Page 68 of Seer

Greg and I went back to the book room. It took another four hours, but finally we’d gone through the rest of the books. There was a stack of thirty-two that we thought might have information on the fog monsters.

Greg said, “You want to grab lunch here and just take these books home with us? I’d like to get on the road earlier instead of looking at the books first.”

“Sounds good.”

Soon we were cleaned up, packed up, and done with lunch. Ithought Delphia would never let go when she hugged me goodbye.

“You call me if you have any questions about your visions,” she said. “And don’t let Greg fool you. He pretends he doesn’t give a shit, but he’s a big softie under it all.”

“Um, okay.” I let my arms fall away from her and tried to take a step back, but she held on.

“Mom, let Cal go. He has to come back to Bent Oak with me.”

Delphia pouted at her son, but she did release me. I surreptitiously took a deep breath to make sure my ribs had survived as I walked around to the passenger side of the car. We’d belted Ms. Jackson in their cat statue form upright in the rear seat so they could see out the window. I’d have wanted to after decades in the book room.

None of the Wonders had come out to say goodbye, but I was grateful for that, because I was ready to get home.

When we exited the driveway in front of the house, instead of turning left to return the way we’d come in, Greg turned right. “You still want to see the animals, don’t you?” he asked.

I sat up in my seat, making sure not to knock over the stack of books at my feet. “Yes, please.” I’d forgotten Greg had told me he’d show them to me as we left.

More fences lined the road on either side, but the trees prevented me from seeing anything beyond them. A chill ran down my spine as I remembered the trees behind the wall near where Thomas had died.

Greg made a right turn onto a gravel road. “On the left is where we have the big cat enclosures. You probably won’t be able to see them. Yaro, the rhino shifter you saw when we arrived yesterday, is in charge of taking care of them.”

He pointed to the other side. “On the right are more hoofed and three-toed mammals, like the zebra and the moose you saw yesterday. There are some camels and even one giraffe.”

The trees thinned out on the right, and I caught a glimpse of a camel.

“Where do they all come from?”

Greg made a face. “Rich people who either want to keep them as pets or shoot them for fun.”

I looked over at him, appalled.

He went on. “Sometimes we find them when we’re on missions to rescue Wonders. Asshole billionaires who keep Wonders locked up or on display are likely to do the same to exotic animals. Other times random people or law enforcement find TWIST on the internet and ask us to take in animals they’ve come across.”

The trees opened up even more, and suddenly the black horse I’d seen yesterday was galloping next to us on the other side of the fence.

“That’s Pim. He and his team are responsible for the hoofed mammals.”

I waved, just in case Pim could see me. He turned and galloped away when another fence blocked his path.

“How does TWIST get funding?” I asked.

Greg chuckled. “We have a donation button on the website that gets some traction occasionally, but most of the cash comes from a trust set up by the original family. Over the decades it’s grown enough that TWIST can survive on the interest alone.”

Soon we were back on the road that led to Blanco and on our way home.

I picked up one of the books at my feet. Most of them were in the back seat, but I’d kept several up front with me so I could look at them during the drive.

I held it up so Greg could see it. “Edgar found this. I think you were out of the room. He said it probably doesn’t have any info on the fog monsters, but he thought I should read it. It’s the diary of Douglas Shaw. One of your ancestors?”

Greg nodded. “My great uncle on my dad’s side. He was one of the original people infused with magic in North America. Apparently he and my grandfather saved some Wonders from being captured by the Nazis during World War II.” He smiled and shook his head. “They didn’t say anything when they got back home until after the war was over and the Elves showed up to gift them with the magic.”

“That must’ve been a shock.”

He grinned. “I’m sure. But my mom says they were all casual about it.” He put on a thick Texas accent. “Just a couple a good ol’ boys from West Texas who did a good deed for some odd-lookin’ critters. Shucks, anybody woulda done the same.”