ARC: The Seers by Julianna Scott Read Free Book Online Page A

entrance of the manor and made our way into the enormous foyer. Now this was something straight out of Camelot. Stone pillars, molded wood paneling, carved marble mantles, and deep red carpets with gold trim. It would have been ridiculously over the top if it wasn’t so incredibly cool. We headed toward the far side of the room where a woman sat at an ornate wooden desk handing out room assignments and other check-in information. The desk was only a short distance away from the main door, and in theory should have been no problem to get to. However, it turned out that crossing a room isn’t as simple of a task as it sounds when you are with two of the most popular people in that particular room.
    Cormac seemed to know everyone, and they were all very excited to say hello. They would hurry over with big smiles and air-kiss or shake hands, then talk about how long it had been, then inquire about one another’s health, then the health of the family if applicable, so on and so forth. Typical fluffy, not-too-deep, reunion conversation that you pull out when you see someone you’ve not seen in a while but aren’t close enough with to bother seeing outside of formal occasions. After the pleasantries were done, Cormac would introduce Jocelyn, Alex, and I to whomever it was he was speaking, while they in turn would greet us politely, pretending just a little too hard not to look impressed by the name Clavish. Finally, whomever it was would promise Cormac that they would meet again later so they could catch up properly before walking off, allowing the next person to come forward, and the process would start all over again.
    The other popularity peg in our little group was of course Jocelyn, and while he may have only personally known two or three out of the dozens milling around us, it was clear that they all knew him. I don’t think there was a single person in the entire foyer that I didn’t catch stealing glances, or gesturing toward him then whispering behind their champagne glasses. Jocelyn had told me that he was kind of a God to these people, but I guess I hadn’t realized just how serious he’d been. I glanced up at him expecting him to seem edgy or uncomfortable as he had never enjoyed attention – at least as far as I’d ever known – but he was totally at ease. Did he seriously not realize that practically every eye in the place was on him? He had to.
    And to make matters worse, when each pair of eyes were finished gawking at Jocelyn, without fail, they would move to me. They’d look me over, glance back to Jocelyn, then back to me, whispering, staring, pointing, more whispering, more staring…
    I felt like an animal on display at the zoo.
    Though, I guess I should have expected as much. After all, it was no secret that I was the spitting image of Jocelyn, so it wouldn’t have been hard to deduce that I was his daughter. And if he was a rock star, I guess that had to make me at least a backup dancer.
    Yeah, it was weird – really weird – but if Jocelyn wasn’t going to let it bother him, I certainly wasn’t going to be the one to fold. Following his example, I stood quietly with my head up, feigning an easy smile I didn’t feel, ignoring the nagging urge to shrink back behind one of the stone pillars and disappear.
    “Jocelyn!” a dainty yet confident voice suddenly called through the cloud of conversation surrounding us. I turned to see a thin woman with a radiant smile headed our way, gliding through the clusters of chatting guests like a yacht cutting through sea foam.
    “ Tá mé chomh sásta d’fhéadfaí tú a bheith linn, ” she twittered, stepping up to Jocelyn and taking his hands into hers, “ tá sé iontach a fheiceáil duit! ”
    I was about to eye Alex for a translation, but as it turned out, Jocelyn took care of it. “Alva,” he said, leaning down and air kissing each of her cheeks – at which, I am proud to say, I did not so much as smirk. “We are more than happy to be here,