afraid or having nightmares.”
“Nightmares? He’s not that fragile. Just tell him I passed out because I didn’t eat or something, he’d probably get a kick out of it,” I smirked, knowing that there were few things Ryland enjoyed more than having something embarrassing he could tease me about.
“Passed out?” Min said, as both she and Mr Anderson looked at me like I was out of my mind. “Becca,” she asked, stepping closer, “what happened when you touched the Iris? What did you see?”
“I don’t know, lots of colors and light. It was peaceful. Mostly, it made me tired.”
“That wasn’t tired, that was your life energy draining away,” she said thoughtfully. “But was there nothing else? Could you see us? Anything around you?”
“No, everything else disappeared. Why?” I asked, their shocked gazes confusing me.
“That may have been all it was for you, but for the rest of us there was quite a bit more.”
“What happened?” Chloe and I asked at the same time.
“In a word: chaos. The moment your fingers touched the Iris, a blast of pure energy shot out from around you, throwing us all backwards, forcing us against the wall. The continuous stream of unrestrained power pouring out of you dominated us all, making it impossible for us to control our abilities. Reid had items of all sizes flying around the room, Alex began casting random images, this one,” she said, pointing at Mr Anderson, “was filling our heads with so much nonsensical chatter we couldn’t think straight, and Jocelyn had to use every ounce of his concentration to avoid warping and erasing our minds.”
“Seriously?” I whispered, stunned. Everything had been so serene and tranquil for me that I never would have imagined there could have been such a commotion only a few feet away.
“The only way to stop it was to take the Iris from you,” Min continued, “but we were all pinned to the wall by the sheer force of it, and unable to reach you. Finally, Reid was able to gather his wits enough to kinetically pull the Iris out of your hand, stopping the effects instantly.”
“Wow,” Chloe breathed, giving my arm a squeeze.
But I was more worried than impressed. “And Ryland saw everything? My God, he must be terrified!”
“For a bit, but we took care of him, don’t you worry,” Mr Anderson said with a smile.
“As I said, Jocelyn has made sure he will sleep well tonight, and tomorrow he will have a talk with him.”
“Will he tell him everything?”
“Difficult to say. We will all discuss it at the meeting tomorrow morning.”
“Aye,” said Mr Anderson, looking at Min. “Nine o’clock, in Jocelyn’s office, and that includes you too, lass,” he added, nodding to me. “Seeing as how you’re one of us now. Cormac will be there too, for the Reading.”
“But are you sure–?”
“Hush now,” Min said, as she helped me sit up. “No more of that. There is nothing anyone can do tonight. All that matters now is that you get a good rest.” Once I was soundly on my feet, she went to the table next to the stove and retrieved a small corked bottle filled with a gray-green liquid. “Here,” she said, handing me the bottle, “drink this.”
I looked at the nasty color of the bottle’s contents and cringed.
“Come on,” she waved. “I’ve got somewhere to go, and I’m not leaving until it’s gone.”
I groaned and uncorked the bottle. It didn’t smell like anything, but I still didn’t trust it. I plugged my nose and downed the whole thing in two gulps.
“Blah!” I coughed, handing her the empty bottle. “Here, gone.”
“Good girl. Now get on up to bed, it won’t take long for that to begin working.”
“What was it?” Though, as I had already drunk it, maybe I didn’t want to know.
“You need a full night’s rest to finish healing. That will make sure you get it. Now go on. Chloe, take her arm and make sure she doesn’t trip. Anderson, go along will you? In case she can’t make it all the way?”
“Certainly. You’re not coming?”
“No, I need to go check on…” she hesitated, glancing toward Chloe and me, “someone.”
“Oh, aye,” Mr Anderson said sadly. “Poor lad.”
“You know about that?” Min asked him quietly.
He nodded. “He told me last week.”
My vision started to blur as I felt the bottle of – whatever it was – seep into my veins and make my head and limbs heavy. Chloe felt me slouch against her and began to lead me toward the door, but I