The Holders by Julianna Scott Page A

graduate. Though out of all twenty-three, Ryland is the only one who will grow to be a full Holder. The others’ abilities are too diluted and weak to be of any real use or trouble to them. Before Ryland, our last full Holder was Chloe, and even she is severely limited.”
    “What do the Holder kids do after graduation? Do they stay like Chloe has?”
    “No. Usually they go off to a college or University and start their lives just like anyone else would, or sometimes the ones with families will go home. Occasionally Jocelyn will hear from a graduate, but not often. When we teach the Holder student about their abilities we make sure to give them all the information they need, but we never tell them about the Order or any of the specifics that could prove… damaging. The only students we tell are the ones who will become full Holders, and even then, it’s done cautiously.”
    “That’s why Chloe knows?”
    He nodded.
    I shook my head slowly, bewildered. I had so many more questions about the school and the other Holder students, but I couldn’t find the words. The only thing I could think about were all the terrified kids out there who were being locked away and abandoned, all for something they had no control over. “How…” I asked in amazement, “How do you do it? How do you keep going? It seems so sad.”
    Something like joy lit behind his eyes and he smiled. “No. No, not at all.” He turned in his seat to face me fully. “I can’t tell you how I felt when Jocelyn came to me and told me that I wasn’t crazy and that there were others like me. It was like a dream come true. And now to have the chance to save other kids who are alone and scared like I was… it’s incredible.”
    “Still, I’m sorry for what happened to you.” I looked away, feeling the anger bubble up in me again. “I never would have let them…” I trailed off, not knowing if I was talking more to him or myself. What I did know was if I had anything to say about it, no one would ever hurt Alex like that again.
    “I know.” There was so much tenderness in his voice that I had to look up, only to be met by the most wonderfully soft expression in his eyes. “The day we came to get Ryland – the way you fought for him – it was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. When I told you that I wish I’d had someone like you watching out for me, I meant it.” I felt myself start to blush and looked away. “And as far as what my parents did,” he continued with a shrug, “oddly enough, I’m grateful. No, really,” he insisted with a smile, seeing my face. “It was terrible yes, but if it hadn’t happened the way it did, I would never have found my way here. I would never have learned who I really am. It was a long road, but it led me here, and for that I can be nothing but grateful.”
    I looked at him in awe. He truly was the most amazing person I’d ever met. To have gone through something so horrible at so young an age. I knew all too well how scared and lost he must have been – I’d seen it in Ryland’s eyes countless times before. But Ryland had me; for Alex there’d been no one. Before I even realized what I was doing, I leaned forward, wrapped my arms around his neck, and hugged him.
    “I’m sorry,” I said softly, my cheek resting against the warmth of his neck.
    He stiffened, and for an embarrassing moment I thought he was going to push me away. However, after what felt like two years – though couldn’t have been more than two seconds – I felt his arms slide around my waist and his head sink into my shoulder. I breathed in the scent coming off his hair, which was sweet and musky with the tiniest bit of cologne. The headiness of it was invigorating, making my skin tingle and my pulse begin to pound.
    I pulled back – though probably not as far as I should have – and looked up at him. “I’m sorry for earlier,” I said, feeling like a total ass for whining about Jocelyn to someone who’d had it so much