It had to be a test.


    If it were a test, then it was simply a matter of figuring out the rules of the game and playing along.


    But if it wasn''t a test — if Brendan was being honest, as absurd as that idea was — then the very doctrines that had governed my life for the last six years had changed overnight.


    Because no mage would ask this. Because no Catalyst would agree to it. Because the Brendan I knew would never permit this, let alone encourage it...


    thoroughly entertained today, though he was still maddeningly vague about what all was included in "entertained" — his computer chimed. He swiveled away from me mid-syllable, a satisfied grin seizing both corners of his mouth.


    he walked through the door, I felt my expression crack.


    It had to be a test.


    most entertained."


    Maybe determining the correct answer was part of the test.


    He had to be testing my loyalty.