Chapter 31

Sunrise House
Silver Spring, MD

Spencer stared at the floating cup for several moments, He twisted and turned to see it from every angle. He even passed his hand over and under it. No, it really was floating there. "Mom." He said at last. "Are you doing that?"

"Yes." Diana replied. "You're not hearing strange voices by the way, it's really me."

"It's really you?" Spencer turned to look at her.

"Yes." He was hearing her voice, he realized, but her lips were not moving. "Telepathy and telekinesis and I'm not sure what all else. I was never all that gifted I'm afraid." The cup floated down in front of him, followed by the package of cookies. "Do I have to keep showing you or do you believe that this is real?"

"No. I…I believe you." Spencer turned to Sin, who was watching this impassively. "Do you…can you?"

"What. Float things, mind-to-mind, play with energy?" Sin shook his head. "No, those are Noble gifts. Essa's just okay at it, but Lira lifts transports."

"Lifts transports. You mean cars?"

"Yeah And there's this guy on the flag ship who can mind-to-mind across parsecs."

"I'm happy enough with across the house." Diana said out loud.

Spencer turned and saw her putting her medicated patch back on. "That…does this have anything to do with your schizophrenia diagnosis? Wait, sex gives you super powers?"

"No, sex does not give you super powers, Spencer" Diana said patiently. "An energy surge from another Noble gives you super powers, the trauma to your nervous system triggers epigenetic changes. But it's painful and frightening, sexual activity distracts you enough that you don''t feel it. It's like sticking your finger in a light socket, only the socket does it's best to distract you while your hair's on fire. And to answer your first question, yes and no." She cradled her coffee mug and sighed.

She looked so pained, still. "Mom. Tell me what happened?"

"Only if you promise me you won't blame yourself for any of this."

"I won't."

She took a deep breath. "Normally you have what they call positive control over your gifts, specifically telepathy. You have to reach out to speak to people, open yourself to listen. You're not hearing voices all the time. But when you're pregnant your hormones shift so you're always open, the better to be there for your child."

"But then you're always hearing everyone around you. That has to be exhausting."

Diana nodded. "That's why we were out in the country when the war started. Fewer people meant fewer voices around. When we landed here…your Aunt Ethel and Uncle Daniel were volunteers at the church shelter where we went to try to get help. They invited us to come out and stay at their ranch out in Sunny Valley. It would have been an ideal place to live out the rest of my pregnancy, only a few hands around. But Willen refused. He wasn't going to indulge some entitled bitch who thought she was so special. He had gone through law school to try to get his perfect middle class life and we were not going to screw him out of it."

"Ass." Sin muttered.

"He and Kati fought over it for days while we waited at the church for the new identities we bought. Then one day they went out to check on the ship, or so he said, and she didn't come back. One of my gifts is sharing languages so English and Spanish were easy to understand. We'd heard the others there talk about coyotes, smugglers, and Willen said she'd been killed by one."

"I'm so sorry Mom." Spencer said. He understood, now, how that had to have hurt.

"Once we had identity papers he wanted me to go to the casino with him. He wanted to play poker, get our small stake up to something he could work with, he said and how better to insure a win then with a telepath along. When I objected he threatened you. I was so exhausted from all the minds around all the time that I couldn't fight. And I was never that strong."

"Where is this guy now?" Sin asked.

"Jail." Spencer replied,

"Good."

"I thought that once you were born I'd get back to full strength, and then I'd be able to put him in his place. But while we were in the hospital he convinced them that I was crazy, so they drugged me. And then he had you as a bargaining chip and I was still sick. But he had to keep us around, a family was important for the image he built up. He needed to keep that in place so they would accept him as a lawyer. And I was too sick to do much of anything, all those voices, all the time, even when I slept."

"I had no idea." Spencer said.

"I know. You did the best you could with what you had. Do you know why he ran, in the end?"

"No."

"You."

"Me?"

"See, no one ever told him that you need another Noble, close in age, to bring out someone's powers. All he knew was that it happened at the end of puberty. And I told him, truthfully, that Aldrick had royal gifts. His great, great grandfather was a prince."

"No fucking way." Sin said.

"Oh yes. And Spencer here was naturally conceived, I have no idea what he'll be able to do." Diana nodded and looked at her son. "He ran the day after your voice broke for the first time. He ran because he was afraid of you."

Spencer thought about this a long moment. "I don't think I need powers to justify his fear. So the patches turn off your powers?"

"Yes. No more hearing other voices. Thank the stars."

"That's how you knew about Gary Michaels."

"You do not want to know what he was thinking when he was at that park."

"Who?" Sin asked.

"I'll show you the case file later." Spencer said. He turned back to his mother, "What about Randall Gardiner?"

"Do you have any idea how many drugs I was taking? Not that I'm complaining, some of them actually helped. But no, he actually believed his delusions. And that's what I thought he was, a harmless, delusional man. Rather nice, really. Shame what happened." Diana pushed the cookies closer. "Now have another cookie and go tell Essa to take you off to bed. It's about time you finish growing up."