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I?” I knew I sounded testy but I was trying to help
folks not butcher them and I doubted Sam was dealing with this much crap.
    “A good person who don’t want to hurt nobody. I know you were
panicking when you hit Sam. I don’t blame you, but you hurt somebody and that’s
why the decision’s been made.”
    I sat forward. It was hard to glare at thin air. “Decision?”
    “Yup. You ain’t getting your gifts back until you understand what
it’s like to live without them.”
    Now, you’d think I’d be livid at such a thing but I grinned from
ear to ear. “I ain’t burdened with them no more?”
    “You smile now but you’ll start understanding why so many folks
struggle.” She sighed. “You need to remember that it ain’t a punishment.
Somebody really loves you and they want you to succeed.”
    If that was the case, where had they been all my life? “Why do I
need to talk to the priest guy if I ain’t got a problem no more?” To me it was a problem. If I didn’t know what was hurting people then I didn’t have to do
nothing about it.
    “You still got to live with yourself.” Nan sounded tired. “Shorty,
I’ll see you when you figure it out but until then, it ain’t gonna be easy for
us to talk.”
    “Why?” That didn’t sound fair. “Nan, you’re the only one I get.”
    “An’ I’m not wandering around the place. If you ain’t got gifts,
you won’t know I’m here.” With that the breeze faded, the chair stopped as if she’d never
sat there, and I felt more alone than I wanted to admit.
    Having Nan was the sole thing that gave me courage. It was the
good that came out of feeling stuff I didn’t want to. I rubbed my hand over my
face. She’d sounded tired so maybe it was a good thing she had a break. I
couldn’t be tempted to call on her now.
    No burdens.
    I grinned.
    No ghosts, no visions, no feeling what folks did, no hurting when
they did, no danger of hurting somebody when I didn’t know what I was doing.
    Punishment? It was the best news I’d had . . . well . . . ever.

 
    Chapter 9
     
    THE NEXT MORNING, I bounced over to the main offices of CIG,
casting a happy wave at the lady behind the desk. She gave me a look that said,
“I ain’t got a clue who you are so why you waving at me?”
    I widened my smile, answering her look with my best, “why do you
have to know me? It’s a beautiful day.”
    She didn’t seem full of the joys and eyed me like I might kidnap
her.
    “Is the boss in?” I asked, not caring that she was glaring at me.
    “You mean General Frei?” A bit hoity-toity but I’d go with it.
    “Yeah, the one with the blonde spiky hair and the coolest shades
you’ve ever seen.”
    Now she was curious. Funny how I could still read her body
language even when I couldn’t read her emotions. “Do you have an appointment?”
    You’d think the CIG uniform would have given her a clue. “I don’t
need one. She in or not?”
    “Look, I think you’ll have to—”
    “Lorelei,” I grunted. “You want to see my birth certificate or
what?” I pointed to my face. “You can’t miss the resemblance.”
    The woman eyed me for a moment and two guards appeared behind me.
A second later Frei strode down a staircase off to the left.
    “You got the bikes ready?” she asked the receptionist, ignoring
the fact the guards looked about ready to haul me off someplace.
    If they thought they were getting me anywhere near a cell, they
were gonna find it painful trying.
    “She’s Lilia’s daughter.” Frei’s curt tone made everybody relax,
apart from me. “Bikes?”
    The receptionist cocked her head then shook it like I was some
naughty child. “Yes, they are outside. Try wearing your name badge next time.”
    I scowled down at her. “I told you my name.”
    “Then try writing your mother’s name on it. At least it would be
useful then.” She flicked her hair back as if to say, “deal with it.”
    Like I was putting up with that. “You mean like you,