the Awakening all morning, but Min was adamant that it was too dangerous. Apparently there was so much power required for the process that it would be nearly impossible for any Holder who wasn’t actively participating to be in the room without extreme discomfort; much less a newbie like me. I would have been fine with the discomfort, but the idea that I could actually end up hurting someone forced me to accept that, like it or not, my attendance was out of the question.
“Who will be there?” he asked after a minute, tying to cover his nerves by making it sound like he didn’t care, and was only asking to make conversation.
“Joc– Dad,” I caught myself, “and Min.”
“The old lady?”
“Yes, her name is Min. But they will both be doing things, so you may only see them at the start and at the end.”
“What about the scary-looking guy?”
“OK, Taron,” I stressed. “If you are going to be around these people you are going to have to start calling them by their names.”
“You knew who I meant,” he grumbled.
“Doesn’t matter. No more ‘old lady’, or ‘scary guy’, or ‘guy who talks funny’,” I added, figuring I’d cover his nickname for Mr Anderson while I was at it. “Names, you got it?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
We walked into Lorcan and into the lounge where Min, Mr Anderson, Mr Reid, and Taron were all waiting.
“There they are,” said Mr Reid, seeing us enter. I felt Ryland shrink back a little when he saw Taron, but I led him into the room. “Are you ready?” Mr Reid asked Ryland.
“Sure,” he said, with maybe a little too much bravado.
“There’s a good lad!” Mr Anderson said, stepping up. “I’ve a class to be getting to, but I wanted to wish you luck!” He smiled, holding out a hand for Ryland to hit. “Taron?” He turned to the figure lurking in the corner. “You coming?”
Taron grunted, ever the charmer, and the two men stepped out into the cold. However at the moment my attention wasn’t on them. It was on the already familiar warm, welcome pull in my chest, announcing the approach of someone on the staircase. A person who I could tell had already left his room this morning when I woke up, and I had not seen or felt all day.
Alex.
This was my shot. I’d already made the decision to talk to him today, being in a much better and less emotionally driven frame of mind, and was eager to get it over with so the butterflies in my stomach could find a new home.
But unfortunately it would have to wait just a little longer, because right now Ryland needed me.
“Is everything ready to go?” I asked Min.
“Yes,” she nodded. “How about you?” The look in her eye told me exactly what she meant.
“Soon,” was all I said.
“All right then,” she said, looking down at Ry. “Let’s go on back.”
“Are you sure you can’t come?” he asked, again pretending the answer was of no significance whatsoever.
“I’m sorry, Ry.”
Min put a hand on his back and led him out of the lounge and down the hall while I watched, hugging my arms to my chest.
“He’ll be fine, Becca,” Mr Reid said.
“I know,” I agreed. “I just wish he didn’t have to be alone.”
“Here,” he said, turning toward the table with the checker board painted on it. “Why don’t we have a round while we wait? It will take your mind off things.”
I glanced out toward the hall, intending to tell him I couldn’t because I needed to go and talk to someone, but paused, suddenly realizing that particular someone was gone. Alex must have left while Min was taking Ryland out and I hadn’t realized. I peeked my head out into the hall to make sure, only to find it empty.
Damn.
Should I go look for him? Everything in me screamed yes, but deep down I knew it wasn’t the time. Alex and I needed to talk – really talk – and I didn’t want to have such an important conversation while part of my mind would be worried about Ry. Much as I hated putting it off once again, I’d promised Ryland that I’d be in the lounge waiting for him when he got out and that’s where I needed to be; Alex would understand that. I could wait one more hour.
“Sure.” I smiled at Mr Reid, who was arranging the game pieces on the board without so much as lifting a finger. “That would be great.”