she said timidly, wringing her hands. She could evidently see that I wasn’t happy with the idea.
“That can’t be,” I said decidedly. “If everything you just told me is actually true, then there is no way.”
“This is probably why Alex didn’t want me bringing it up until you were ready.”
My blood began to boil. “Jocelyn left us, he left her! If this connection is so important and profound how could he…?”
“I don’t know.” She stopped me, raising her hands apologetically. “I don’t think anyone is sure about all that, you know, with your mother and Jocelyn and all. He never talks about it, and of course we don’t ask. I’m only telling you what we have always believed. Maybe you could ask Min sometime, she might know more about it having been here for so long.”
“Right.” I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you. I just… Sorry.”
“It’s all right,” she smiled, giving my knee a squeeze. “No worries.”
I sat silently trying to wrap my mind around the idea of a profound tie connecting Jocelyn to my mother, and quickly realized that I had no desire to think about it. It just wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. Either this whole Anam idea was just a story, or Jocelyn had lied about having a bond with Mom to, I don’t know, create sympathy or something.
Luckily, before I could get too worked up over any of it, I heard feet slapping against the stone floor making their way toward us. A few seconds later, Ryland came barreling into the lounge, a big smile on his face, calling for me like he was trying to wake the dead.
“Becca!”
“Ryland! Keep your voice down! For God’s sake, you’re in a school!”
“Sorry.” He rolled his eyes. “Hi Chloe!”
“There’s the lad,” Chloe said, patting the seat next to her.
“I just met my dad,” Ry gushed, plopping down next to her. “Becca said I wouldn’t go, but I did!”
“Did you now? And how was that?” she asked, shifting to face him.
“Great! His hair’s red like mine, how come you never told me that?” he asked, turning to me. “You always told me I had red hair because I was weird!”
“I guess I forgot,” I said, shrugging. Before he could retort, Alex’s arrival at the door caught my eye. “Can you keep an eye on him for a sec?” I asked Chloe.
“Sure, sure,” she said, waving me away. I left Ry to describe every detail of his meeting, while I went to get the scoop from Alex.
We walked down the hall a bit, making sure we were out of earshot before I asked, “How did it go?”
“Really well. He was reluctant at first, but it only took a few minutes for me to be able to slip out of the room without him even noticing.”
“That’s good I guess. Did Jocelyn tell him about the test, or anything like that?”
“He told him enough, though he made it seem very casual. Ryland probably thinks that it’s something all the students here have to do, and no big deal, which is exactly what we want him to think for now. He knows you’ll be there too, and doesn’t seem worried.”
“Good.” That was a relief. The last thing I wanted was for Ry to once again feel nervous or out of place, especially when he had just started to fit in.
“Listen,” Alex said, looking down, “I am leaving for a few days. There is a Holder who helps us occasionally: a Reader. He can sense other Holder’s abilities and gauge their level of power. Jocelyn thinks it might be a good idea to have him here for Ryland’s test, so Taron and I are going to go get him. But there’s,” he looked down again, hesitating, “there was something I wanted to talk to you about first.”
“OK,” I said, when he didn’t continue.
“Well… I know you will be here for Ryland’s test, but afterwards… I wasn’t sure what your plans were. I know you had originally said that you would return home after Ryland was settled, but… well I was wondering if you might consider… staying.”
“Staying here?”
“Yes. I know you mentioned starting school somewhere,” he continued quickly, “but you also weren’t sure where to go. St Brigid’s has a lot of college-accredited courses you could take for a semester or two while you decide. Chloe’s taking a few. I’m sure Ryland would like having you close. Anyway,” he handed me a small booklet, “I got