by D. R. Perry
"Thanks, Mrs. Morgenstern."
Since my friend was in good hands, I headed upstairs, packing one of my suitcases with things I wouldn't need until school started. I could put them in the room I'd share with Grace a week later. I glanced at the trusty old communication orb, my lifeline on the offline campus to Izzy and Cadence. At Hawthorn, it was forbidden and had gotten me in serious trouble last year. Should I bring it and risk more probation, or leave it behind?
Getting caught with a contraband magipsychic device might get me suspended or even expelled. I’d start this year on disciplinary probation. But the orb saved two lives last year, maybe three, I wasn't sure. Leaving it behind would be nerve-wracking.
I'd been all but promised more trouble on campus by the outgoing mean girl, who’d enlisted her younger sister and my ex to continue harassing me. I knew but had no proof that she’d been behind a magisupremacist hate crime. Said trouble would extend to my friends from town.
In October, the Hawthorn Academy campus would see the most diverse group of students in its entire history during extramurals. Our school's bylaws excluded much, including vampire students, a ban Messing Academy and Gallows Hill didn’t share. Would I be putting this diverse group of extrahumans at risk if I didn’t bring the orb?
But Izzy and Cadence were on their school's teams, so they'd be on campus with me. We could work together to make another orb in an emergency, possibly with faculty permission. One of the events was a magipsych fair, during which students could make devices like the orb. Maybe the risk was less than I imagined. I packed more mundane tools for protesting hate instead.
The Vamp Lives Matter t-shirt I'd stolen from Noah last year went into the suitcase, and another with the Night Creatures’ latest album art on it. I threw in an Ultimate Shifter League shirt and one bearing the logo for Monarch Motion Pictures, a faerie-run indie film company. If I wanted to fight back against discrimination, I'd do it wholeheartedly. And with style, I thought as I added the houndstooth leggings that looked particularly cute with the first shirt.
Headmaster Hawkins shared my sentiments, but I wasn’t as sure about the rest of the faculty, so I surrounded the bundle with menstrual supplies, underwear, bras, and cozy socks. A box of Auntie's Anti-cramp tea rounded out the packing. Even if somebody checked it, which could happen to students on probation, they'd only see comfort items. Some folks were still squeamish about looking through stuff like that.
The next order of business was adding accessories, fussy little things like necklaces and scarves I rarely bothered with in town. Noah wouldn't pick them out for me this year. He hadn't spoken to me since that accidental instance on waffle morning. I figured he wasn't likely to any time soon.
"How do people even figure this stuff out?" I shook my hands, one of which held a blue choker and the other an orange teardrop pendant.
"Peep?" Ember tilted her head to the left and then the right. She blinked a few times, stared at the tunics I had hanging on the closet door, then back at the necklaces. "Peep peep."
My dragonet swooped down, snagged the orange teardrop pendant from my hand, and dropped it in the suitcase. People weren't necessary to make fashion choices, apparently.
"Hopefully, you've got good taste in jewelry." I shrugged, placing the choker back in the box on my dresser.
"Want help?" Logan stood in the doorway, Doris brushing past his legs and into the room. She leaped into my suitcase, turned in a circle, and made herself comfortable on top of the lingerie bag. "Picking outfits is something I did to get out of more performing."
"Yeah, sure." I shrugged, smiling at the purring mercat.
"Doris does that to me all the time, gets in the bags I'm packing as if I'd forget to bring her." Logan chuckled. "Where's that string of freshwater pearls? The ones you wore with the pink dress on Valentine's Day?"
"You think I'll need those?"
"Yeah. You can wear them with all those dresses." He waved his hand at the garment bag on my bed, which contained the mint green dress I'd worn to parents' night last year along with a sample from Ambersmith Fashions Grace had dropped off for me last month.
"Okay. What about scarves?"
"No clue." Logan shrugged. "Nobody wears them in Vegas unless they're hiding a hangover. Let’s not get drunk at any ragers while on probation, okay?"
We laughed.
"Guess I'll just bring the most comfortable ones."
I grabbed a yellow and white floral chiffon, then a silky emerald green. On top of that, I added a knobbly woolen one for when it got colder. My gloves and coat went in on top since, while I wouldn't need them in September, I would want to be warm on the way home on weekends in November.
"Oh, no." Logan sighed. "I left my winter stuff in Vegas."
"Maybe Elanor will bring it."
"I don't know." He leaned against the doorframe.
"You messaged her about Benny though, right?"
"No. Not yet." Logan looked at his feet, then at Doris in the suitcase. "After I've moved in on campus, I’ll send her a message from the headmaster’s office. It’s safer if they don’t know I’m here.”
“Safer?” I blinked.
From his parents, of course.
“Come on, Queen Doris.” Logan didn’t answer. “Time to get out of there."
The mercat stood up, stretching each limb one at a time. Eventually, she stepped out of the suitcase, but she took her sweet time. I didn't mind; it gave me space to breathe. For whatever reason, I'd gotten nervous about going to campus.
You should be. Your friend's gone renegade from his influential family. Do you honestly think they'll let it lie? What was on that paper your mother didn't let you see?
"Hey, Logan?"
"Hmm?" He already looked exhausted.
"Are you meeting this new student on the way in?" Ember perched on my headboard, shuffling from side to side with her wings partly out like a canary in a room full of cats.
"Yeah, I am." He shrugged. "Why?"
"Do you want to bring Izzy with us, just for the walk to find the door?" I kept my eyes on my dragonet. The suggestion had a profound effect on her behavior. The shuffling stopped, and she folded her wings.
"Are you getting a funny feeling?"
"Yes." Ember echoed my answer with a peep.
"Okay, then.”
I grabbed the suitcase and the garment bag. Once we said goodbye to my parents, I headed down the back stairs with Logan and we got his luggage from the hallway in Bubbe's office. In the waiting room on our way out, we ran into Eston, one of our classmates.
"Logan?" Eston blinked. "What are you doing here?"
"Just heading to campus. I'm mentoring the new student in our year."
"I mean, here." Eston waved his hand, indicating Bubbe's office. "At the Morgenstern's."
"Why are you here?" Logan pulled his suitcase along behind him, heading toward the exit.
He's trying to change the subject. Failing miserably at it, too.
"Familiar license. I'm from New Hampshire, so it's just a medium drive for me. But you, you're—"
"In town early. I know." Logan's laugh came out flatter than usual. "Funny, running into you here."
Coincidental, perhaps.
"They've been looking all over for you, man. Watch out."
"Okay." Logan pushed the door open, beckoning to me with his chin. "Gotta go."
"Aliyah, watch out for him. This isn't good."
Get more information.
"How? What do you mean?" I tried stammering out more questions because it's rare that I agree with the Evil Inside Voice. But outside the door, I heard Logan calling to Izzy in the driveway. "Oops, gotta go, Eston. Sorry."
"Just be careful." Eston headed toward the door Bubbe held open for him, then looked back over his shoulder. "See you next week."
"Yeah, see you." The door closed behind me.
Chapter Nine
Out in the driveway, it was almost too bright. The sun beat down on us, without even a single
wispy cloud in the sky to dim its rays. Of all the times to forget my sunglasses. I squinted, shuffling along the gravel and hoping I wouldn't trip.
I didn't, which was a good thing because Izzy stood at the end of the driveway. She had a bungee cord with her, which confused me until she took two bags off of Logan's shoulders and set them on top of his rolling suitcase, securing them with the stretchy cord.
"How did you know I needed that?" Logan scratched his head.
"Psychic. But really, I watched you come up the driveway last week, remember? Shoulder injuries are not a good look."
"Thanks." Logan grinned as Doris headbutted Izzy's shin. "We're all nervous and wondering if there's anything to it."
"I hear you." Izzy nodded, reaching into the satchel she always wore slung on one hip. It contained her tarot cards, the ones she'd use to get a little extra information about whatever situation arose.
She pulled out a card, then frowned.
Trouble, of course.
"Who are you fighting with, Logan?" She turned the Two of Wands around.
"Um. My parents? Maybe my whole family."
"Would they call the police on you for any reason?"
"I'm not sure? It happened once when I was ten, but I never understood why."
"Maybe we should go through the fence behind my house." On Hawthorne Street behind Logan, I saw a police cruiser drive past more slowly than usual. "Come on up the driveway now."
“Peep!” Ember swooped behind Logan, diving at him until he headed back in the direction I'd indicated.
We squeezed past my parents' car, heading toward the gate in the fence. I opened it and we hustled through, Izzy closing it behind us. We had to lift the suitcases instead of rolling them because the path was a series of stepping stones with gravel between them. All the way in the back right corner of the yard, a large jasmine bush stood sentry in front of the hole in the fence. Noah and I had thought it our secret for ages, but a few years ago, after my brother bonded with Lotan, we realized Bubbe knew.
Lotan tried to go exploring, which was how we discovered unaccompanied critters couldn't get through. A magical ward banning lone animals covered the hole in the fence. Bubbe exercised some of her boarders and patients recovering from various injuries out here, so that made sense. I knew how to take it down because we'd practiced wards in Lab last year. All I needed was to match and banish the element making the magic barrier.
As I conjured my solar magic, Logan spoke.
"What did Eston say? After I left?"
"He said to be careful, and I'm taking his warning seriously." I snapped my fingers, banishing the fire and shutting off the ward. "But it's also that card, the Two of Wands. It's meant the police before in Izzy's readings, and I just saw a squad car drive down Hawthorne Street."
"I don't get it." Logan shook his head, ducking under the shrubbery I held aside for him. "They told me to leave. I'm almost an adult already. And they didn't know where I went."
"Hold on." Izzy drew another card, the Page of Wands reversed. "Half the time, this card signifies Noah. Maybe he ratted you out."
I'm too ashamed to repeat the string of words that came out of my mouth right then, but the Evil Inside Voice had a good long laugh at them. I was angry enough that some flowers on the jasmine bush wilted.
"Chill out! We're in the middle of a big getaway, remember?" Izzy patted my shoulder, helping me focus enough to turn down the wattage on my solar magic.
Once we got to the other side of the fence, I put the wards back up. We headed down the walkway beside the Peabody Essex Museum. Since the rest of our route traversed pedestrian-only terrain, I relaxed. Cars couldn't go on Essex Street, and conventional technology didn't work there. Most of the Salem PD didn't have access to magipsychic tech at that point, and only one officer was an extrahuman.
Oh, look, it's Pirate Day. Lovely.
The Evil Inside Voice's commentary wasn't welcome, but it wasn’t wrong either. A banner hung from poles set up beside the Peabody Essex Museum, bearing an old-timey message: Ye Olde Salem Pirate Festival, 8-8 today!
Immediately after making the turn, we dodged clusters of puffy-shirted people and began scanning the buildings for Hawthorn Academy's migrating entrance. Its location varied every twenty-four hours as part of campus security, and it figured that on the day we were in a hurry, we didn't find it on the first few tries.
"What's the rush, you guys?" Azrael Ambersmith jogged to keep up with us.
Logan panted. "Just trying to get to school."
"It's way down there by the Italian restaurant." He pointed past a gaggle of pirates. Yes, people in pirate garb walked down, along, across, and around Essex Street. "Are you avoiding someone? Do you need help?"
"Yeah, help would be good." Izzy nodded. "Can you throw a glamour on our pal Logan here? He needs to blend in."
"Okay." Azrael cracked his knuckles. "What do you want, pirate garb?"
"Um, I don't know?" Logan shrugged, blinking owlishly. The crowd and the chaos were getting to him, then. He needed help.
I glanced at the festive folk, noticing that most of them wore garb more akin to Renaissance Faire attire than Pirates of the Caribbean. This meant plenty of enormous face-concealing hats instead of bandannas and eyepatches.
"Yeah, pirate." I nodded. "Go for it."
"Sure." Azrael concentrated, then tapped Logan on the shoulder the way he had when we were kids playing tag.
A moment later, Logan's clothes sort of fluffed out. His shirt grew long, frilly sleeves, and his Bermuda shorts became pantaloons. A flick of Az's wrist added a leather vest and a sword belt to the imaginary ensemble. The glamour did nothing to mask his features, but the feather-bedecked tricorn hat perched on his head helped with that.
"Nice timing, Az." Izzy jerked her thumb. "Check it out." A police officer on a bicycle pedaled slowly past us down Essex Street as we made it to the restaurant he’d mentioned earlier.
"Oh no, I did not just help you evade the cops." Az paled, eyes widening in horror. "I'm gonna get in so much trouble if my dad ever finds out."
"It's okay.” She pulled a card but didn’t show us. “It’s a bogus reason. We won't tell your dad."
"Yeah, Logan's a good kid, I promise." I patted Azrael's shoulder. "He was the valedictorian last year. All we have to do is get him on campus, and everything will be fine."
Logan blushed, shuffling his feet and staring at his boat shoes, which looked like tall leather boots now. Something hit him in the back of the head, knocking the glamoured tricorn hat right off it.
"That shouldn't happen!" Azrael stepped back, blinking and holding his hands up. He wasn't surprised, but scared. "It's glamour."
"Gryphon beats glamour, my fine unfeathered changeling friend." The guy talking was short, slight, and dressed all in black except for the navy blue Hawthorn Academy blazer, to which he'd somehow added silver piping on the seams. His jet-black hair was parted on one side, where a stark white streak covered one of his eyes. "What is this, Dress Like a Pirate Day?"
"Excuse me, who are you?" Izzy crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot and glaring at the newcomer.
"Door." He smirked, pointing at himself and then at the thing we sought. "But that’s not my name. It's Dorian Spanos. I’m the new guy."
"Why did a gryphon hit me?" Logan rubbed the back of his head. "I kind of need that hat right now."
"Might as well ask why snow falls down instead of up." Dorian sighed, ironically. "So, what are these reasons of yours?"
Before anyone could answer him, the bicycling police officer screeched to a stop beside the group. Azrael froze, except for his hands, which visibly trembled. His face went white as a sheet.
"Logan Pierce?" The officer put down the kickstand and got off the bike. "Show me your ID slowly."
"Oh, no way." Dorian's smile was broad, showing a set of even white teeth.
"Yeah, I'm Logan Pierce. My ID is in my back pocket here. I'm just going to reach for it."
The police officer waited, then checked the piece of plastic Logan handed over. She peered at it, tilting it in the light and watching the sun play on the hologram Nevada put on its state IDs. Apparently, Logan didn't have a driver's license.
"Looks like the real deal." The officer tossed her head, the ponytail under her bike helmet shining ruddily in the sunlight. "You're coming with me, though, Logan. Your parents want you escorted to the airport."
"He's not going to the airport." Headmaster Hawkins strode through the door to Hawthorn Academy, heading directly for our group. "Mr. Pierce is expected at school today. His tuition is paid in full for the year, and he’s got work to do here."
"I'm sorry, Headmaster, but his parents reported him missing and said they had reason to believe he'd be in Salem."
"His parents are mistaken." Headmaster Hawkins held out a piece of paper, handing it to the officer. "I’ve got an agreement he signed to mentor a student at my school, beginning today."
"Oh?" The police officer raised her eyebrow, stepping back so sharply her ponytail bobbed. She glanced back at the ID. "He's seventeen. They didn't tell us that."
"Have a look." He smiled mildly. "It's notarized and everything."
I blinked because notarization requires all signatories to be present in the room with the Notary Public. As far as I remembered, Logan had signed his document in Nevada after receiving it via certified mail.
I managed to catch a glimpse of the paper as he passed it and noticed its date was last week and the notary my father.
"It seems to be in order, but I'll have to show it to my lieutenant. Hang on a moment." She got out her phone and tried taking a picture, then shrugged and laughed at herself. It didn't work because this was Essex Street.
I looked for Azrael since he might know some way to take and convey a picture to the police station, but he'd faded into the crowd.
"Let's make this easier." Headmaster Hawkins said. "Why don't I bring the document to the station? If your lieutenant thinks it's not in order, we'll rectify it together."