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Amanda tilted her head. "What do you think gave me the idea? The fact that the three of them share a maternal lineage is too significant to ignore. The Fates don't arrange coincidences of that magnitude without purpose."

"But Fenella insists she doesn't have any special talents."

"Not everyone is as strongly talented as you, darling. Most people with abilities don't recognize them as such and chalk it up to good instincts or luck."

"What kind of ability do you think she might have?"

"I'm not sure." Amanda tapped her lower lip with a long finger. "That's why I wanted to clear the lab and test everything I can think of. And what's more interesting is how her ability might interact with Kyra's and Jasmine's when they're together. The synergistic effect. That's why I also asked Morelle to join us today."

Syssi frowned. "How is Morelle going to help? You're not planning to have her siphon and redirect powers without proper safety protocols, are you?"

"Of course not," Amanda said, though the slight hesitation in her voice suggested she'd at least considered it. "It's more of a hunch, really. Morelle's ability to manipulate energy flows might help her identify patterns we can't detect with our equipment. Remember how she detected the flaw in the mantel stone?"

Syssi shivered at the memory. "I will never forget that. We almost lost Darius."

Kalugal's little boy had been sitting right under that piece of stone that had detached from the fireplace mantel. If Morelle hadn't been there to redirect the stone's trajectory by siphoning power from Annani, he would have been killed.

"She must have felt the vibrations," Amanda said. "Maybe Fenella vibrates too and Morelle can feel that. I won't have Morelle redirecting her power to another person without testing how it works first."

Amanda hadn't said how she was going to test that, but Syssi didn't need her to spell it out for her.

Leaning against one of the lab tables, she let her thoughts drift to Morelle's twin and his clandestine training. Kian had justified using Ell-rom's death-ray power on the worst of humanity's monsters as a necessary evil, saying that these people who had hurt children and would continue to do so given the chance deserved the death sentence. But the moral implications of using them as target practice for the twins still weighed on her.

"You're thinking about Ell-rom, aren't you?" Amanda asked, reading Syssi's expression with uncanny accuracy.

Syssi sighed. "Ell-rom is killing people for target practice."

"Monsters, not people," Amanda corrected. "The worst of the worst who don't even deserve to be called people."

"I know that." Syssi rubbed her temples. "I just worry about the effect it has on Ell-rom. He's a gentle soul who the Fates have dealt a nasty hand with that death-ray of his. I know that I wouldn't be able to do what he's doing without it destroying me from the inside out."

"Which is precisely why you're not the one who has been gifted with his talent." Amanda walked over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Ell-rom's Kra-ell heritage gives him a different perspective on justice and necessity. The same is true for Morelle."

"She seems more comfortable with the harsher aspects of her nature," Syssi agreed. "Her Kra-ell half is more prominent than her brother's."

"It's their dual nature that makes them so valuable to the clan," Amanda said.

"I suppose you're right," Syssi conceded. "But it still troubles me." She glanced at her watch. "We should probably check on the girls before everyone arrives."

"They're fine," Amanda assured her. "You need to give Allegra the chance to get used to the new girl."

Before Syssi could respond that it had been a while, the lab door opened, and Kyra and Jasmine entered, followed by Fenella with Din beside her.

Syssi was happy to see Din's hand resting protectively at the small of Fenella's back. It seemed like the couple who had been star-crossed for five decades finally had their stars in alignment.

Brandon and Morelle brought up the rear.

Even though it wasn't Morelle's first time in the lab, she still scanned the equipment with the same interest. The woman had warrior instincts.

"Welcome, everyone," Amanda said. "Thank you for coming. I know it was short notice, but my mother is impatient to start the search for Khiann, and since you three ladies seem to be at the heart of that effort, we need to figure out how you will achieve that as soon as possible."

Fenella gave Amanda the thumbs up, but she looked far from enthusiastic or confident about the testing. Nevertheless, she looked around the lab with undisguised curiosity. "Nice setup you've got here. I'm getting a mad scientist vibe."

Amanda laughed. "I preferinnovative, but I'll takemad scientistas a compliment."

"What exactly are we doing here?" Kyra asked, with her hand resting on the pendant at her throat.

"I want to test all of your abilities and find out what Fenella's potential talent might be." Amanda motioned for them to follow her to the sitting area at the far wall of the lab. "I also want to explore how your talents might interact and whether Morelle can detect any interesting patterns that our machines cannot."