Daughter of Zeus ✔

12

Ada was different. Not noticeably, but he felt it, like dirt under his fingernails. Ada complained about a headache for two days. Kressick offered her the guest room, brought her food in bed, and respected her need to be left alone when asked.

She hadn't thought she would return to Kressick's townhome, she told him. A voice inside of her told her to come back; he was family after all. Every time Ada heard the voice, she tried to choke it down. There was an internal struggle, and though she didn't know it, the struggle was the source of her headaches. Only when she quieted her own voice did the headaches abate. She had told him none of these details. He had discerned it after scanning her thoughts.

Kressick could have lessened the pain, but he preferred not to alter her any more than he already had. Occasionally, he touched his interface to her head, performing an MRI scan. When she allowed it, he also had her leave a drop of blood the clear screen, to test for pathogens. All of the tests came back clear.

Moretz and Shylar messaged Kressick daily. He stonewalled both of them as he waited on Ada to get better. He also wanted to wait for the next move to come from her.

After the third day in bed, Ada started leaving the house for lunch. Upon return, she was always whistling. When Kressick asked her where she was going, she shrugged. She couldn't know Shylar was following her again. From his reports, Kressick knew where and with whom she was meeting.

Ada reached out to Phennell. Either she wanted to get to know her brother, or she was working an angle. Or both. They met at a coffee shop to talk about their lives. Of course, she made up most of hers. Phennell listened with complete interest, according to Shylar. Even from his typed reports, Kressick sensed Shylar's minute jealousy, indicating a certain chemistry between Phennell and his granddaughter.

Kressick wondered how Ada felt about that. Disgusted? Conflicted? He brought it up during dinner one night. They sat across from each other on the composite table which materialized from the dining room wall when needed.

The bay windows leading in the living room boasted a view of the night sky, complete with passing commercial delivery o-planes. Their small search lights were distracting. Before he spoke, Kressick swiped on the interface to change the view on the dissipating surface. Instead of a live view, the window filled with an ocean scene. The water reflected the stars on the calm surface—a scattering of diamonds on a velvet blanket. In real life, the air above any ocean was clogged with tech traffic, either o-planes or other flying tech. There were no more scenes of the ocean devoid of human interference. The current image was at least thirty years old, but he didn't care. The scene was beautiful, and it would set the tone for a calm conversation.

"You never told me how you felt about meeting your sister," he began.

"Darcy?" Ada sipped the modulated wine.

"Yes, Darcy. Unless you have another sister."

She didn't smile. "I don't know. Do I?"

"You and Darcy are Moretz's only children."

"What about Phennell?" The glass clinked on the table as she set it down.

"Phennell is Chancelin's son from her first marriage."

Rather than respond, she changed the subject. "Is Darcy Special?"

"Nothing's manifested, but soon, I suspect. The women of our family always come into their powers during early adulthoods. For that reason and others, women in our family also display a wider range of abilities, much like yours."

"What can Moretz do?"

Now that the ball was rolling in an entirely new direction, Ada had touched on a tough question.

He chewed thoughtfully. "Manipulate electronic devices. As you can see, it's made him very successful."

She drank more wine. Even wine from the food modulator was better than none, as he had read about the last orchards drying up a decade before. She re-filled another glassful of wine from the carafe before making her request.

"I want to see him. And no bullshit lies this time."

Kressick nodded for her to pour him a glass as well. "That's just the request I was waiting for."