Read Online ARC: The Seers by Julianna Scott - Free Book Online

shake again “St Br-rigid’s?” he repeated. “Y-you’re here w-with “J-Jocelyn Cl-lavish…?” His words trailed off as something that sounded akin to terror stretched his voice thin.
    Great. Even the staff had been told about us… “Yeah,” I shrugged, trying to be blasé, “he’s my father, but it’s no big–”
    “Y-you’re R-Rebecca Cl-lavish?” he breathed.
    “Well, yeah…” I said, at a loss, “but there’s no need–”
    “I-I’m s-sorry,” he cut me off again, not meeting my eyes as he grabbed for his books and began backing away. “W-we sh-shouldn’t… I… I’m s-sorry…” With that he turned and took off down the hall as fast as he could without breaking into a run.
     
    A few hours, a shower, and over a dozen bobby pins later, I gave myself one last look over in the enormous mirror in my equally enormous room, and decided I was satisfied. I had to admit – and believe me, it was painful – that despite all the scowling and poking, Madame Loute really had known what she was doing. Everything about my new gown was perfect; the fit was flawless, the deep emerald color looked great on me, and the style, which I did still find to be a bit Guinevere-esque, was flattering. Hell, even the breast cups had turned out to be a good idea, as they made my usually humble chest look rather glorious – if I did say so myself.
    But boobs aside, my biggest accomplishment of the evening was definitely my hair. It had easily been the most tedious portion of my primp-a-thon, but after a plethora of curse words and probably twice the number of hair pins I actually needed, I finally managed to get it looking the way I’d wanted. Chloe would have been proud.
    But what would all the Bhunaidh at the gala think?
    With a huff, I walked over to the bed and found my shoes, irritated that I would even let myself worry about what they thought. I’d always been my toughest critic, so if I was happy, then that ought to be enough to anyone else. And if it wasn’t, that was their problem. I had never let other people intimidate me before and I certainly wasn’t about to start now, particularly with a bunch of overstuffed snobs. Or at least that is what I would keep telling myself.
    I slid my shoes on, took one last glance at the essentials – hair, makeup, panty lines, etc – to make sure everything was in place before grabbing the key to my room and stepping out into the hall.
    I started toward the meeting area that Jocelyn, Alex, Cormac and I had decided on earlier, feeling – yes, I admit – a little like a diva. I was loving the sheen of the silk in the light, and the way the sleeves and train of my gown caught the breeze as I walked, rippling behind me like waves of mist over a stream. It was by far the nicest outfit I’d ever owned and I couldn’t help but walk with my head up just a bit higher than usual.
    Though as I got closer to the meeting spot, the more I realized that it wasn’t only my new clothing-induced confidence that was sparking the excited flutter in my stomach, but the fact that I was only minutes away from seeing Alex, and him seeing me – the first exciting, the second, nerve-racking. Every step I took made my heart pound just a bit faster as more and more questions swirled around my mind. Would he be there yet? What would he look like? Would we get to spend any time together tonight? Would he like my dress? He’d been dying to see it, I’d hate for him to be let down…
    God, it was like going to prom!
    Amazing dress, hair done, date in a tux, and dancing; that’s basically what prom was, right? Take out the “my dad will be there with us all night” part, and it sounded just like the shindig I’d had to miss out on back in high school. One that, until that night, I hadn’t even realized I’d wanted. But much as I hadn’t expected to be, there was no denying it… I was excited.
    I arrived at the large alcove section of the hallway where the four of us had agreed to