章 308: Festival (8)

Shelby could not shake off the weird feeling that she was getting from this no-name cousin of Royston's.

Despite not being unpleasant or threatening, the encounter had an unsettling quality that left me feeling uneasy, even more so considering that they were in a room full of people. The cousin exuded a delightful and gentle demeanor, drawing people in with a calming and pleasant voice. Yet, the underlying unease remained. They exchanged a few words, almost about nothing, and Shelby wondered about the reasoning behind the whole meeting.

She kept sending silent looks via Royston's way, but he seemed to be looking eagerly at his cousin, as if he was expecting some sort of feedback from her. Nothing about this whole meeting made sense. While this went on, Shelby's mind drifted off to her husband.

She out of habit tried to contact Ian but to her amazement, she could not link him. It was as if something as blocking her.