Page 54 of Grave Situation

I sag with relief.

“Excellent,” Master announces. “I’ll reach out to Haftel and have her lean on the king. Stay where you are—it’s safe enough for now, with the stone to warn you. Rest up, and I’ll let you know when your escort will be arriving.”

With the vision of two days—at least—of comfort in this delightful inn, I find myself almost giddy. “I suppose we can do that.”

Tia shoots me a look that says I’m not fooling anyone.

“Master Samoine, before you go,” Jaimin says, leaning forward, “I wanted to ask… is it possible to kill using telepathy?”

I blink. I’d forgotten about that—when I told Master that part, I just said I’d killed my attacker.

“It is,” Master says slowly. “Usually by driving them insane—bombardment of mental images and thoughts that aren’t their own. Destruction of their natural mental shield will also do it for most people—the sudden ability to hear the thoughts of others drives them mad. Telepathy isn’t good for directly killing—it’s a slower process that ends in the victim either being put to death or taking their own life. Though a strong enough telepath could theoretically take over someone’s mind so completely that they could be compelled to kill themselves without choosing to do so.”

Just the thought makes me feel ill. People always think telepaths are so eager to invade their minds, but the truth is, we’re even more rabid about mental privacy than ordinarypeople. We know exactly what it’s like to share thoughts—we go through the gamut in training, and it’s invasive and awful.

“No… I mean a telepathic strike. Something that would kill instantly but leave the body intact.” Jaimin’s voice is intent.

“You’re thinking of telekinesis. A strong telekinetic could theoretically crush the brain, instantly killing someone and leaving their body outwardly intact.”

Jaimin slowly shakes his head. “The brain was intact. There was no injury whatsoever.”

Master’s confusion sharpens suddenly. “Thishappened?”

“The man I killed last night,” I admit. “I never touched him. It was… instinctive. I don’t know what I did.”

“The brain was intact?” Master asks Jaimin. “You’re certain?”

“Yes. I checked everything—he was human, and he was completely uninjured and healthy prior to death. No heart attack, no stroke. Not so much as a bruise. Just dead.”

There’s a long silence, and dread creeps over me. What the fuck did Ido?

“Speak of this to no one,” Master says at last. “No one.It shouldn’t be possible. I don’t even know what it is. I need to do some research.”

Jaimin glances from me to Tia, then says casually, “Are there many things the twins can do that are never spoken of?”

Tia freezes, and my guts turn to water. “What do you mean?” I’m proud it doesn’t come out as a croak.

He hesitates, and my master asks me directly,“Does he know? Have you been careful?”

“We’ve been careful.”I rack my brain for anything that might have given us away.“I don’t think he knows. He might be suspicious?”

“It’s just… Talented twins… and one a rider, one a mage… that’s… unusual. I thought perhaps there might be some special skills associated with it.”

I breathe again. If he’s fishing, he’s not sure. I trust him—much more than I thought I would—but now’s not the time to make decisions that could potentially end with me and Tia being locked up and studied for the rest of our lives.

“Just extraordinary good looks and charm,” I quip.

“And intelligence,” Tia adds. “That’s mine, though. Not so much for Talon.”

“Hey!”

Jaimin nods. “Of course.”

Master changes the subject. “I’ll reach out to Haftel now and let you know what she says, but I think King Brend will be eager to help. He’s always been a good neighbor to us, and he and Haftel have an excellent working relationship.” He’s rambling, and I try not to wince. At this rate, Jaimin’s going to know his suspicions are founded just because of how badly we’re trying to distract him.

“Thank you,” Tia says. “We’ll wait here until we hear from you. Well, Talon will. I’m going to look around the village.”

Master withdraws, and as Tia leaves, I give my tongue a bit of a wriggle, glad to have control of it back.

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