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appear unmoved by that revelation. “What’s your last name?”
    She took a deep breath and let it out, annoyed. “Sykes.”
    Well, at least, Grams hadn’t lied about my last name. Alexis didn’t wear an engagement ring or wedding band, so if she’d gotten divorced, she still used her maiden name. Another pluck hit my mental synapses.
    Alexis glared at me, obviously thinking that I’d inquired because of Celestina, as though she’d had a one-night stand, which resulted in her daughter’s birth.
    But I hadn’t spoken a word! Either she could read my thoughts or…no—there was no other explanation! Alexis had the ability to read my mind. Looking at her smile now, a pang of nausea hit my stomach, but rather than submit to self-consciousness, I catered to curiosity. “Okay, congratulations. You can read my mind. But I never invited you inside my head.”
    “So?” She smirked unapologetically.
    I looked for some measure of insincerity, but Alexis clearly believed that she had approval to use her powers whenever and however she chose. Rather than contemplate that distorted point of view, I said, “You can’t read me clearly can you? I didn’t ask your last name because I have a twisted need to hurt you. I asked because I wanted to know if Grams lied about my last name.” I turned my attention to Grams. “You know, since you’ve lied about a family I never knew I had.”
    Delphine clucked her tongue against the bridge of her mouth, eliciting a tsk-tsk sound.
    “How would you know? You never gave me a chance. You gave me away. So you don’t get an opinion.”
    My mother clenched her teeth and couldn’t hide the hint of a snarl.
    “Oh, you disapprove?” I asked, feeling fury churning inside me. “You don’t get to judge me either. So take your mind-reader and leave.”
    Delphine gave me a condescending half-smile before it disappeared a second later. “Yes, we should get going. Congratulations again on your accomplishment.” She centered her attention on her daughter and grandchild. “Come along, children.”
    Disobeying her grandmother, Celestina took a few steps toward me and with a downcast expression until she stopped just inches away. “The first prophecy is… clouded.” She glanced at Grams, whose expression soured.
    Aghast, Celestina shook her head in disarray. “Oh, no! It’s coming.” Her eyelids faltered. She yawned.
    An innate sensation throttled me to her side, but her mother and grandmother certainly knew how to deal with whatever affliction haunted Celestina. Although Delphine didn’t budge a muscle, Alexis ran to her daughter’s side with an urgent, compassionate expression just as her daughter collapsed into her arms, asleep.
    Within ten seconds, Celestina opened her dazed eyes, as though she’d just taken a long nap, and settled them on her mother’s gaze until she regained her focus.
    Alexis pressed close to her daughter. “Okay now?”
    Celestina nodded. She placed her attention on Grams and winced before moving on toward me. She cringed and lowered her gaze to the floor.
    “What did you see?” Alexis asked.
    “It was dark, horrible.”
    I recalled Celestina talking about a prophecy before narcolepsy had gripped her. It seemed that my niece could see the future! My pulse rocketed.
    “My daughter,” Alexis said, “has premonitions of potential futures.”
    I felt the familiar pluck in my mind: my sister had once again read my thoughts, but this time I didn’t admonish her intrusion. “Potential futures? But the possibilities are endless!” That knowledge alarmed me. “But how can she take all that in? Or know which one will happen? Or even know what’s real and what’s not?”
    Alexis cringed at the barrage of questions.
    The pinging sensation clicked louder in my mind.
    “Please don’t talk about this in front of my daughter.” Sincerity made Alexis’s eyebrows close, making it obvious that she loved her daughter a great deal. “Her visions are exhausting,