I watched in amusement as she slammed my office door shut. I hadn’t initially intended to provoke her, but in the end, I just wasn’t able to resist.

She was like a firecracker that I couldn’t help but want to set ablaze. Her short fuse made it so every provocation was an instantaneous ignition that set her off, and her eyes would flare with brilliance. I enjoyed watching her expressions explode with intensity. It made it easier for me to understand her thoughts. After all, it had been forever since I last had to rely on facial expressions to read someone’s mind.

I stared down at my gloved hand.

At first when it had happened at the cafe, I had thought it was a fluke. That perhaps it was someone else or something else in the environment that had blocked my read. But today’s meeting in my office had confirmed it. She really was someone I couldn’t read. Even with direct skin contact. Instead, touching her made me feel like I was being pulled in. How did she do that? Just who was she?

I opened a Ziplock bag which I had taken from my desk drawer, and gingerly placed my phone in it. Ensuring not to smudge any prints, I sealed the bag, then placed it in a padded envelope and addressed it to Joe.

Picking up my office phone, I dialled Joe’s number.

“What’s up, Doc?”

“Strange, I’m sure I called a detective and not Bugs Bunny.”

“Relax Doc, learn to take a joke!”

“I also don’t recall us paying you to be a comedian.”

“Okay, okay. What can I do you for?”

“I need you to lift some prints off a phone and run a full background check. I’m sending it over today.”

“Sure thing, Doc. I’ll text you when I receive it. May take a while this time though. Lab’s currently swamped with samples. Got a massive case - ”

“Email me when you can.”

Not waiting for a reply, I immediately hung up on Joe. While he was decent at his job, Joe was an incessant talker. A conversation with him if left unfiltered, would give me a raging headache. Worst still would be a conversation with him in person. Even if I tried not to, his ceaseless stream of thoughts and endless babble would drill into my consciousness and drive me insane. He was one of those types. Easy to read but impossibly hard to block. The complete opposite of her.

“Was that Joe?”

I looked up to see Cynthia leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed.

Stolen novel; please report.

“I thought you knew how to knock?”

“And I thought you knew that I only do that when the clients are around. You know, playing the part.” Cynthia gestured dramatically at her outfit and gave me a wink, “Speaking of clients, I have a question about the interesting one that just left.”

“What’s interesting is why you still bother asking, when you know I can read what you’re thinking.”

“So why don’t you just go ahead and tell me what I want to know then?”

“Because Cyn, we already agreed. Remember? My patients are off limits to you. And to the Order.”

“But is she your patient, Alec?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you already know what I mean?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation for how I go about getting clients.”

“But you never give out your name card, Alec. You don’t even like those. Nor this clinic. I know you’ve been seeing most of your own clients outside of the office, so what’s so special about her?”

“All you need to know is that there were circumstances.”

Cynthia walked right up to my desk and perched herself on the edge, leaning close enough for me to smell lavender.

“Alec, I’ve known you since we were five. You’re meticulous to a fault and you’ve never let ‘circumstances’ dictate your life. You read others too well to let anyone do that to you. Tell me the truth. Why’s she so special that you’d bring her here?”

Cynthia gave me a look that told me that she wouldn’t stop digging till she found out what was going on. And like Cynthia said, we had known each other since we were five. I knew exactly what she was capable of.

“.... she’s different.”

“When you say different, do you mean... ”

“I’m not entirely certain. Her background doesn’t quite fit, but her age and appearance are a close match. And...”

“And?” Cynthia’s eyes took on a sharp glint. Assessing my every move with cold precision.

“And... that’s why I have Joe doing a background check on her.”

As though sensing the unease in my pause, “Is that all?”

“Yes.”

Cynthia’s unwavering stare held my mine for a long time until she abruptly stood and walked away. Just as she reached the doorway she turned and gave me a meaningful look.

“Alec, you will tell us if you find out that she’s the one we’ve been looking for, right?”

“Of course.”

“Because you know how important this is to the Order... to me.”

“I know, Cyn.”

Cynthia nodded slowly, then turned and walked away, closing the door behind her. I leaned back into my office chair and sighed.

I couldn’t tell Cynthia everything. Not yet. Not until I was certain that she was the one we were looking for. What if it turned out that she wasn’t? If the Order knew that she had the ability to block my read despite not being the heir, they’d lock her up and tear her apart in their labs. I knew full well how the Order treated their ‘guinea pigs’.

I blinked away the memories of my past and looked at the set of registration forms she had signed. I traced her loopy signature with my gloved index finger. Turning my thoughts to her icy-blue eyes, a blazing contradiction to her fiery expression, I uttered her name.

Who are you Lucine Miller?