Emmaline had been waiting for nearly two hours. She had come down the stairs, turned on the living room lamps, and taken a perch on the bottom step. It gave a clear sight of the front door across the living room, so when it opened she’d see it immediately.

  Em shifted on the hard step, her legs cramping. Three times she’d nearly given up her vigil and trudged back to bed, but each time the betrayal surged fresh in her chest, pinning her in place. The thin carpet did nothing to cushion the wooden edge digging into her thighs. Her tailbone ached. Still, she sat rigid, feeding off her own indignation, checking the front door every few minutes as if her glare alone could summon them home.

  She also could have gone back upstairs to get her phone to at least have something to do, but again her anger kept her where she was. Em was determined to catch Mom as soon as she walked in the door. Emmaline was afraid that if she left, she would miss her moment.

  Then Em thought about texting Eric to ask when they’d be home, but just knew her thumbs would betray her fury. Better to wait. She stayed rooted to that bottom step, jaw clenched, while the living room lamp cast long shadows across the floor—shadows that seemed to grow with each minute that ticked by.

  When the digital clock on the entertainment stand flashed 12:33, the sound of a key turning in the front door lock jolted Emmaline upright. She snatched the data pad from the step behind her—the same device she’d barely been able to look at for hours. Though curiosity had tempted her to explore more of her father’s recordings, the raw sting of having been lied to––yet again––had won out. Clutching the device like evidence in a trial, Em positioned herself squarely in the center of the living room, ready for confrontation.

  The door creaked open, and Mom stepped in first; her face drawn with exhaustion. Eric followed, his navy bag once again slung across his left shoulder. Mom saw Em first. She stopped just inside the door, while Eric stepped around Mom and into the living room.

  “Why on earth are you up so late, Emmaline?”

  The sight of her mother and that question only made Em’s anger soar even higher. When was Mom going to stop treating her like a child?

  “When were you going to tell me I could save Dad?” Emmaline demanded.

  Mom stood frozen, her eyes going to the data pad Emmaline was tightly grasping. The color drained from the woman’s face.

  Finally, Mom shook her head. “You can’t save him.”

  “You said only another Mind Bender could save Dad. Well, according to what’s on that device, I am a Mind Bender, so that means I can save Dad!” Emmaline declared as she stomped her foot.

  Eric stood between mother and daughter with a confused look on his face. “What is she talking about?”

  Mom started to open her mouth to answer, but Emmaline jumped in. “I’m a Mind Bender like Dad.” She didn’t trust Mom to tell Eric right. Hell, at this point, she didn’t trust Mom at all. First she lied about who they were, and now she finds out Mom knew Emmaline could save Dad and said nothing!

  Eric blinked at his sister. “How do you know that?”

  “Because I looked at some of the other entries on that device Mom showed us today, and it had a video letter with Dad telling me all about the Mind Bending ability and how to use it.”

  Eric turned to Mom with shock on his face. “Is this true? Is she a Mind Bender like Dad?”

  “Yes, she is, or at least has the potential to become one,” Mom admitted.

  “How long have you known?” Eric asked in a rough voice.

  “Quite some time. Arie said she started presenting with signs when she was just a toddler.”

  Emmaline shook her head and glared at her mother through a curtain of tears now cascading down her face. “You must have known that letter from Dad was on that device. You said it yourself that you’d looked through it last night. You must have seen it. When were you going to show it to me? Why didn’t you say that I had the ability to help Dad at the hospital when we were talking about next steps?”

  Mom looked pale and stricken as she went to the couch and sat down heavily. “I was just trying to protect you, Emmaline. I didn’t… I didn’t…” She blew out a long breath before trying to speak again. “Arie is very good at using his ability. Better than he let most people know. He could have been a Master Mind Bender if he wanted, but he had a deep desire to become a Protector. So he did. And he never regretted that decision. But he had to hide exactly how good he was with his Dome-ni.

  “You see, there aren’t many Master Mind Benders in Ethia, and those with the talent to reach the higher levels are strongly encouraged to forsake their chosen paths to pursue mastership and then become teachers. So Arie kept much of his ability secret, but he also wasn’t content to just stay at a standard level either. That meant Arie had to teach himself a lot without the help of a Master Teacher. This made him extra careful in using his Dome-ni.

  “Now he’s in this state that can only happen if he did something wrong in using his Dome-ni and I’m baffled by it. How could a man as careful as he was end up like this? So no, Emmaline, I didn’t want you to know about your talent. I didn’t want you to end up like him. And I knew that as soon as you heard that you had the ability to help him that would be all you could think about.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “The thing is, even if you started learning how to use your talent tonight, it could take years to get to the point where you could help your dad, and even then there would be no guarantee that you could actually do it. And in the process, you might hurt yourself.”

  Emmaline felt her shoulders stiffen. “So you just decided for me? Without even giving me the chance to try?” Her voice cracked with emotion. “What if I could learn faster? What if I’m better than Dad was? You don’t know what I’m capable of because I haven’t even started yet!”

  “You’re not hearing me, Emmaline. Your dad thought he was better too, and look where it got him!” Mom exclaimed.

  Eric crossed the gap between himself and Emmaline, his expression softening. “Em, I think what Mom’s trying to say is that it’s dangerous, very dangerous.”

  “I DON’T CARE!” Emmaline shouted, then immediately regretted her tone when she saw Eric take a step back.

  She took a deep breath, lowering her voice. “I’m sorry, Eric. I didn’t mean to yell at you. But this is Dad we’re talking about. He’s just... lying there. And if there’s even a small chance I could help him…”

  Mom rubbed her temples, exhaustion evident in every line of her face. “Emmaline, sweetheart, I understand your frustration. But Mind Bending isn’t like learning to ride a bike. The risks aren’t just skinned knees.”

  “Maybe we are jumping the gun here,” Eric spoke up. “We still haven’t tried surgery. Let’s just see how it goes, and then maybe we can come back to this.”

  Emmaline shook her head. “It still doesn’t change the fact that Mom lied again! How many much more are you keeping from us?” she demanded from her mother.

  Mom shook her head. “Nothing else. That was it. That was the last thing I was holding back.”

  Em crossed her arms in front of her and stared daggers at the woman. “Yeah, right? Like we can believe anything you say.”

  A hand settled on Emmaline’s shoulder. She turned to find Eric looking at her with gentle eyes. “Em, I know this is a lot. But maybe we should all just take a breath.”

  Emmaline shrugged his hand off. “Don’t ‘Em’ me right now. You don’t understand what this feels like.”

  “Don’t I?” he said with a raised eyebrow.

  Emmaline deflated. Yeah, she guessed he did. She went over to one of the recliners, the furthest seat away from Mom, who was on the couch, and sat down heavily. But it didn’t feel nearly far enough away. The living room seemed to shrink around her, the walls closing in with each ragged breath she took.

  “Mom,” Eric spoke up. “I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that this hiding stuff from us isn’t working anymore. I know you had your reasons for what you did, but that’s all in the past now. If we are going to move forward together as a family, we need complete honesty from here on out. All of us. Is that something we can agree on?”

  “Yes!” Emmaline exclaimed.

  “Yes,” Mom replied much more quietly.

  “Good, so is there anything else that you need to tell us, Mom? Any other secrets or things you’ve been holding back?”

  Mom shook her head. “No, and that’s the truth.”

  Eric nodded. “Good. It’s a place to start then.”

  “How do we even know she’s speaking the truth right now? How do we even know anything she has told us over the last few days is remotely true?” Emmaline countered. She wasn’t ready to give up her anger or make nice with Mom, not even close.

  Mom let out a tired sigh, her shoulders sagging under the weight of Emmaline’s accusation. “I suppose you don’t. You’ll just have to trust me.”

  “Trust you?” Emmaline laughed bitterly. “After everything?”

  “Em, that’s enough,” Eric said firmly. “We’re all exhausted and upset.”

  Emmaline shot him a glare. “Don’t tell me what’s enough. This whole thing, everything is fucked up. Michael is gone. Dad might as well be gone. And Mom couldn’t tell the truth if her life depended on it. Oh wait, it’s not her life, it’s Dad’s. My bad.”

  Emmaline!” Mom scolded.

  “What?” Emmaline snapped back. “Are you going to tell me to watch my language now? That’s what you’re worried about?”

  Mom’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “No. I just... I don’t know how to fix this.”

  “You can start by letting me try,” Emmaline said, her voice softer, but no less determined. “I’m not a little kid anymore. You need to stop treating me like one.”

  Mom looked down at her hands, which were clasped so tightly in her lap that her knuckles had turned white. The silence stretched between them, thick and heavy with unspoken words.

  After a long moment, she nodded almost imperceptibly. “You’re right,” she whispered. “You’re not a little kid anymore, and I’m sorry for treating you like one. You deserved to know about your Dome-ni.”

  The admission hung in the air, unexpected enough that Emmaline didn’t immediately have a retort ready. Eric moved forward until he was standing beside Emmaline. He squatted down next to her recliner and gave Em a long look before speaking on a soft voice.

  “I know you’re still upset, but you said what you had to say. Maybe it’s time to let this sit for a little while. It’s been a trying couple days for us all. I think this would be a good time for everyone to attempt to get some much-needed rest.”

  “But what about my Dome-ni! I need to save Dad!” Emmaline wailed.

  Mom looked like she was going to speak up, but Eric cut her off. “I think it would be best to take this up later.”

  Emmaline jumped up to protest. “But-”

  Eric held up a hand. “Emmaline, please. Now is not the time to make any big decisions, not with tensions so high. Let’s all talk about this as a family when we’ve had some time to cool off.”

  Emmaline exhaled heavily. She really didn’t want to let this go, but maybe Eric was right. Now that she had had her say, she was feeling tired, exhausted actually. All the anger and the stress from the last few days were catching up with her.

  “Fine, but we’re talking about this first thing in the morning,” Emmaline said as she stood up. “I need to learn how to use this ability. Dad needs me.”

  She turned and stormed up the steps, pausing half-way. “And just so we’re clear,” she added, turning back to face Mom with eyes still shimmering with tears, “I’m going to learn how to use my ability whether you like it or not.”

  Mom’s face crumpled slightly, but Emmaline didn’t wait for a response. She continued up, noticing for the first time that Anna had stepped out of Michael’s room at the top of the landing. She stood there at the door watching as Emmaline walked past, but didn’t say a word.

  Emmaline barged into her room, slammed the door shut behind her, and stood there just on the other side for a long moment, blinded by her tears. She could hear the muffled voices of Anna and Eric talking beyond her door, but she tuned them out. Right now, the last thing she needed was more people telling her what to do. She’d had enough of that for one day. Hell, for a lifetime.

  She threw herself onto her bed, burying her face in the pillow. The weight of everything—Dad’s condition, Mom’s lies, Michael being gone, the Ethian ship—pressed down on her. She wanted to scream, but instead she just cried until she eventually fell into a restless sleep.