by D. R. Perry
"Where's Ember?" Logan asked.
"Probably with Gale."
Definitely.
I sat, closing my eyes. When I opened them, Logan had stepped back, eyes wide and one hand over his mouth.
"What's wrong?"
"You didn't ask me in here because—" He dropped his hand and cleared his throat. "Um, because of the dragonets?"
"No." I shook my head. "I need to tell you something. Should have done it over the summer. Maybe even last year. I'm sorry."
"All right." He stepped over like the floor was twenty stories off the ground and made of glass. He sat by the foot of the bed, facing the other side of the room.
Just say it.
"Ever since that fire in the lab, I've heard a voice in my head."
"Wait." Logan turned, eyes narrowed. "That's...different."
"You don't think I'm crazy?"
"No way. It's mysterious, though."
"Believe me. I know that feeling." I swallowed, my throat suddenly tight. "I never told anyone before. Professor Luciano—" I sniffled, eyes stinging. "He figured it out." My voice broke, but I continued anyway. "Some extramagus thing. Said he'd teach me about it. But then he—he never got to."
"Oh no." He slid over and pulled my head on to his shoulder. "It's okay."
"It's not." I sobbed. "Everyone will think I'm evil again."
"I don't. You're different. Maybe it's a talent, like mine. We can learn about it."
We rocked back and forth for a while. The motion reminded me of being out on the harbor with Dad, in the outrigger canoe that used to belong to Grandpa. The salt on my cheeks and those sunlit seafaring memories soothed me enough to speak again, finally.
"How?"
"There's got to be research, books the professor studied." He stroked my hair. "If he checked things out, maybe the Ashfords have records."
"I hadn't thought of that." I pulled away enough to look at his face. He'd been crying too. "Not since first year, when I found some articles about extramagi. They didn't have much. Then I forgot to look any further."
"You get distracted sometimes. That's okay." He squared his jaw. "I won't. Consider this my new special interest."
My stomach growled.
"Speaking of distractions." I tried to chuckle, but the sound reminded me of a fish out of water.
"Dinner."
"Yeah." I gestured at my face. "I should clean up a little."
"Me too."
We let go and met up again by the stairs after using the bathrooms. Downstairs in the cafeteria, Dylan joined us but refrained from his earlier line of questioning. Toward the end of the meal, his entire demeanor seemed more relaxed. He smiled an awful lot at Logan, too. When I dropped off my dishes, I turned to see him off in a corner, whispering something to Grace. They giggled but hushed up as I passed by.
I had no idea what they were up to but decided to let it go. Ember was still cavorting with Gale in the rafters. The feelings bleeding through our bond made me hot, cold, giddy, and uneasy all at the same time and I wanted to put some physical distance between us. My dragonet found me in the hall returning from my evening shower. She perched drowsily on my shoulder and fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.
The week passed, full of scheduled classes and extra time running in the gym on Tuesday and Thursday. Faith joined me, and I swam with her on Wednesday and Friday. A third person followed. Lena was still as silent as last year but more stoic than shy around us. On Thursday, as we left the gym, we saw Alex beginning a set of laps.
"It's lights out in an hour!" Faith called to him.
He rolled his eyes and ran faster.
"He's trying out?" Lena asked.
"We'll see, I guess." I shrugged. "Are you?"
She nodded.
"Good." Faith nodded.
"Seriously?" Lena blinked.
"Yeah." I winked. "Can't wait to see what you can do on the court."
She blushed, then pushed through the doors to the lobby.
I went home on Saturday morning with Logan, where we both helped out at Bubbe's. Ember sulked all day while Doris kept trying to cuddle up with her. Eventually, my dragonet warmed up to the idea of friend time. They sat on the back porch together and watched a litter of poodles frolic in the yard.
"Will she always be like this?" I sighed.
"They don't mate for life, so probably not," Logan said. "But until any eggs she lays hatch, she'll miss Gale when they're not together."
"At least she'll have her clutch before college. Can you imagine how she'd be if I brought her to some school on the other side of the country?"
"You're not thinking of leaving New England?" Logan blinked.
"I don't want to. But if I can't get in at PPC—"
"You will."
"Please don't say that." I looked away. "In October, after the, you know. Things might be different. I might be—"
"I get it." He rubbed his thumbnails with his index fingers, a precursor to mangling them. "This is your home. You shouldn't have to go so far away."
"It's your home too."
He put his hands flat on the wooden railing. "Not really. Most days, it almost feels like that. I'm mostly like that poor woman in the play that's not really about a streetcar. Depending on the kindness of strangers."
Bubbe called us in then before I got the chance to tell Logan in no uncertain terms that he wasn't a stranger. He was special, important, part of the landscape of my life. At the time, I didn't think I had to put it into words because while working with the animals and relaxing upstairs, we acted otherwise.
Like a family.
Chapter Eight
The waffle iron was broken so Dad ladled the batter he'd mixed into a hot pan and made flapjacks. Logan insisted on syrup, saying that's the only way he'd eat them. He fed Ember all his strawberries. I spooned his whipped cream into a saucer for Doris, then sat with my now ostentatious looking stack of cakes off the griddle.
"I told you it's odd, topping pancakes with fruit."
"Hmm?"
"Isn't that why you're not eating?" he asked.
"I'm nervous."
"Me too." He nodded. "I'm in, but this is meeting new people. Academics, not showbiz people."
"Is there a big difference?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "Elanor says showbiz has more room for eccentricity."
"You're not meeting professors, though." Mom sat with her plate. "Each school sends seniors or graduate students. They figure you already know about their academic programs. They want you to learn about student life."
"I feel a lot better now." Logan grinned, then attacked his pancakes.
"Me too." I nodded, breaking my fast at a slower pace.
At one point, Logan looked up and smiled at me, syrup smeared across one cheek. My heart felt so full, my eyes stung. At first, I thought my breath caught in my throat too, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
You're choking.
I put my hands to my throat. Ember shrieked while rising into the air. Mom dropped her utensils.
Dad was behind me, lifting me out of the chair and attempting abdominal thrusts. Doris stood staring at me, her tail straight up, back arched, all her hair standing on end.
Logan dashed over, kicking my chair out of the way. Finally, Dad got a good grip on me. A burning sensation came with the pressure, but it didn't matter.
A chunk of flapjack flew across the room. Ember batted it with her tail and sent it sailing into the trash. I could breathe again.
"Ow." I winced, clutching my left side. Mom kneeled beside me, as if she could see my ribs through my hand.
"Is it broken, Angie?" Dad peered at her.
"I'm an educator, not a doctor, Aaron."
Logan reached out.
"Can I check?"
I had no idea what he meant, but I nodded because I trusted him. He put his hand on mine, moved it aside, and held it. With the other, he touched the spot that burned and closed his eyes. Doris rubbed her head against h
is leg, meowing.
"No. It's strained, though." He opened his eyes. "You should take it easy today."
"How do you know?"
"One advantage of being a water magus is that people are mostly water." He glanced at his mercat. "Isn't that right, Doris?"
She purred.
"That's an advanced technique." Dad raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you learn it?"
"Nurse Smith." Logan shrugged. "I asked him to teach me some water-based first aid. After last year, I think it's important."
"I agree." Dad nodded. "Aliyah, do you want me to tape that before the college thing?"
"Nah." I shook my head. "I'll do it myself. Logan's not the only one learning first aid."
I gave up on breakfast after that and went upstairs to change out of my pajamas. Ember followed, staying closer than she had for the past week. I grabbed the tape from the bathroom and washed my face before heading into my room.
Thanks to my reading, I had a good idea of how to tape a strained muscle. However, the book was back on Hawthorn campus. I got my phone and looked it up. While following the diagram I'd found, a message came through.
From Blaine Harcourt, no less. Hoity-toity.
"Hush, you."
"I didn't say—" Logan turned away as I pulled my shirt back down. "Oh. The thing you talked about on campus."
"Yeah. I'm decent. Come in." I held my phone up after he turned around again. "Got a message here."
"What's LORA?"
"An acronym, I forget what it stands for. Blaine asked me some questions last year and put a bunch of information into it. He wants to talk about something at the event today. I guess that means he'll be at the PPC table."
"Makes sense." He glanced up at me. "What's it about, do you think?"
"No idea. Meeting him feels like it happened a million years ago."
"Well then, let's go and find out. Among other things."
"Not in my pajamas, though."
We laughed, and he left the room to let me change.
I hadn't been in the Hawthorne Hotel since that night delivering the letter postponing my extramagus test. I was almost afraid to step inside, but Logan held my hand as we crossed the threshold. The lobby had an entirely different feel in the middle of the afternoon than it had after nine at night. The crowds of students and parents milling around near the ballroom entrance helped, too.
We strolled together along the rows of tables, looking for Providence Paranormal.
"Should have grabbed a program." I jerked my chin at a man reading one.
"It's okay. It's nice to walk."
"Hey!" Cadence flagged us down from a table at the end of that row.
We headed over. She sprang from her seat and hurried around to give us hugs before I got a chance to read the banner hanging from the tablecloth.
"What are you doing working here?"
"Helping my boyfriend's family."
She stepped to one side, posing and making a gesture worthy of a game show hostess featuring a prize. The banner was white with a large black bird emblazoned on it and words below. Logan read them aloud.
"Corvid Couriers: Delivering since 1919." He scratched his head. "You're not a bird. And a delivery company isn't a college."
"Of course not. This is also a career fair and I've got the gift of gab." She winked. "Anyway, they're looking to hire seasonally. And beyond, for an international expansion next year."
"Good luck," Logan said. "Oh no. I didn't mean it that way."
"You usually don't mean any harm." Cadence glanced over her shoulder, then sighed. "But don't let Mrs. Merlini hear you say anything like that. She's a tough customer."
"We'll keep that in mind."
"She's a bitch."
"Mavis!" Cadence blinked slowly and pivoted slightly to reveal the girl behind her. "Language. And honestly, talking about your mother that way isn't ladylike."
"It's true, though." Mavis flipped a lock of jet black hair over one shoulder, looking right at me. "And well-behaved women rarely make history."
"Um, did I miss something here?"
"Your reputation." Logan patted my shoulder. "I think she knows who you are."
I peered at the girl, trying to figure out what was so familiar about her. She might be old enough to go to high school next year, so she'd have been at my grade school if she was local. However, I hadn't met her. Her name gave me the information I needed to place her.
"Hi, I'm Mavis Merlini." She stuck out her hand, which was pale and freckled. "Big fan."
"You must be Crow's sister. I'm Aliyah Morgenstern." I took it. "Do you follow Bishop's Row or something?"
"All of the above." She smiled.
"I don't get it." We shook.
"That's okay." Mavis nodded and let go of my hand. "You're humble."
"She's talking about your heroism, of course." Cadence grinned. "Standing up to someone like Temperance is a big deal in some circles. Even if magi don't make a fuss about it."
"Well, thanks, I guess." I tried to hide in my hair. "Anyway—"
"Look, Aliyah, it's Blaine." Logan pointed across the room. "We're supposed to talk to him. Sorry, but we've got to go."
"See you later, Aliyah," Cadence said.
"Bye." I let Logan drag me away.
"She wasn't kidding about the career part of this." Logan pointed out a table for the Federal Bureau of Extrahumans, where a man with honey-colored hair paced behind a woman with brown curly hair deliberately unfocusing her gaze at passersby. "She seems spacey for a federal agent."
"Probably a psychic, maybe checking auras."
"Look, the Coast Guard." Logan grinned at the purple-haired man behind that table, who had conjured some water into an empty glass.
"Are you interested in some pamphlets?" he asked.
"That depends on three things." I answered. Logan stared at me, mouth open. "Is it the New England Coast Guard? Can we serve either before or after college, and do you have any use for fire magi?"
"We're recruiting for Portsmouth, Salem, Boston, Providence, and Groton. I joined up after college myself but before works too." He ducked under the table to retrieve a box of pamphlets. "We absolutely take fire magi. My commanding officer tells stories about this one guy, a huge hero who was fire and also—" His eyes widened as Ember landed on my shoulder. "Is that your dragonet?"
"Yes."
"This is totally fate." He almost dropped the pamphlets. "Because that guy I mentioned—"
"Must have been my great-uncle Noah Morgenstern." I grinned. "He had a dragonet too."
"Wow!" He chuckled and handed me the glossy folded papers. "Well, look everything over. There's a recruitment bonus that can go toward either tuition or student loans. Plus you get to help people, which is my favorite part."
"Thanks."
As we walked away, Logan asked, "Why the Coast Guard?"
"What you said last night about not going too far away. You were right. If I don't get into PPC right after Hawthorn, I want to be nearby." I cleared my throat. "Near you."
"Really?"
"Yes. Because you're—"
"Ow!" A sharp bark and a series of squeaks followed the exclamation.
"Sorry, Faith." I winced.
She turned, eyes narrowed and gleaming with anger. But they softened almost instantly. Nin and Seth quieted too while peering at me from her oversized tote.
"It's okay, you were busy." She glanced at Logan, then dropped me a wink.
"Um, what—"
"I'm waiting for Hal. He's getting recruited by MIT, I think."
"For that new magitech program?" Logan beamed. "That's amazing!"
"It is." Hal peered over Faith's shoulder. "Last year, I would have stayed on campus and not thought much about the future. It's like life gave me a second chance."
We all smiled at that, but Logan and I excused ourselves because we had to get to the PPC table, which Faith had already visited. Finally, we made it, but Dylan stood in front of it, staring past us at our frien
ds.
"Like a train wreck," he said.
"What's that?" Logan blinked.
"Nothing." Dylan turned his head and dabbed his eyes with a sleeve. I would have thought he'd been about to cry, but then he ran it across his brow, and I wasn't so sure.
Don't fall for that. He's upset.
"We're talking later."
"Yes, we are." He stared at a spot near my right shoulder. Ember was perched on my left, agitatedly looking for Gale. After a moment, he noticed her. "He's outside. Nature called."
"Go on, girl." I gestured toward the door leading outside. She peeped and took off. "For now, I'm supposed to talk to Blaine Harcourt."
"Oh, right." Dylan sighed. "Sorry, got in your way, then distracted. Where are you headed, Logan?"
"I don't need to visit any tables." He grinned. "Did you want to take a spin around the room?"
"Sure thing, mate."
"See you, Aliyah!" Logan waved, and they left me standing in front of the table.
"Hi," I said to the burly but friendly-looking fellow on the other side. "I'm looking for—"
"Trogdor!" A short woman I almost hadn't noticed called from the chair beside the man. She had glossy, light brown stick-straight hair held away from her face with a headband.
"No need to holler, Lynn." The big guy pointed across the room. "He's on the way, see?"
"I'm vertically challenged, so no, I don't see." She shrugged, nose still in a book on faerie anatomy. "But I believe you, sleepy bear."
I watched them hold hands, squeezing. It reminded me of something.
You hold hands like that with Logan.
"Let's walk, Aliyah," Blaine said. Then he took off without waiting for my agreement.
"Was that Lynn Frampton?"
"Yeah, my brainiac friend. Yours went off with the British athlete, didn't he?" Blaine strode into the lobby, where the din of a hundred separate conversations couldn't distract us.
"They're roommates."
"Like Bobby and me." He gestured at a pair of tufted chairs near the entrance, then sat in one.
"That's what she meant by sleepy bear? Was he the hibernator? At the beginning of all the, um, trouble at PPC."
"You know an awful lot about my friends." Blaine narrowed his eyes as a puff of smoke rose from his nostrils.