Page 125 of Interion

“Nayra?” My voice was hoarse from hours of silence.

“Yes?” She approached. She'd been monitoring the sedative levels in the patient's body.

“Please tell me Dr. Liriope is around,” I asked hopefully. She was the hospital's head psychiatrist and had level 400 telepathy.

The nurse sighed dejectedly, and I felt myself crumble inside.

“She's helping Ambrose—they're still finishing the second surgery. We didn't think you'd get this far, so no one arranged for a psychic.”

I sighed, utterly exhausted. They hadn't left me anything—not Ambrose, not blood, and now I was without a telepath too. I needed one to verify that everything was in place.

“Now what?” I only realized I'd spoken aloud when everyone stared at me blankly. I felt like just sitting down and crying.

Where would we find a telepath for this job? The only ones I knew were Liriope and Adele's uncle, Ivanov. I opened my mouth to suggest calling him when I remembered a third name. Yes! I knew someone with the ability to search minds. The problem was: how would I contact him? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“Serguei?” I called mentally. Could this actually work? I wasn't sure, but I had to try. When we were at home, he'd said he could hear the king reaching out to him—maybe he'd hear me too.

“Serguei?” I insisted, a little louder, feeling like an idiot shouting into the void.

“SERGUEI?” I screamed mentally. I wasn't a telepath, but I could have sworn even Interion's outer wall heard that call.

“What kind of madness is this, girl? Are you testing the limits of my mental eardrums?”

I heard the voice in my head, so loud and clear it made me shudder.

“Thank the gods you heard me. I need help, Serguei,” I exclaimed, keeping my eyes closed and pressing my fingers against the brain tissue in front of me.

“Little child,” he said, softening his tone but sounding even more mocking. “Since when am I a philanthropist? I make deals—charity isn't in my nature.”

How could a mental voice be so irritating?

“Stop being grumpy. This is life or death. I need you to search her mind and see if everything's normal.”

He went quiet for a moment, apparently analyzing the situation.

“Do you know who she is?”

“A medusa with a privileged position in the gorgon hierarchy.”

“Oh, yes! That's obvious. But do you know who she really is?”

“Serguei, I don't have time for this. Right now, the only thing I need to know is whether something's wrong with the brain.”

I knew I should be nice and patient when I was clearly at a disadvantage, but I was tired and he wasn't cooperating.

“All right, the choice is yours, child. Don't come back later saying I didn't warn you,” he exclaimed cheerfully. “But... what do I get out of this?”

I rolled my eyes, feeling like a fool for not anticipating there'd be a price.

“Do it and we'll talk later—I don't have time now.”

I concentrated even harder on reinforcing the arteries and veins that were still fragile. He fell silent, and I felt his presence withdraw. I watched the patient as her eyelids trembled, as if her eyes were moving back and forth beneath them. Minutes passed, then Serguei returned to me.

“She has a beautiful shield protecting her mind, and inside it there are several blocked areas I can't touch. It's professional work.” Serguei sounded thoughtful and a bit disappointed. “I just touched one blocked area and it disintegrated, its contents exploding instantly.”

“By the Gods. Are you telling me you can't get into her mind?” I asked, horrified, imagining what a disaster that would be for the surgery.

“What an absurd insult,” Serguei scolded. “I crossed the mental barrier and managed to access the basics of her thoughts—I just can't open the blocked parts, or I'll cause even more damage. Whoever built these shields is a truly skilled psychic.”