“What? It’s true.” She ran water into her bowl. “The earlier she knows how screwed up her life’s going to be, the better.”

I heard their whispered argument, and vaguely noticed Vanessa come back into the kitchen, but I didn’t process any of it. I saw nothing but the child’s eyes, staring into mine. I heard nothing but her voice, and the ominous pronouncements rolling off her tongue to sit heavy in my heart. And in my gut.

“Is she ever wrong?” I wasn’t surprised when no one heard me. My voice hardly carried any sound. “Hey. Has she ever been wrong?” But I realized on the tail of my own question that no one could answer. They’d just found out about Hadley’s Skill, along with me.

My mom said it was something special, to see a child discover his or her Skill. But this didn’t feel special. And it didn’t feel like a discovery—at least to Hadley. Had she already known what she could do? Or was she still oblivious, after sending all seven of the adults into shock?

“Who was she talking about?” Kris’s question drew me out of my own head, and his intense gaze prevented my mental retreat. “Who’s going to bleed for you?”

“I have no idea. She’s probably wrong about that, like she’s wrong about my name. I’m Sera. I’ve only ever been Sera.” Ironically, that and my maternal middle name were the only parts of my identity I was sure about—the only parts not thrown into question by my illegitimate, criminal bloodline. “If she’s a Seer, she’s not a very good one. Not yet, anyway.” But even I could hear the note of doubt in my voice.

Prophesies have a way of making sense only in hindsight.

“She will be.” Anne sank into her daughter’s seat and gripped the edge of the table, knuckles white with stress. “Noelle was never wrong.”

No one argued.

“Okay, look, I’ve answered all your questions and this place just keeps getting weirder.” I stood, glancing around at them all. “Could someone please let me out of here now? I’ve been more than patient with your assorted paranoia, psychoses and obsessive barring of all exits.”

“If we let you out, will you go back to the Tower estate?” Kris asked, and suddenly my chest ached. I seriously considered lying—I probably could have gotten away with it, with Anne still in shock over the manifestation of her daughter’s Skill.

“Yes,” I said instead, because there were some things I’d have to lie to them about, at some point. They deserved what truth I could give them. “Eventually. I still need their help.”

Kris scowled. “But they tried to kill you.”

“They tried to kill you, too, but you’ll still go back, won’t you, if that’s what it takes to find your sister?”

He nodded, jaw clenched in determination.

“Same here.” But the Towers couldn’t give me back my sister. The best they could do was help me avenge her death, along with my parents’ deaths.

“Then she’s right.” Anne glanced into the living room at her daughter. “Hadley said you’d go back, and you confirmed it.”

I considered pointing out that Hadley could have been talking about any house, but no one would have bought that. The house on everyone’s mind was the Towers’. Not that it mattered. Anne was more interested in her daughter’s emerging Skill than my relationship with Julia Tower.

The same could not be said for Kris Daniels.

“What do you want Julia’s help with?” he asked, and the topic shifted back to my interrogation.

“That’s private.” I sat again, but on the edge of my chair this time, silently reminding them I had no intention of getting comfortable. “But I will tell you it has nothing to do with any of you, or your missing sister.”

Anne nodded silently, without even looking at me. She was still watching her daughter.

Kris scooted closer to the table and his chair scraped the floor. “Do you know where you are right now?”

“In the kitchen of a very strange house full of very strange people. Beyond that? No. Nor do I care.”

Anne nodded again and my irritation swelled. I was already tired of having my every statement analyzed by a truth-reader—if that was what I’d missed growing up in an unSkilled family, I was more grateful than ever for my plain old parents. And I was sick of being the only one answering questions.

“Do you intend to provide the Tower syndicate with information about any of us, as payment for whatever you need done, or for any other reason?”

“No. Considering that your sister used to work for them—” I glanced at Kori “—I suspect they know far more about you all than I do.” Which was more than I ever wanted to know.

“Valid point,” Vanessa mumbled.

“What do you know about us?” Kris asked. He was digging for information no one else seemed to care about, as if he had an agenda they didn’t share. As soon as I’d had that thought, I realized it was true. But no one else seemed to have figured it out yet.

Hmmm...

“I know nothing about any of you, except what you’ve shown and told me. And that Kori used to be security for Jake Tower. That’s it.”

His gaze narrowed on me in suspicion. “She never said she worked security. How did you know that?”

“Because after being locked up with you nutcases for the past couple of hours, I finally realized where I’ve seen her. In nearly every photograph of Jake Tower ever taken. As his bodyguard.”