoulder. Lucy and someone else. Amanda, that was it. They were part of a group of American students staying at the same hostel that he was; Seb had sat up with a few of them the night before, drinking and talking. The girls’ Spanish wasn’t nearly as fluent as they thought, so that he’d found it easier to speak to them in English, which he’d picked up from giving readings to American tourists over the years. He spoke a little French too – was good at languages almost without trying. He knew being psychic helped.
“So, are you finished with ‘work’?” asked Lucy the redhead, giving him a flirtatious smile as she made quote marks in the air. They’d thought it was hilarious that he gave psychic readings. He wouldn’t have bothered telling them, except that one of their group had seen him here in the marketplace the day before. “Because if you are,” she went on, “maybe you could show us the sights. ”
He hesitated. Both girls were pretty and fun to be with, but all he really felt like doing was going back to the hostel and reading his book – maybe sitting outside with a cigarette. But Lucy was already laughing, pulling at his arm. “We’re not taking no for an answer. Besides, you promised last night. ”
“I don’t remember this,” he said, smiling despite himself.
“Well, you practically did. Come on, give us the grand tour of el mercado – we want to see a typical Mexican marketplace. ”
He gave in. Why not? It wasn’t as if he had anything else to do with his time, now that he was no longer searching. The thought brought a wince of pain; he pushed it away.
“All right,” he said. He raked his hair back; he could feel the curls hanging over his forehead, annoying him. “The first thing, I think, is that we go and find something to eat. ”
“Ooh, good idea,” said Amanda. She had dark hair and eyebrows that were too perfect to be natural. “Lead the way. ”
The bright chaos of the marketplace enveloped them: vendors shouting their bargains; the smell of spicy food cooking; crowds of shoppers. Seb had been in Chihuahua for almost two weeks now. After his decision at the orphanage, he’d hitched a ride with the first truck he’d seen to wherever it was going, but had somehow felt compelled to get off here – so strongly that he’d almost shouted at the truck driver to stop. It didn’t make much sense to him now; the town was as dusty and run-down as he remembered. Still, he supposed it was as good a place as any to figure out what to do with the rest of his life.
The problem was, he had no idea – all he knew was that ever since he’d arrived in Chihuahua, he’d had a feeling there was something he was supposed to be doing. It was a constant irritation, like a bee buzzing at his head.
They got tacos and wandered around the stalls. Lucy kept close to him as they walked, frequently touching his arm as she and Amanda chattered about the Copper Canyon train trip their group was taking the next morning, to see the plunging canyons of the Sierra Madre. They were excited about experiencing the “real Mexico”, which amused Seb. The Copper Canyon tour – so safe and so geared for American tourists – was not remotely like the real Mexico he knew.
“You’ll have a good time,” was all he said. “Make sure you don’t fall out the window – it’s a long way down. ”
“Hey, maybe you could come with us!” Lucy gave a little skip to get ahead of him, walking backwards. She was wearing tight jeans, and a halter top that showed off her creamy skin. “Why don’t you? I’m sure we can get you a ticket. We’d have a great time!”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Um, hello – we had to book those tickets months ago, remember? There’s no way we can get him one. ”
“It’s okay, I’ve seen it,” said Seb. He crumpled up the wax paper that his taco had come in, pitching it into a garbage can. He was dryly aware that even as he was talking to the girls, part of him was scanning every aura he passed. Yes, he’d certainly given up searching – didn’t even think about it any more.
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