Page 59 of Seer

Bloom turned his attention to Greg. “Tell me, Greg, are you still practicing your French?” He said to me, “I was one ofGreg and Dominic’s tutors during their school years. I taught them French and mathematics.”

“Oh, Greg mentioned he’d been homeschooled.”

Bloom waggled his hand. “I’m not sure it was as organized as you make it sound. Delphia had many responsibilities after her husband passed. She did her best, but there were many Wonders in need at the time, and Greg and Dominic were often left to their own devices.”

I felt stressed just thinking about it. Poor kids. “Are there any children here now?”

Bloom eyed Max, who pointed his fork at him and said, “Don’t you say it!”

Objective accomplished, Bloom smiled and told me, “No, Dominic’s daughter Callie was the last, and after her mother passed, he sent her to live with Greg so she could go to a formal school.”

I turned to look at Greg, eyebrows raised. “How old was she?”

“Fourteen,” Greg said tersely. He told Bloom, “She goes by Caroline now.”

Bloom sat back in his chair and nodded. He eyed me. “Makes sense.” Turning back to Greg, he asked, “Is she enjoying her new role?”

“She is. She?—”

The door to the great room slammed open, and I wasn’t the only one to jump in my seat. A woman shouted, “Sorry!” and pulled it shut again.

Damn, Greg was right about this place being chaotic. I was super tense, my heart beating a million miles an hour just waiting for the next thing to happen.

But the feeling was... odd. Like it wasn’tmyheart that was beating so fast.

Oh, shit.

I casually turned to look at Greg. He was staring into the distance, one of his hands clenched in his lap, and the other gripping his water glass hard enough to turn his fingers white.

Fuck.

Okay, okay. I needed to get Greg out of here, but without sending everyone else into some sort of tizzy worrying about him. He wouldn’t want to be the center of attention right now.

I put my napkin next to my plate, then I slid my palm over Greg’s shoulder. When I was sure he was paying attention to me, I said, “Do we have to stay for dessert? Because those cookies earlier were enough sweets for me for one day, and I want to do some research before we go to bed.”

He trembled under my hand, so I put my arm around his back and said, “I’ll make it worth your while.” I wiggled my eyebrows, and Lloyd and Bloom laughed.

Greg breathed out, his tension lessening. He gave an awkward chuckle. “Sure.”

I squeezed him once, then, leaving my hand on his shoulder, stood up from my chair. Conversations halted. “Delphia, Max, Silvia, thank you so much for the delicious meal. I’m sorry, but I’ve got some work to do, and I’m taking this one with me so he can help.”

Max said, not at all quietly, “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

Everyone laughed and whistled.

No one suspected a thing.

Under the guise of helping him move his chair back, I got Greg to his feet. “Uh, which is the best way to get back to our room?” I didnotwant Greg to walk through the Twister-playing wolves.

“We can cut across the courtyard,” he said, nudging me toward the other side of the room where double doors led outside.

We walked into the humid night, my hand on Greg’s lower back. When the door shut behind us, cutting off the din of the conversation, Greg’s shoulders came down and he exhaled loudly. The anxious feeling coming through our connection diminished.

“Is it still helping to have me touch you?” I asked.

He nodded but didn’t look at me. “Yes, thanks.”

An animal of some kind—or maybe it was a bird—made an eerie laughing sound in the distance.