Page 50 of Seer

“Nah, I’m good. Unless you need something.”

I shook my head. “Maybe in a while.”

We drove in silence as I navigated out of town and got on the highway. I gestured at the radio. “Feel free to find some music or a podcast or something. Whatever you like is fine.”

Cal hesitated before saying, “Whatever I like? Because not many people listen to the same stuff I do.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you’re into death metal, then, yeah, it wouldn’t be too relaxing for me. But otherwise, hit me with it.”

He coughed a laugh. “No death metal, I promise. And it’ll be relaxing. But let me know if you want something else.”

He produced a USB cable from his backpack and attached his phone to the car. In a moment the unmistakable sounds of Neil Diamond singing “Sweet Caroline” came out of the speakers.

“Nice,” I said. It was a fun song for a road trip. The next one up was Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou”, and then Barry Manilow with “Somewhere Down the Road”.

“Is this a seventies playlist?” I asked.

He eyed me as if he was worried I’d make fun of his music. “Mostly.”

“How’d you get into that?”

He glanced out the window at the small hills covered in scrub trees. “I know you’ve met Felix, but have you met my friend Steve?”

“I think so? But it was a few years ago at a party at Felix and Malcolm’s place.”

“Got it. Steve and I met in elementary school. His mom was awesome.” Cal’s voice warmed up exponentially, and his lips curled into a smile. “She had this old turntable, and a big box full of vinyl records.” He pointed at the dashboard. “Mostly from the seventies. She’d had them since she was a kid. I was fascinated with the turntable, and she let me play her records on it whenever I came over.” He looked out the window again. “When she died no one wanted the turntable and records, so Steve gave them to me.”

I felt his grief through our connection—the first emotion I’d sensed from him all morning. I searched for something to say. “I’m sure she’d be pleased you still love the music. How long ago did she pass?”

“Steve and I were thirteen.”

“Wow, that’s young. I’m so sorry.”

He nodded jerkily.

Crap, I needed a new conversation topic.

“Uh, Edgar left a little earlier than we did, so he’ll be at TWIST before we get there. You can meet Bettina, his wife. She’s a magic carrier, not a Wonder, but there are a large number of different species of Wonders at TWIST. And of course the exotic animals.”

Cal’s head jerked toward me. “Exotic animals?”

I smiled. “The organization is officially an exotic and wild animal rescue, and they do take in actual animals. The Wonders help take care of them.”

“Huh.”

“And has Felix told you about our friend Silvia, who attends game nights at Craig and Foster’s place?”

His eyebrows raised. “Yes? She makes really good food, right?”

I nodded. “She also recently met a Wonder named Lloyd Carpenter. He’s a wolf shifter. They resonated.” I glanced over at Cal. “Meaning Silvia is a magic carrier and she and Lloyd are compatible.”

“Right. Uh, did you know she was a magic carrier?”

“I did, but when I mentioned reading books about shifters or Elves, she didn’t react. I met her daughter and granddaughter, and they didn’t inherit the magic, but I haven’t met her great-granddaughter yet. It can skip generations. Anyway, I talked to my mom, and we decided to just keep an eye on Silvia and only bring her into the campaign if she crossed paths with a Wonder.”

Chuckling, I told Cal the story of Edgar’s vision and how he’d made sure Silvia crossed paths with Lloyd in his sweater-wearing wolf form.

“So now Lloyd is moving to Bent Oak to be with Silvia. He’ll be there packing up his belongings. I told him I’d bring some of his stuff back with us.”