DO YOU NOT SEE THE STITCHES AROUND HIS SKULL NEAR HIS HAIR LINE WTF ARE THOSE NEW?!
^
His scares have been there from the beginning, they are one of the main reason for the theory that he had something to do with the experiments on Anya.
I believe at some point they got explained as "war injuries" but I might be miss remembering.
Personally I don't think he can read minds, since Anya's powers seems to be an accident no one knows about.
I instead think he has enhanced his intelligence and done similar things to Demetrius and Melinda, which is why Demetrius has no thoughts and Melinda has 'fiction' split-personality, but looking at this chapter he might have a mind reading connection to them.
But maybe he does know about the possibility of mind readers and the scars was an operation to become immune.