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But Jackson was already shaking his head. “Can’t have guests walk in and have that hole in the roof be the first thing they see.Heard you’re getting more lately.”

“We are,” Luna said triumphantly. “I mean,theyare. I’m just the marketing girlie.”

Oliver stared at her. “You picknowto be humble?”

Luna shot him a coquettish look over her shoulder. It faltered after only a few seconds. That had been happening a lot. She’d start with something irritated or coy or flirty and then it would turn into something small and tentative. In those moments, Party Girl Ready For A Camera was gone, and Luna stood in her place.

Jackson cleared his throat. Oliver tore his gaze away from Luna to see the dragonborn watching him with a knowing smile.

“Uh,” Oliver said. He straightened his coat. “So, we’ll see you soon?”

“Soon enough,” Jackson replied. “You kids go on now.”

Oliver bumped into another three birdhouses on the way out. Luna laughed, but they were short, snippy laughs like her mind was elsewhere.

Breakfast was in full swing back at the inn, and the pack gathered in the common room around the table.

Oliver sat down in his usual seat, looking at the empty chair where Grandmother always sat.

“Where’s Grandmother?”

“She’s not feeling well,” Leo told him with the snide tone of a child who wasn’t sure the adults had told him the complete truth.

Oliver frowned at Ben, who shrugged.

“’S what she said,” he told Oliver, digging into his cereal. Bran and banana because he was “taking care of his health now,” and pancakes on the side because “pancakes don’t cancel out the bran, dumbass.”

Luna leaned over. “Why do you look constipated? People get colds, Oliver.”

“Not werewolves,” he replied. “If she’s sick?—”

He stopped himself as every adult at the table glared at him. He’d been about to explain Grandmother’s heart condition, which had required an operation five years ago.

“Which she isn’t,” Oliver said hastily, but the damage was done.

Leo slammed his spoon down. “This is stupid! I’m not a baby; you cantellme if she’s dying.”

“Leo,” Sabine and Ben snapped in one.

“She’s just tired,” Uncle Roy said from over by the coffee machine. “Hey. Don’t listen to anybody who says she’s sick. Alright? Grandmother’s tough as fangs. That includes her heart.”

Leo went back to his colorful cereal, grumbling under his breath. Vida and Darren traded a worried look across the table, pausing over their toast.

Oliver wiped the anxiety off his face. “Hey, never mind that. People get tired all the time. As Uncle Roy said, she’s tough as fangs. Eat your breakfast.”

The other kids went back to their food, still trading silent looks. Beside him, Luna was picking at her toast and trying not to look concerned. She was doing a very bad job of it, tearing absentmindedly at her crust andstaring at the table with a thousand-yard stare. Even without reaching through the bond, he could see her running through a mental catalog of every health issue she might’ve overlooked since she arrived, while Oliver was doing the exact same thing.

Oliver nudged her leg under the table.

She looked up, startled. Her toast was in shreds on her plate, picked apart by her nervous fingers.

He shook his head.It’s fine,he mouthed.

She smiled back at him. It was the kind of smile that wanted to be comforted but couldn’t quite get there. It did make her start actually eating her toast, so he was counting it as a win.

Oliver fought the urge to push through the bond to see what she was feeling. They’dagreed. He wasn’t about to ignore that just because he wanted to know how to make her feel better.

Ben cleared his throat. “So did you have to grovel?”