Alex’s mind spun. “This is the Parrish Cove Ghost,” she said, just to be sure.
“That’s her.”
“Her nickname was Sephi?”
“Allegedly.”
The pieces of a befuddling puzzle melded together. Josephine, the Parrish ghost, was Sephi. She had to be the recipient of Eviar’s letters. Same name, same time period. But that also meant she was murdered. Sephi would die. Eviar wouldn’t protect her.
And she looked just like Alex.
Kaleb waved the photo. “You are the spitting image of Eidolon’s most famous government advisor. And it girl.”
“You showed this to everyone?”
“Hell, no. Even if I’d wanted to, Paleo flipped her lid and stopped the presentation the second I mentioned Josephine’s name. We weren’t supposed to research people, just advancements. I asked her how in the world I was supposed to leave out a story like this. She said the project was about technology. I told her that was boring and—”
Alex interrupted his rambling. “How did she die again?”
“Some escaped mental patient killed her.”
Was this why her mother disappeared? Was this why Ellington had said not to mention her? Why would her name matter if Alex’s face gave away the secret? “The guy who killed her—do you know where he was from?”
Kaleb nodded. “Some place called Paradise.”
31
The walls in the psych room pulsated. Ellington eyed them warily. “Why the tension?”
Alex wondered if they were feeding off of her anxiety. About Gabe. About Sephi Anovark. “Better than that other time, right?”
During her session with Ellington following Chase’s return, she’d been so happy that the room had become smaller. The walls had closed in to try to get as near to Alex’s energy as they could, and Ellington, being claustrophobic, dismissed Alex immediately.
He gazed around the room. “How are you so strong?” he wondered aloud. “Your mind is quite extraordinary.”
“There are plenty of people who are smarter than me.”
“This isn’t about intelligence. It’s about brainpower, the energy your thoughts create. For goodness’ sake, you somehow withstood the shriek of a banshee.”
Alex grimaced. The word ‘banshee’ stung her entire being. The image of Gabe’s tattooed face flashed in her mind. “I don’t think that was because of me.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
“I told you about the dreams. About how Chase is there in my head.”
“Dream sharing is not unheard of; surviving a banshee is, however.” The walls jolted, knocking into a side table and sending a vase smashing to the ground. “And furthermore Chase does not have this effect on my room.”
“Dream sharing,” Alex repeated. “You mentioned that before. What is it?”
“Simply how it sounds. Visiting the dreams of others.”
“And speaking to them there?”
“Sometimes, but that is much more difficult to do.”
She chose her words carefully. “What about outside of dreams? Can spirits ever visit each other when the mind isn’t drifting?”
“You mean mentally? No, that’s impossible.”
Alex bit her tongue, and the walls shuddered.
Ellington eyed her suspiciously. “Why?”
“Just curious. But, how can I see the walls shiver like that, and believe that anything is impossible?”
“That’s just energy. Everything has energy, and in that there is life.”
“Can thoughts themselves be energy, then? Can they generate power?”
Ellington scrunched his lips, contemplating the idea. “Yes, I believe so.”
Alex watched the reverberating walls, wondering if perhaps the energy of Chase’s thoughts combined with hers explained how she survived the banshee. If there was double the amount of energy in her head. For a world so entirely mental, it was really hard to get solid answers.
“Why are you suffocating your notebook?”
Alex was inadvertently wringing a notebook like it was a dishtowel. Three seconds ago, she hadn’t had anything in her hands. Where had that come from?
“What’s bothering you?”
What wasn’t bothering her seemed to be the more appropriate question. She tossed her notebook to the floor.
“What happened to my mother?” she asked bluntly.
“What do you think?”
“I think you hold out on me.”
“As do you,” he replied without missing a beat.
“I know about Sephi Anovark.”
“It was only a matter of time.”
“And my mother?”
He sighed. “There is no possible relation to Sephi. Her relatives were extinguished. Her family tree was ignited at the base, cremated to prevent more prophets from branching out into the world. Sephi was the only one known to have risen from the ashes to become a spirit.”
“But then why was my mom killed?”
“We will never know that for sure.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Tap, tap, tap. Ellington’s pen slammed into his legal pad with unnecessary vigor. “Your mother was given answers, and she still went searching for more. Eventually it killed her.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Erin was a spirit for barely a week before she knew about Sephi Anovark. Spirits lined the sidewalks in our city, just waiting for Erin to pass by, to catch a glimpse. They celebrated her like royalty. Truth be told, there is no explanation why there is such a strong resemblance. She found no genetic connection. It still wasn’t enough. She wanted proof, and we all know how that ended up.”
“Why? Who killed her?”
“Sephi worked with the Ardor Service to help imprison spirits. She could predict a crime before it happened. She was also responsible for the destruction of the losing side of the Restructuring war. Anyone on the opposing side, anyone who shared the beliefs of the opposing side, would fear her.”
“You think the same people who killed Sephi went after my mother?”
“Impossible. They’re dead.”
“The inmates from Paradise? What about the other prisoners? Why are they being questioned?”
Ellington raised a small eyebrow. “Have you considered detective work for your future?”
“I’m not joking.”
“Why do you think I was so alarmed when you began asking questions about Paradise?”
Alex leaned back in her chair. She hadn’t realized she’d been gravitating toward Ellington during the conversation. It was too much to be a coincidence that she would find letters written to someone who could be her twin, letters only she could see.
Ellington finally stopped tapping his pencil and pointed it at Alex. “This stays in this room, but the pranks occurring in the city have the Patrol up in arms.”
Alex felt a draft in the room without windows. It crept up and settled behind her. “Why?”
“Because if someone is trying to copy the Paradise crew, your life is no safer than your mother’s was.”
Alex rushed back to the medical center as soon as she could. Something was wrong. In her thoughts, she was Chase. She could see his shoes crunching through the underbrush, passing an old familiar tree with five sets of initials carved into the bark, Alex’s included. And at that grandfather tree where they’d always hid their treasure, she heard Jonas say, “We’re almost there.”
And in her thoughts Alex heard, I can’t believe we’re back here.
She didn’t understand, so she picked up the pace. But the only one in Gabe’s room at the medical center was Skye. “Gabe’s hair looks a bit curlier,” she murmured in greeting.
Alex wasn’t in the mood for Skye’s offbeat remarks. Things weren’t right. The Lasalles wouldn’t have left their brother here like this unless it was for a really good reason. And even with Skye in the room, Alex felt very much alone.