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"Hey yourself, cousin," he returned, using the family terms royals sometimes used around each
other.
"You okay?" Lissa asked me. "When I saw how drunk you were, I thought you might have
fallen in somewhere and drowned."
"I'm not—" I gave up trying to deny it. "I'm fine."
Adrian's usual expression had turned serious as he studied Lissa. It again reminded me of the
dream. "How'd you find her?"
Lissa gave him a puzzled look. "I, um, checked all the rooms."
"Oh." He looked disappointed. "I thought you might have used your bond."
Both she and I stared.
"How do you know about that?" I demanded. Only a few people at school knew about it.
Adrian had spoken about it as casually as he might have my hair color.
"Hey, I can't reveal all my secrets, can I?" he asked mysteriously. "And besides, there's a certain
way you two act around each other … it's hard to explain. It's pretty cool… all the old myths
are true."
Lissa regarded him warily. "The bond only works one way. Rose can sense what I'm feeling
and thinking, but I can't do it back to her."
"Ah." We sat in silence a few moments, and I drank more water. Adrian spoke again. "What'd
you specialize in anyway, cousin?"
She looked embarrassed. We both knew it was important to keep her spirit powers secret from
others who might abuse her healing, but her cover story of not having specialized always
bothered her.
"I haven't," she said.
"Do they think you're going to? Late bloomer?"