Penelope felt a headache coming on as she spoke, her voice irritated, "Tch! I need to get away from 'Darius' (no one missed her scathing tone, not even Den, who could not read minds) if he wants me out of his mind. Pushing people away hurts my head."
Den bristled as he spat out, "That's fine. I'm not itching to be in the same room as you either."
Mr. Cecil sighed as he spoke to Penelope, "Come on Pen. Let's go for some fresh air. I anyway need to see how strong you've gotten with all your training."
Penelope smiled, "Please Dad, I could beat you at manipulating ever since I was sixteen!" she said, her tone sounding like she actually was sixteen.
Mr. Cecil smiled and ruffled her straight black hair as the two headed out.
Sharp sighed and settled on the floor beside the bed Stella was asleep. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
Stella kept her eyes closed as Penelope and her father left the room. She couldn't lie, she actually felt a little better that Sharp had reacted that way. It made her see that it had been nothing personal when Sharp had threatened her to stay out of his mind, he really hated people getting into his mind with a passion.
"But he did not look at Penelope or Mr. Cecil with that level of disgust." Stella thought as she remembered the first time she had properly looked into Sharp's mind. It had been a mistake, her powers had been very new and she was not able to control them, and she had seen Helen's death in Sharp's mind.
Stella shook her head and pushed that horrible memory away before trying to clear her mind. Today had been quite a long day, and tomorrow was going to be another one. It would do her good if she could get some sleep.
Den closed his eyes as he slumped on the floor beside Penelope's bed. It had been a long day, and his body was quite tired. Even though Den couldn't go to sleep, he decided to allow his body some rest.
Den should have been glad that Stella was not reading his mind as his mind went to the conversation he had just had with his uncle.
A few hours earlier. . . . .
Den and his uncle Matthew had gone down to meet his parents after taking leave of the two girls in the room.
Matthew and his wife had headed straight for Den and Penelope as soon as they had come to the house, and Den, well Den's interaction with them had been upsetting. The two had found the couple sitting in the library.
"Matthew, what a pleasant surprise! When did you arrive?" Mr. Sharp spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone as he smiled at her brother - in - law. He had never been much of a fan of the Cecil family, his wife's sister had been all but disowned from the family when she had married into them. She had not been disowned when it had been found out that Matthew Cecil, her husband, was a very powerful manipulator. But they had always been looked down upon in the community.
Mr. Sharp had always worried about his son associating with the Cecils when he was younger, they were not a very good influence.