Free ARC: The Seers by Julianna Scott Page A

try to ignore it. And if it helps, you can always think about how bad it could be.” When I looked up confused, his grin grew wry. “If they knew,” he mouthed silently.
    Dear God, he was right…
    If they somehow found out the truth about me and my abilities, I’d have had to lock myself in the bathroom for the rest of the trip.
    Jocelyn must have seen the color drain from my face, because he chuckled quietly. “Don’t worry, we’ll on our way back home soon. With any luck, we will get the whereabouts of our friend Mr Shea tonight, so until then,” he whispered, as we took the last step to the front of the line, “smile.”
    “Jocelyn,” Alva beamed as she stepped forward extending her hand, “welcome!”
    “Alva, you look radiant as ever,” he replied, taking her hand and demurely kissing her knuckles.
    Wow, he really was good at this…
    “Heavens above,” she exclaimed, turning to me and fanning herself dramatically. “What a vision you are, my dear! Why, your card will be filled the moment you set foot through the door!”
    “Thank you,” I said, my polite smile back in place. Though I wasn’t quite sure what she meant by that last bit.
    “And of course, Cormac… and Mr Bray, lovely to see you as well. Please, allow me to show you all in.”
    “There is no need for that, Alva,” Jocelyn said, glancing at the line. “We could not take our hostess from her other guests. We can see ourselves in.”
    “Well, if you insist,” she said, obviously a bit deflated. “But I will make sure to send Brassal over to greet you this evening, he has been so looking forward to seeing you again. And I shall have to introduce Bastian to your lovely daughter this evening, as well.”
    “Yes, of course,” Jocelyn nodded in agreement, though he didn’t share her enthusiasm.
    We followed the people before us down the hallway toward the gallery, and as soon as I heard Alva begin to greet the next group and was sure we wouldn’t be overheard, I turned to Jocelyn, “Who is Bastian?”
    “Her son.”
    Her son? Wait... was she trying to...
    But before I could form the question, Jocelyn answered my expression. “Yes, she is trying to set you two up.”
    “You knew that and you still said yes?” I asked, appalled.
    “Well I could hardly say no.”
    “I guess,” I grumbled.
    “Besides, I had expected this would happen,” he admitted as we made our way into the gallery. “The Bhunaidh family structure is much like that of the earlier days, when marriage was a contract between families, and little more. Their first concern is making the best match and strengthening their lines. I am bregbunhass and you are my daughter, which in the eyes of the Bhunaidh makes you,” he paused, trying to hide the smile in his voice, “quite a catch.”
    “So, what then? Every mother with an eligible son is going to be sizing me up like a horse at the track?” I asked, trying to remember to keep my voice down.
    “It is a possibility, yes,” he admitted, actually having the nerve to smirk.
    “This is not funny!”
    “No, it’s not,” he agreed, though the corners of his mouth were still a little higher than they should have been.
    “What’s a card?” I asked, hoping to change the subject and take my mind of my new broodmare status.
    “What?”
    “A card. She said ‘my card would be full.’”
    “Oh, dance card. It means everyone will want to dance with you.”
    “Right, right,” I nodded, realizing I should have known that.
    “Which reminds me,” he said, his tone more serious, “should you be asked to dance, you can politely decline, or if you’d rather, I can do it for you.”
    “Why would I decline? I like to dance.” And I was damn good at it, if I did say so myself…
    “This isn’t going to be the kind of dancing you are used to,” he said simply.
    I could have protested, but I decided to let it go, content to prove his assumptions wrong later. Little did he know that I happened to be quite a