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Lia said nothing as she led me down the hallway. She whistled. At that moment, I envied the woman for the ability she possessed. Now that I couldn’t poke inside someone’s head, I had to receive information the old-fashioned way.
“What does Lady Valera want with me?” I asked Lia.
“I’m not her assistant, you are. How am I supposed to know?” Lia snapped. Before I could respond, Lia suddenly covered my mouth with her hand. Then Lex and David materialized from the wall beside me. Before I could make a sound, David grabbed hold of my arm with his other hand and I was propelled through the wall. I blinked in surprise when we ended up in a stairway.
“Let it go, Vanessa,” David whispered. Moments later, his hand was removed from my mouth, and Lia’s features changed. A short girl with long, dark hair stood in front of me, her smiling face surprising.
“What’s going on?” I asked, once the shock faded from my mind.
“We want to know the same thing,” Lex snapped as he glared in my direction.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I cried.
“So you don’t know?” Lex wondered.
“Know what?” I asked, confused.
“The Kigor Port was destroyed,” Vanessa reported. “Because of your abilities, I assumed you would know what happened. Did Father do it?”
“Guys, I got my Hyndroyl crystal removed. I can’t read minds,” I informed the group, whose mouths dropped open.
“You can’t be serious,” Lex hissed. “Dad was that stupid?”
“He was. One of the abilities I used to have destroyed the punishment room, and I didn’t tell him. How did you make me think you looked like Lia?” I wondered.
“It was all an illusion,” she explained. “I was surprised I could hold it for so long.”
“The Kigor Port is where most of Lord Peirc’s investments are. I doubt he would have destroyed it,” I noted, dread making my stomach twist. The women of the harem would suffer for this tragedy.
“Great,” I huffed. “How did Lord Peirc react?”
“He locked himself in his office. I haven’t been able to do much eavesdropping, since the room beside his is Lady Valera’s parlor. You know how she feels about us,” David explained.
“So you wanted me to go down there and eavesdrop?” I asked my brother.
“That’s when we thought that you had power,” Vanessa said, a hopeless expression on her face. She was obviously pissed off, since there was no use for me.
“I could go into Lady Valera’s parlor and ask if she needs me,” I suggested.
“Or maybe you can go back to bed,” Christian mentally told me. “You’re tired.” Something must have registered on my face, because David arched a brow.
“What?” David asked.
“Can you hear me?” I mentally asked David. I felt a slight pressure in my head and winced. David’s eyes grew wide, and at first, I thought that he’d heard me. But then he gestured to my hands, which were slightly glowing. I glanced up at Vanessa, who grinned.
“It looks like the doctor is about to lose her head. How do you still have abilities?” Vanessa asked.
“It’s innately yours,” Christian mentally explained. “This power has always been inside of you.”
“How do you know?” I mentally questioned Christian. “And how am I talking to you?”
“I have the mental gifts that your father stole for you. Listen, Gwen, go down two flights of stairs,” Christian instructed. Without hesitation, I ran past my siblings, strength immediately filling my limbs. I ran down the two flights of stairs, then stopped at the landing. “Press your palm to the wall. That will be how you can listen.” I reached out and pressed my glowing hand to the wall. The gold-studded sheetrock disintegrated and I quickly pulled my hand back. I peered into a room that had a few plush chairs in a circle. There were multicolored flowers on end tables, and a side table holding refreshments. Lady Valera stood by the table, her eyes on a tablet. That was probably why she couldn’t see the hole that I made.
“Valera,” Lia called, which made me jerk in surprise. My sister was so confident in her place that she dared to actually call Lady Valera “Valera?” Why?
“It’s all set,” Lady Peirc said. “The cleaners will assemble tomorrow.”
“I will have all of them compelled into submission. Do you know if Gwen is awake yet?”
“She is. Lex sent me a message. She and David are on the north steps. They have always been close. I can’t wait until he leaves for military training. He is no use to us here.”
“The girls haven’t been talking about anything interesting. Karen and Molly have become friends. Are you sure that using Meg as the example was the right idea? Karen is intelligent,” Lia pointed out.
“It isn’t like I can raise Meg from the dead. Besides, children who are vying for my husband’s attention is the least of our worries. I will have to figure out how to charge the hell out of our guests. You will need to convince a few to bid higher.”
“Right. I’ve got the pit. What about the audience?”
“We’ll make them bet on the outcome of the matches. I’m thinking we’ll start things out with fencing. Then we’ll have an archery contest. The winner will have a starting bid on them,” Lady Valera explained. “Other than that, I am at a loss as to how to gouge more credits out of the people.”
“And we have to give the gamblers a percentage of the purse,” Lia sourly said. “Since Gwen is useless, can I sit in the box?”
“You know we can’t do that. You’re married. I need Gwen to sit there, since she can serve as eye candy. Then, at the end, there can be a surprise bidding for her. After that, I’ll name another lady-in-waiting, maybe Vanessa.”
“Time to go, Gwen. You’re becoming too difficult to shield,” Christian suddenly announced. I turned to face David, whose eyes were wide with shock. My guess was that he couldn’t understand why Lady Valera was so comfortable around Lia. Wasn’t she the daughter of Father’s true love? Maybe Lia was controlling Lady Valera. In any case, I had to get the hell out of there.
I gestured to the stairs and bolted up them, followed by David. We reached the landing where I had left Lex and Vanessa and they were both standing there. I lunged at Lex and punched him in the jaw. He fell to the floor with a thud that made me wince.
“He has been reporting to Lady Valera,” I told my siblings. David slipped a hand in the pocket of Lex’s silk suit and pulled out a tablet the size of a playing card. Vanessa’s eyes were hard with anger.
“So he’s the rat?” Vanessa hissed. “I’ve been trying to sneak out of this hell hole for a week. Every time, I get caught.”
David frowned.
“Do you think that Obi put him up to this?” David wondered.
“No,” Christian told me.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Something tells me that Obi isn’t close to his parents. If he were, then Lex wouldn’t have needed to spy for Lady Valera.”
“What now?” David asked, his eyes wide. I shrugged.
“I don’t know. I need to go back to my room before Lia becomes suspicious,” I decided.
“David, I know just the place for our little snitch,” Vanessa said with a grin. “Wait until you see how our siblings deal with snitches.”
“Why haven’t you guys dealt with Lia?” I tossed out. Vanessa rolled her eyes.
“Lia hates Dad as much as the rest of us do. Remember that, Gwen,” Vanessa said.
“I’ll return her,” David told Vanessa before grabbing my arm. He walked me through the wall and I was back in a familiar hallway. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the news I had to tell my sisters. Molly would be furious to discover that Lia was constantly checking in on us. I’d have to convince her not to attempt to stab the mind reader in her sleep.