Page 40 of Seer

Mom made a sound of distress. “I’ll do it right now.”

I said, “Thanks, Mom. We’ll call you later.”

I hung up with her, then sighed as more texts came in. I turned to Cal and Edgar. “I need to talk to the Wonders Thomas was connected to, or else they’ll keep freaking out.”

Edgar stood and patted his pockets as if looking for his keys. “If you tell me where to go, I can drive while you talk on the phone. You have a general area, or can you narrow it down?”

I knew exactly where Thomas had been when he’d died, which was disturbing. That wasn’t the type of information I’d ever been able to glean from a connection with a Wonder before, even if they’d been in distress. For all I’d tried to keep my distance from Cal today, him carrying me, however briefly, had formed a connection between us. A strong one, stronger than any connection I had with my Wonders.

Fuck.

“He was at a cemetery near Pflugerville.”

Cal nodded. “Let’s go.” He got up and went to the table to put his sticker-covered laptop back in his ratty backpack. I looked away from the stain on his t-shirt. Why did I have to be attracted to him? When I was focused on other things, like when we’d been talking at lunch, it was comfortable to be with him. He was easy to talk to, and I appreciated his sarcasm.

But then I noticed again how slovenly he was, how he didn’t seem to care about his belongings, and my anxiety skyrocketed.

If we’d already formed a connection, was he my mate? Contrary to what I’d let my mom and everyone else believe, I didn’t want to end up alone. But I also couldn’t ask Cal to change who he was just so he didn’t trigger my anxiety issues.

I excused myself to go to my bedroom for a moment. It was my favorite room in the apartment, all soothing shades of gray-blue with crisp white accents. I stood in the center of the room and breathed in and out.

We had to find Thomas’ killer. I’d keep as much distance as I could between me and Cal, and maybe our connection would wither away. Or at least it wouldn’t get any stronger.

I grabbed my phone charger and went back to the living room. Cal and Edgar were ready to leave.

In the elevator, I kept Edgar between Cal and me. And when we got to Edgar’s SUV, I volunteered to sit in the back so Cal could help navigate while I made my phone calls. See? Keeping space between us would be easy.

My first text was to Craig, letting him know I wouldn’t be back to the pet resort before closing time, but at some point I’d drop Cal off to get his truck.

I created a text thread with everyone who’d called or texted me for information regarding Thomas. He hadn’t had any family, and he was pretty much a loner. He’d been in the Central District for over forty years, however, so he’d made a few connections along the way.

I’m on my way to find out what happened to Thomas. Please try not to speculate.

Chuck

He wasn’t at home. I checked his house.

I know where he was, and I’m on my way there now with Edgar and Cal, the new Seer

Pria

Annie is saying on Discord how Cal had a vision where she died, but you warned her in time. But now Thomas is dead. Did the same person who was going to kill Annie kill Thomas?

We’re not sure of anything yet. I’ll post in Discord when I know something.

The group text was a good effort, but it didn’t keep some of the Wonders from calling me, demanding answers I’d already told them I didn’t have.

A hour later, as we reached the outskirts of Pflugerville, I was able to put my phone down. “They’re all freaking out,” I told Edgar and Cal.

Edgar snorted. “With good reason.”

Cal shifted in his seat. “I’ve been doing some research on my phone while we were driving, and I have a couple of possibilities for what the monster might be.”

I started to automatically object to calling anybody a monster—having been trained from an early age not to use terms likethat for the Wonders. But in this case he was right. Whatever was killing the Wonders, it was a monster.

Edgar held up a hand. “Before we get to that, Greg, we’re almost to Pflugerville. Where am I going?”

Thomas had lived several miles outside of Pflugerville, but he hadn’t died at home.