The Diadem Series by Julie Upshur

In the walled Diadem City, everyone is on a psychic spectrum, and those with the smallest amount of the gift are bought and sold as slaves held captive mind and body by a more powerful psychic. Solara Barthelme, traumatized by an incident a year ago that stole her willpower, has determined to never be enslaved again... moreIn the walled Diadem City, everyone is on a psychic spectrum, and those with the smallest amount of the gift are bought and sold as slaves held captive mind and body by a more powerful psychic. Solara Barthelme, traumatized by an incident a year ago that stole her willpower, has determined to never be enslaved again. But caring for herself and her paralyzed twin brother Lu in a city that thrives on poverty-stricken workers is only getting harder, and when Lord Faisal, famous for controlling more Seconds than anyone, offers her a deal she can’t refuse, Sol and Lu are whisked away into a life of luxury. There’s only one problem.Faisal recruited Sol for an impossible mission. His sister has been forcibly taken as Second by Nikara Manfalon, the cruel unofficial princess of the city and the same woman who took control of Sol’s mind a year ago. Nikara is untouchable, and the only way into her fortress, and to Faisal’s sister, is through Sol’s connection to Nikara’s brother, the equally notorious non-psychic Tessan, who, for reasons Sol cannot fathom, is infatuated with her.All Sol wants is to protect her family, but she is inextricably linked to Faisal and unfinished business for Nikara. Surrounded by power and unable to trust her own thoughts, Sol must navigate this bizarre new world where kindness is weakness, love is a weapon, and the consequence for losing the game is death, or worse. less

As Lady of the Diadem, the single most powerful psychic and political entity in the city, she’s surrounded by more enemies than she’s ever been before, and that’s just the beginning. Her quest to better the lives of the psychically enslaved creates new rivals every day. When a recurring nightmare leads Solara to Naiji, a little girl stripped of the gift and left to die, her already tumultuous world implodes.Someone is experimenting on psychics, leaving a trail of bodies behind them... moreAs Lady of the Diadem, the single most powerful psychic and political entity in the city, she’s surrounded by more enemies than she’s ever been before, and that’s just the beginning. Her quest to better the lives of the psychically enslaved creates new rivals every day. When a recurring nightmare leads Solara to Naiji, a little girl stripped of the gift and left to die, her already tumultuous world implodes.Someone is experimenting on psychics, leaving a trail of bodies behind them. And Solara has just drawn their attention. They send her an invitation – a taunt – to join in their fun. But Solara’s own gift is growing wildly out of control, broadening in scope and strength faster than she can learn to manage it, with devastating consequences. Innocent people are dying around her, she is the only one powerful enough to help, and the very ability that has been her security has become her undoing.As Solara unravels the tangled history between her, Naiji, and the city itself, her shadowy adversary circles closer, bringing with them a choice and a truth that will change the fate of the city forever. With unfathomable power and no certainty of how to use it, Solara must find the line between dictator and liberator, defender and killer, before there’s nothing left to save. less