said quickly. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.
He looked over at me, sucking in a harsh breath as he saw I was looking back at him. A second later he was leaning over me, his trembling hands on either side of my face, “Becca?” he whispered, letting out something between a laugh and a sob, “Y-you’re awake?”
I tried to smile, but I don’t think it worked. Yeah, but it’s too hard to talk, so I’m borrowing from Mr Anderson.
“You’re awake,” he breathed with a shudder. “My God, you’re awake…” He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine, fingers still shaking against my cheeks.
“I know it’s late,” I said, after a moment. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
He pulled back shaking his head with a brilliant smile, tears shining in his eyes. “I’m so glad you did.” He sat down on the edge of the bed, carefully gathering my nearest hand into one of his. “How do you feel?” he asked, his free hand lovingly grazing a trail back and forth from my temple to my jaw.
OK I guess. Not being able to move is annoying, but otherwise good. The wounds on my hands were actually pretty sore too, but I was afraid if I told him that he’d release the hand he was currently holding.
“You’re weak,” he said, his smile glowing as though that was somehow the best news ever. “You’ve been through a lot, give it time.”
I’m not weak, I’m just tired, I denied, stupid as I knew it was.
“Awake for less than two minutes and already arguing with me!” he laughed, his face glowing.
Suddenly something dawned on me. Wait a minute, how can I be using Anderson’s ability? How can I feel anyone at all? Didn’t Min Block me?
“No,” he said. “We decided that with the amount of control it took for you to use the Iris the way you did, that there was no need to replace the Block. You are firmly in control of yourself. You will still need to be trained, and she didn’t remove the Block on Jocelyn, so you still won’t be able to access anything he can do, but otherwise you are free and clear. But there is another question you’re not asking,” he said, grinning.
When I didn’t answer – because I had no clue what he was talking about – he reached down below my field of vision, and pulled up a long silver chain that had something hanging from it, swinging back and forth like a pendulum.
If I’d had it in me to squeal, I would have.
It was my Sciath stone, cleaned and reset into a pendant. The deep green gem was visible from both sides, encircled by a thin silver ring that had a Celtic design carved into it.
“I thought you’d like it,” Alex said, seeing my eyes light up. “Your old one was destroyed.”
Yeah. Actually, I did that.
“You? Why?”
I knew they were going to take it off so they could use the Iris to drain me, so I broke it up to get the stone out and hid it in my hand. Then when they gave me the Iris, I was able to use it to call for help.
The amazement that lit his face made me want to look away, embarrassed, but since I couldn’t, I tried changing the subject.
Where are we? I asked.
“One of the extended stay rooms in the school’s infirmary,” he answered, still smiling.
How long have I been here? I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know.
“It’s Monday morning,” he said with a wince. “So almost five days.”
I hated the sadness that crept back into his features, so I tried to lighten the mood. Wow, five days without brushing my teeth. Good thing I can’t talk.
He smiled at my lame attempt at humor, though the haunted look behind his eyes was still there as he leaned down to kiss my cheek.
But wait, five days? What about the nurses and doctors and stuff? What did you tell them happened to me? Should I know what you told them in case they ask?
“We told the head nurse the truth.”
What, that I got my ass kicked by a magic rock? Somehow I’m thinking they didn’t buy that.
He shook his head with a grin. “The head nurse here knows about us, and she’s been the only one who’s seen you. She isn’t a Holder herself but Jocelyn always keeps at least one person on the medical staff aware of our… situation,” he said with