My heart leapt. “Yes!”

Holly stepped into the room and greeted everyone with a smile, then turned to me. “How are you? Are you okay? Anna-Marie told me what happened.”

I nodded as I fidgeted with the edge of the blanket. “I’m feeling a lot better now.”

“That’s good. Tracy is good with this kind of stuff. It will just take some time to get your strength back.”

I was uncomfortable with all this extra attention, so I changed the subject. “How is everything at Mirrabooka? How is Mrs Dawson?”

Holly’s smile turned wistful. “She’s doing really well. She’s been transferred back to her nursing home. She still has dementia, but she has family close by and loves the residents there. She’ll be okay.”

“That’s great.”

Nellie would have gone back with her. It still made me feel warm inside knowing she was going to watch over her nan till she passed. It was amazing that her granddaughter cared that much.

I opened my mouth to tell Holly about Nellie, but I hadn’t told Kaydan about being able to see ghosts. “That’s good news. She’s such a nice lady.”

Anna-Marie cleared her throat. “We might just go and let you two catch up.”

The others made their exit and Holly promised Kellie she would see her later. Even Jackson left the room – through the wall, of course. It was less crowded than the doorway.

As soon as we were alone, I told Holly about Nellie.

“Wow. That’s so nice of her to be there for her nan like that.”

“Yeah. I think that sometimes Mrs Dawson could feel her there and it comforted her. Calmed her down.”

We sat in silence for a while and Holly smiled. “Some of the others have asked about you.”

“Really? Who?”

“Mrs Dawson before she left, Jimmy, and Melanie. And Dr Calthorpe said to say hello.” I was a bit shocked, but it made me feel good inside. “Jimmy is about the same. Melanie is doing well. She has really opened up in her sessions with Dr Calthorpe. She will probably be okay to go home soon.”

“That’s great. Tell them I said hi.”

It made me wish I could go home.

Holly pulled the chair in the corner closer to the bed and sat gracefully. “So… I’m told you know about what we are now.”

I took a deep breath. “Yes.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“I bet it was quite a shock.”

I ran my fingers along the hem of the bed sheet. “Yes.”

“It was for me too, when my magic first manifested.”

My eyes snapped to hers. “You’re a Descendant?”

Her smile was almost conspiratorial. “Yes.”

I frowned. “What about Dr Calthorpe and the others?”

“No. They’re all Normals. They know about us so that we can keep an eye out for any Descendants and send them here to be trained. Can’t have Descendants running around letting all the other Normals know we exist.”

I was amazed that Holly was a Descendant. “I guess not. How did you guys get involved in finding Descendants?”

She raised a finger skyward. “Oh, the request came from above.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“Above. You know, the woman herself. The big boss lady.”

“No. What are you talking about?”

“The leader of the Council of Descendants: Agatha Holloway.”

“Oh… I think I remember somebody mentioning her name when they were talking about the Council of Descendants and the Descendants’ Guild. The Council is the ruling body and the Guild are like the police force. And the “police” are called Guardians. Is that right?”

“Yes.” Holly twirled a ring around her finger absently as she looked out at the view. “We are honoured to help any way we can. I know firsthand what it’s like when your magic appears out of nowhere and you end up hurting someone, so I try my best. Plus, I love all of our patients — whether they’re Descendants or Normals. It doesn’t matter to me.”

I smiled. I knew that was the truth. But that only made me think of Janice.

“What’s happening with Janice? Is she still treating the patients like something that’s stuck to the bottom of her shoe?”

Her eyes met mine. “Janice is gone. She was dismissed not long after you left. We finally had enough evidence to have her fired.”

Tension left my shoulders and tears stung my eyes. “Finally! She was so mean to Mrs Dawson. To all of us.”

“Yes.”

“Why was she such a bitch to everyone? I know you said she’s jealous of me, but what about all the other patients?”

“The answer is simple. She is a vindictive, selfish, immoral person. Remember how I said she was jealous of your gift? Not only does she hate the patients, but she is jealous of anyone who is a Descendant too, because she’s a Normal. She wants to have power and she sees magic as a way to be powerful. If she was a Descendant, the Guild would have to step in because I’m positive she’d use her magic against anyone for any reason.”

I sat and digested that for a while, running my fingers over the stone against my chest.

Holly shifted in her seat. “I hope you’re not upset that we kept the truth from you.”

“Well, I am a bit. This is huge, and I was the last to know about it.”

“You have to understand that we had to be sure. If we started talking to you about magic being real, you would have thought that we were the ones who should be the patients.”

I laughed at that. “Yes, I would have, for sure.”

“And if you were a Normal, then we would have been breaking our laws by telling you about our existence. And even if you were confirmed as a Descendant, but we couldn’t confirm your Seer ability, we’d still be dealing with a Descendant who was delusional, and that is just too dangerous.”

That was a scary thought.

“You called me a Seer. What’s that, exactly?”

“Someone who has the ability to See things that others can’t. There are different types. Some Seers can touch something or someone and know stuff about them. It can be something from the past, present, or future. They are called Tactile Seers. Then there are Future Seers, who can See the future. Then there are Spirit Seers. That’s you.”

As if following some kind of cue, Jemma came running in through the closed door, a huge grin on her face. “Oh, you’re awake!”