Celestial Bodies by Laura Leone Page B

information, and I know you’ve already covered this in your reading,” Felix said confidently.
    “Yeah. Right. I’m just a little confused.” That was true, at least.
    “The three of us are all fixed signs. As an Aquarius, I am, of course, an air sign.”
    “I believe that,” Nick said. He caught Diana’s sharp glance and held her gaze.
    “Diana is a fire sign.”
    Yeah, I’ll bet that’s right . Something hot rushed through him, as if Diana’s fire had reached out to sear him.
    “Now, obviously, Mars rules Scorpio,” Felix went on, warming to his subject.
    “Obviously,” Nick murmured. Diana was nervous, he realized. Not as calm and indifferent as she had pretended to be all day at work. He wondered how she had slept last night.
    “Mars represents passion, desire,” Felix expounded.
    “It sure does.” Nick definitely felt Mars dominating his system right now.
    “Energy, assertiveness, courage, initiative,” Felix continued. “It energizes, intensifies, stimulates, inflames, aggravates.”
    “Aggravates,” Diana repeated significantly as she wiped a clean counter and fiddled with a wall hanging that was already perfectly straight.
    Felix fell silent and studied the chart with total absorption. Nick took advantage of the older man’s distraction. “Come sit with us, Diana.”
    She obviously took it as a challenge. Maybe he had meant it that way. He wasn’t sure. He just knew he wanted her close to him, so near he could smell the jasmine oil on her skin.
    She sat by him again and folded her long-fingered hands on top of the kitchen table. She obviously knew he was barely paying attention to the reading, and he could see that familiar spark of ambivalent humor in her expression.
    Felix suddenly asked, “Nick, have you ever considered investigative work?”
    Nick nearly vaulted out of his chair. “What?” He almost choked on the word.
    “It’s indicated with amazing strength,” Felix said. “Look here.” He pointed to some of his hieroglyphic notations. “The position of the sun gives you a natural talent for investigation. This is strengthened by Jupiter, which indicates superb deductive reasoning, coupled with natural curiosity. Mmm-hmm, look at this. Detective skills... a bearer of weapons... pursuit of justice... Of course, this is offset by an impulsive nature and several indications of enormous capacity for sensual passion. And just look at the position of Uranus!”
    “What about it?” Nick croaked.
    “It indicates an undeniable power to concentrate, probe, deduce and—ah-hah!”
    “Ah-hah, what?” Nick said.
    “There it is again. The Fourth House shows an overwhelming tendency to seek rational explanations. And the position of Venus confirms a relentlessly sensual nature.”
    “Really?” Nick asked weakly.
    “Are you sure about the time of your birth?” Felix asked.
    He nodded.
    Felix studied the chart for a few more moments. “This is extraordinary, Nick. There’s virtually nothing in the stars at the time of your birth to indicate you would be the kind of man you are.”
    “How’s that?”
    “Someone seeking spiritual growth and enlightenment.” Felix shook his head. “No, according to this, you should be some sort of beer-drinking, meat-eating, hotheaded, skirt-chasing, gun-toting private eye or something. Amazing! The stars have never misled me before.”
    “Gee, how about that?” Nick tried to keep his voice calm. He didn’t know whether he was more chilled by the possibility of having his cover blown or by the disconcerting accuracy of Felix’s remarks. He could be exposed by a horoscope. A horoscope , for God’s sake! How much weirder could things get around here?
    “What a challenge!” Felix exclaimed excitedly.
    “You’ve got him going now,” Diana warned Nick.
    “Now, Felix,” Nick began, trying to rescue the situation, “maybe you made a mistake somewhere. That diagram looks very complicated—”
    “That’s the first thing I’m going to