Michael didn’t understand. He stole a quick glance at Claire, whose eyes were riveted on Elizabetta. Abruptly, Claire asked a question. “Where’s Evan?”

Elizabetta gave another warm, bright smile. “You’re very perceptive,” she said. “He’s in the back preparing your tour guide. You’ll also have a spirit guide, but we’ll get to that in a moment.” She scooted back from the desk and crossed her legs comfortably. “That brings me to my next point, for I now have a question to ask both of you.” Elizabetta paused dramatically before speaking in a deep voice. “If you could possess a super power, what would it be?”

“What?” Claire gasped. Michael watched as her eyes grew round.

“I see I’ve startled you,” Elizabetta said calmly. “I’ll ask again: if it was possible to possess any super power in the world, what would you choose?”

Michael felt a glimmer of excitement. His mind immediately went to football and Coach’s words from the previous day. “I want super hero muscles for speed and strength,” he said without reservation.

“Like Captain America.” Elizabetta thought for a moment. “You don’t want to be superhuman at all, you just want physical prowess.” She turned to Claire. “And what for you, my dear? Surely something more than super hero muscles.”

“I want to sing like a Siren,” Claire replied, “and manipulate peoples’ thoughts with my songs.”

Elizabetta’s laughter filled the room. “So you shall be a thought-altering Siren, but you must first tell me why you have chosen such super powers.” She looked at Michael and spoke to him. “I know your reasons, but Claire has surprised me. That doesn’t happen often.”

“Think about it,” Claire replied. She put her backpack on the floor. “If you could manipulate peoples’ thoughts, you could eliminate all negativity. No more mean words, no more hate, no more abuse.”

Elizabetta nodded. “Your reasons are intriguing, but I would argue love and hate are in the heart, not the brain. In order to remove one from the human race, you must change the heart.” She paused and leaned forward, placing both hands flat on her desk. “But I’ll grant your super powers because I’m interested to see how you use them.”