Page 53 of It Starts With A No

“I’m …”

“Switch on the lights,” Seth instructed.

Nothing happened.

“He’s Seth Anderson,” Clary said. “Mov—”

The woman gasped. Then there was a click, and the lights came on. “I’m sorry, Mr. Anderson.”

At the opposite end of the room, a woman in a white lab coat with a plate of cake in her hand stared back at them.

Clary sighed and dropped her head against Seth’s back.

“I heard whispers, and I thought there were intruders.”

Seth peered back at her.

“I was whispering because I thought there was an intruder.” Clary tipped her head to the side and smiled at the woman. “Sorry,” they both blurted at the same time.

“Mr. Anderson—the other Mr. Anderson—Oliver Anderson.” The woman scratched her brow. “Your brother.”

“I know who he is,” Seth said coldly. “You’re working on the sleep research.”

“Yes.” The woman swallowed hard. “He said we were free to come and grab food from here, so we …”

Seth nodded. “It’s all right. Help yourself. We’re leaving.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “No, I’m leaving. I just realized I left my phone here.” She hurried back toward the counter. “And I thought whoever was here before forgot to switch off the lights, so I did.”

Seth moved back, pushing Clary along, as the woman got closer.

The woman wasn’t even looking at them, though. She walked around the counter and grabbed her phone. “I’ll get back to work now.”

Seth took another step back as if he didn’t want to risk the woman accidentally knocking into him as she dashed toward the door.

He’d kept a hold on Clary’s hand the whole time.

“Goodnight, Mr., Mrs. Anderson.” The woman stopped at the door and spun back around. “I mean …”

“Goodnight,” Clary said.

The woman returned a grateful smile, then bolted.

A beat of silence passed as Seth and Clary stared at the door swinging closed, then she laughed. “Gosh, that poor woman. She was so frightened. She looked as if she was seeing a ghost. Don’t you ever show your face around here?”

“Oliver’s fully in charge of the sleep research.”

“For his sleepwalking?”

Seth nodded.

Clary was so tempted to ask. Had Holly Eolenfeld caused that? But she didn’t want to ruin how great everything was going.

Which was silly, because no matter how she avoided it, the reality remained. She was on the Eolenfelds’ side, and Seth hated the Eolenfelds.

He might not be always talking about it like Elton, but to him, she would always be one of them.

“Are you okay?”

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