Chapter 52 - Greg

Greg was too uneasy to stand behind the food line and serve the guests. Instead, he stood off to the side and watched the crowd like a hawk on the alert. Any of these people could be a thug, someone Veridan had sent to hurt Sam. He’d done something similar before to get around Greg’s early warning system, and he could do it again.

The bothersome itch in the back of his mind was low, but steady. It had not relented since it began earlier that morning. He hated its shapelessness and vague quality. It was nothing like the sharp clear warnings he was used to receiving.

Sam was serving eggs, smiling at everyone, looking happier than she had in a long while. It felt strange that she should feel that way while he was so on edge and wishing they could go as far away from New York as possible.

He was still lost in the happy features of Sam’s face when a wave of tension rode up his back. The hairs on the nape of his neck prickled with a new itch. It wasn’t a clear warning, not yet, but it was definitely stronger than before.

Examining each face, his eyes swept the food line, then moved to the guests already sitting at the different tables. No one in particular caught his attention. Just as he started feeling like an irrational fool, a few newcomers stepped through the entrance.

The warning heightened, if only a bit. He scanned their faces in one swoop, and almost laughed at his stupid, paranoid behavior. Mateo, Jacob and Brooke waved at him. Greg nodded back.

“Where’s my daddy?” Jacob asked, then happily bounded into the kitchen, past the double doors.

Greg had almost convinced himself something was wrong with his danger-meter when a man wearing a red flannel shirt came up right behind Brooke, and drew Greg’s gaze in a snap.

The man looked so suspicious that Greg had to check himself not to jump him and choke the life out of him right away.

Fingers twitching, Greg watched. The man had his hands in his pockets and walked in short steps, head lowered, eyes moving from side to side in a shady, suspicious manner.

He shuffled behind Brooke as she happily chatted with Mateo on their way to the food line. The man paused between two busy tables. He looked at everyone sitting there, examining their faces as if searching for someone in particular.

After a moment, he took a few steps forward, just enough to move closer to the next set of tables, then stopped and searched each face again.

He’s looking for someone.

Or maybe he was just peculiar, like most of the people here. Greg pressed a nervous hand to his mouth, considering. The prickling on the back of his neck had stopped. For all he knew, this man was harmless, a confused soul in search of a friendly, familiar face.

Warily, he continued to watch the man as he slowly made his way toward the food line, stopping to survey every guest at every table. When he finally made it there, he aimed his scrutiny at the servers behind the counter.

Greg padded forward, his muscles tense and ready to pounce should the man make any sudden moves. He hated to take his eyes off him, but his gaze flicked toward Sam, hoping to catch her attention to shoot her a warning.

In the place where she should have stood, however, he found Dan instead. He had taken over her spot and was scooping eggs with his usual good humor.

Heart pounding its way into his throat, Greg searched the back of the serving line, looking for Sam, but she was nowhere to be seen.

He ran to the front of the line and inserted himself in between two of the guests.

“Where’s Sam?” he demanded. “Where did she go?”

Dan, Nadine and everyone else around him were startled at the ferocity in his voice.

“Answer me!” he barked when all they did was stare at him as if he was Fate itself sprung fresh from the ground.

“She went in the back with her friend, dude. Said they needed to talk. Chill out,” Dan said.

A part of him welcomed the explanation. Sam had gone with Brooke for another girls’ conversation. His more protective side, though, was urging him to run to the back immediately. Brooke had come in through the door at the same time that man had. What if . . . ?

Not daring to finish the thought, Greg pushed past the serving counter and through the double doors that led into the kitchen. What he found there sent his body crackling with protective magic that took only an instant to energize his entire body.

He had been tricked.