Hawthorn Academy- Year Two

by D. R. Perry

  "Caw." Mercy butted her head against my cheek. When she did that, an idea cracked through the heat of my panicked thoughts like an ice cube dropping into a fresh cup of coffee.

  I could wait until October when the extramural guests arrived on campus. I'd definitely find allies against organized bigots amongst their ranks. Not all magi were magisupremacists, but all magisupremacists were magi. Other extrahumans could probably be trusted. In October, I could make psychic, shifter, and changeling connections, and then I'd have help with all this.

  "I love you, Mercy." I stroked the fur on her hindquarters, and she curled her bushy tail around my wrist. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

  Chapter Twenty

  Aliyah

  At the end of dinner, Dylan headed toward the stairs. I couldn't handle any more socializing, but the café was shut down anyway, along with the lounge beside it. I wasn't sure what to do, so I paced around the lobby, trying to think of somewhere to be alone.

  I walked down the hall toward Penelope's window, just to have room to stretch my legs without passersby looking at me. When I reached the end, I turned around and headed back. I thought about checking the gym, seeing if it was open. Maybe I could run some laps. But I remembered Coach Pickman saying it was being cleaned that night.

  That left me no choice but to head toward the stairs. Maybe it'd be best to sleep off my bad mood. While dodging through the crowds of chattering groups in the open space, I kept my eyes down to avoid getting sucked into any conversations. That turned out to be a huge mistake.

  My shoulder made contact with someone, and I looked up into the face of the last person I wanted to see.

  Or maybe you do want to see him. Give him a piece of your mind, why don't you?

  I typically didn't heed advice from the voice in my head because that way lay madness, but nothing about this entire day could reasonably be called sane. My mouth opened, spewing thoughts and opinions before I could stop their escape.

  "How dare you!" I put my hands on my hips, glaring into Alex Onassis's eyes. "She's in intensive care, you asshole."

  "What?" He blinked, taking a step back. His basilisk reared up on his shoulder, mimicking his movements.

  "I understand you're no friend of Darren's, but hurting his poor innocent dog? That's beyond the pale, even for you."

  "Clementine's in trouble?" His face paled and his jaw dropped. "I wouldn't hurt her in a million years."

  "You expect me to believe that?" The right side of my mouth curled up in a sneer. "She was poisoned with neurotoxin, your specialty. I have direct and personal experience with that."

  A gaggle of first-years stood transfixed by our confrontation, but I didn't care.

  "I didn't!" He held a hand up to his cheek as though he'd been slapped. "I wouldn't poison someone's familiar. What kind of monster would do that?"

  "You tried to whammy a sauna full of magi last semester." I snorted. "You wouldn't have stopped if I hadn't gotten in your way, either. I know you wouldn't think twice about it with other extrahumans."

  "I'm not evil." He shook his head, the hand he’d held to his face before now trembling in front of it. "Familiars are off-limits. And we shouldn’t be talking."

  "It's true." Elanor Pierce sauntered over. "Pick your battles wisely, Aliyah. Your bully is showing."

  "I'm not a bully." I blinked.

  You could've fooled me.

  "I'm not." I wrung my hands, focusing on Elanor instead of the voice. "But if you'd been in the infirmary, saw what happened, you might be asking the same questions."

  "Not in that tone or in that state." Elanor raised her eyebrow, jerking her chin at my fists.

  "Oh." I glanced down, seeing the glow around them. I hadn't set my blazer on fire; this was solar magic. All the same, my lack of self-control disturbed me. "Sorry."

  "Is it true about Clementine?" Elanor crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head. "Was she really poisoned?"

  I nodded. "Nurse Smith called my grandmother in and everything."

  "I gotta go check on Darren." Elanor dropped her arms. "If you guys have a knock-down drag-out, I'm reporting you both to the headmaster. You're both on probation. Stay civil or get the boot."

  I put my hands behind my back, and Alex's shoulders eased. He took a deep breath, then let it out with a sigh, seeming to deflate. There was nothing quite like the threat of imminent expulsion to stop a fight at good old Hawthorn Academy.

  "It wasn't me, I swear on all the gods of Olympus." He put his hand over his heart.

  "Fine." I took a deep breath, trying to settle my agitation. "I believe you. About this."

  "Thank the gods."

  We stood in silence as the hushed group of students around us dispersed.

  "Don't thank them just yet." I shook my head. "We're on opposite sides at this school. Clementine wasn't your fault, but somebody did this, and I’ll find out who eventually. If your poison was involved in any way, even if someone stole it, I'll make sure everybody knows."

  "So will I." He nodded. "Nobody steals from me and gets away with it, Aliyah. But I'm not the only poison magus on campus by a long shot."

  "I know what you've been planning all summer." I turned my head, giving him side-eye to shame the devil. "I saw you last year, with Charity and that costume."

  "What's that supposed to mean?" He stuck his nose in the air. It was a world of difference from how he’d reacted when I accused him of poisoning Clementine, so I knew he lied this time, but pressing further was too risky.

  "Whatever." I shook my head. "I've got my eye on you, and Tempe too."

  "Go write a Hallmark card or something, Goody Two-Shoes." He snorted. "She's not afraid of you."

  "She should be." I turned on my heel and stalked toward the stairs, glancing over my shoulder to gift him with a withering glare. That should have been the end of the conversation, but Alex called after me, words that echoed in my ears, cementing themselves soundly enough to plague my dreams all that night.

  "Nice talk." He raised his hand in a golf wave. "Your Uncle Richard would be proud."

  My grandmother called on Darren the next day to give him a report about Clementine. She was on her way out while the second-years had lunch. Bubbe stopped by to say hello as I sat at the largest table in the cafeteria with everyone in my year. Even Dylan ate with us that time, though as far away from Dorian as possible.

  After greeting my friends, she asked for a moment of my time. I got up, dropping my plates and tray at the dishwashing window before going into the lobby with her. Bubbe and I found seats on a bench near the double doors leading into the entrance hall.

  "I'm not supposed to ask this according to the headmaster, but what happened to Clementine, Bubbe?"

  "It was neurotoxin like Ezekiel said." She sighed, running a hand through her aquamarine hair. "If you hadn't helped hold her down for the nurse through that seizure, she might still be sick, or worse. I've sent samples to a lab in Boston, but so far, it looks like it had a non-magical vector."

  She went on to explain that the poison might have been conjured by magic, but it had been delivered by putting it on a surface Clementine came into contact with. The lab results would do more to determine if the poison was magical or mundane in origin.

  "Who uses poison magic mundanely at a magic school?" I blinked.

  "Someone without poison magic, or any magic at all, who wants poison magi or critters like them to get the blame," she answered. "A poison magus covering their tracks is another possibility."

  "The only person on campus without any magic is Ezekiel." I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "Some anti-vampire jerk could be trying to get him fired."

  "I'm well aware, Bissel, but I won't say more until the lab work comes back." Bubbe put her hand over mine. "Except that I want you to be careful. Ember too. Remember that fire magic lets you burn poison out of yourself. If you have any friends with that element, you ought to show them how that works."

  "So, you think
we're not safe?" I blinked.

  "I'm saying it's best to be prepared. I'm a medical professional, and it's something we learn over years of practice. So, perhaps mention it to your friend with the Sphinx, and Elanor Pierce as well."

  "I'll do that, Bubbe. Thanks for the advice."

  "Don't be a stranger this weekend, Bissel. I'll see you soon."

  The rest of the week went by with little incident. Familiar Bonding continued with worksheets and magipsychic presentations given by Nurse Smith. The only interaction the first-years got with critters came from Doris and Ember making friends with Lena and Arick. She let Doris curl up in her lap while he practiced keeping his hands away from animal's faces and taking a few calming breaths before approaching them. I thought that by the next week, they'd both be able to continue the course as intended.

  Lena seemed likely to find a magical companion, something sedate, but I wasn't sure Arick would ever bond with a familiar. He might be one of those rare students at Hawthorn Academy who ended up on the educational track like my mom. That would be a shame since he clearly loved animals with a passion.

  Darren vanished from any social activity. We had a high tea, a study group, and a movie night that first week, but he attended none of those. The only time I saw him was on the way in and out of the cafeteria, and he rebuffed all my efforts at checking on him. I did see him whispering with Elanor in the hall between classes, so at least he talked to someone.

  I decided to take Bubbe's advice and help my fire magus friends learn to counter poison. Kitty was easy to find, so I started with her. She ran her weekly Truncheons and Flagons game on Wednesdays, so I dropped by her room after it let out and Faith was on her way to the baths for her swim.

  "I never tried burning poison out. Is there anything on the subject at the library?" she asked.

  "Yes. I found descriptions in this book about Bishop's Row." I jotted the title down on a piece of paper for her. "We can practice together if you want. No poison's required for that, thank goodness, but it's easy to run out of energy, so we should have our familiars nearby."

  "Can we give it a go now?"

  "I guess."

  The basic principle was something like having a fever, except induced and controlled by magic. We both conjured fire, and then I showed her how to focus it inward. By the time Faith returned from the baths, we sat flushed and panting at the round table in the middle of the room, our familiars snoring on the table between us.

  "That was like a hot yoga workout." Kitty laughed. "Whew!"

  "What was?" Faith raised an eyebrow.

  "Some fire magic stuff." I yawned, too tired to think about anything but sleep. We said goodbye and I left for my own room, letting Kitty explain the exercise.

  I tried to look forward to the weekend. I'd go home on Saturday and meet with Izzy and Cadence to chill out from all the school stress. Plenty of my classmates needed a break, and I tried encouraging them to join in. It wasn't easy, considering nobody seemed inclined to come into town with me.

  Dylan insisted on sticking around campus with his guitar. I said we wouldn't mind if he brought it along, but apparently, he wanted to practice with some other folks. My momentary flash of jealousy cooled when he explained Elanor was looking for a guitarist to join a musical act in the extramural talent show.

  Faith and Hal were heading into Boston for a visit with his doctor. They’d leave on Friday during Familiar Bonding, so I couldn't even see them off. Grace planned to spend all weekend in Creatives, working on a project she insisted on keeping secret. And Dorian had to do homework and help Nurse Smith clean the infirmary, an ongoing task since Mercy had trashed the place that first afternoon in Familiar Bonding.

  Finally, I tried to coax Logan into town, asking him if he'd visit Bubbe at least, but he said he wanted to help Dorian catch up on last year's critter-specific material. I couldn't argue with his insistence on encouraging good study habits.

  Logan's academic strategies had propelled him to top of the class last year, so who was I to criticize? He was probably still worried about his parents, too, so I gave up. On Friday night, I hung out with Grace. Over chips and salsa, the subject of Logan's crush on Dorian came up. She wasn't surprised.

  "Maybe they'll get together someday." She grinned at my blink. "You know Dorian's bi, right?" Grace shrugged at my dropped jaw. "We discussed it on the first day. We're only together for show, temporarily. He gets to skip the whole newcomer garbage and I get to look strong, keeping the rebellious guy in check. Exponential cool factor that makes up for no longer dating the athletic class clown."

  "Oh." I looked away, avoiding giving voice to the first thought that popped into my head. “Why temporarily?”

  “Because Dorian’s helping me cement popularity with Hawthorn students. He won’t go over well with psychics, shifters, and changelings, though, so I’ll need to be single and eligible in October when the competing students get here. Then I’ll play the field.”

  “Everybody in town loves Dylan, though. Cadence and Izzy do, and they’re popular at their schools already.”

  "Why didn't I just stay with Dylan then?" She sighed. "Isn't that what you want to know?"

  "You told me already. Too much emotion, right?"

  "Not from him." She rolled her eyes, chagrin morphing to anger. "How can you be in love and not have sex?"

  "That makes no sense." My face felt nearly feverish. I'd always imagined true love not requiring all the messy-seeming naked body stuff, or only exploring once you had a long history of devotion and trust. I couldn't imagine what it felt like, desire for the sake of it, but she took my words differently than I'd intended them.

  "Right!" Grace's nod was as emphatic as applause. "I'd rather get stuck being celibate with someone I don't want to bang all the time."

  I didn't contradict her because we'd end up in an argument about a subject I found utterly baffling. I had no time or energy for that. Instead, I got ready for bed. Spending the weekend coordinating events with Izzy and Cadence might end up as an exercise in cat-herding anyway.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  "We got the same list of projects." Izzy nodded. " I singled that one out too. Mostly because of you, Cadence."

  "Me?" Cadence batted her eyelids, smiling. "Oh, you shouldn't have, Iz."

  "You know practically everyone at Gallows Hill. Who's going to help most with this experiment? And will they be participating in extramurals?"

  "Let's see. What kind of shifters do you need again?" Cadence raised her eyebrow.

  "You can't tell by looking at this description?" Izzy tapped the paper, her eyes widening. "Have you been asleep in class?"

  "Don't get on my case. I do a lot of work at school. And I've always been a little scatterbrained, you know that." I didn't like how strident Cadence's voice sounded while she was defending herself.

  "I can always invite Azrael over and ask him." I shook my head. "Or we could just tell Cadence what we’re looking for. Let's all chill out. We've got this."

  "I don't need a lecture, Aliyah." Izzy's jaw clenched, eyes too shiny.

  "Sorry, I didn't mean it to come across that way." I reached out, putting my hand over hers. "Are you okay?"

  "I might not even have a spot on the extramural team." Izzy's lower lip trembled. "After I worked so hard last year."

  "What happened?"

  "Everyone at Messing is fickle. It's hard to describe, so I won't. I'll just give you a name." She took a deep breath, steadying her hands and her voice. "Jonah Arnold."

  The name meant nothing to me, but it did to Cadence. She gaped like a, well, fish.

  "No. Way. How did he get into your school? He's a vampire."

  "Messing Academy admits psychic vampires as long as their years of existence total eighteen or less. Jonah's clairvoyant just like me, uses tarot cards and everything. Anyway, Dean Adelphi said he was automatically on the extramural team. That means I'm not going to make it."

  "Doesn't Adelphi understand how much prejudic
e there is at Hawthorn against vampires?" I blinked. "Having him there is dangerous."

  "That's why she's doing it." Izzy sighed. "Messing's its own counterculture. Also, it's basic strategy. They’re keeping redundancy to a minimum, like we're a Swiss Army Knife instead of a team."

  "But aren't you, like, super-popular?" Cadence asked. "Isn't leadership important to Dean Adelphi's selection process?"

  Izzy and I shook our heads at the same time. She jerked her chin at me, so I explained as best I could.

  "Do you remember how Hal Hawkins was on my Bishop's Row team last year, just because he was the only space magus?"

  "So it's nepotism?" Cadence narrowed her eyes. "Is Jonah related to the dean? Could you cry foul?"

  "No and no."

  "Is there any way you'd both be sure to go?" I tapped my pencil on the packet of experiments. "Magipsychic lab projects are a big deal, but that and Bishop's Row aren't all we've got going on."

  "Maybe. Nobody's said anything official. I just overheard the dean talking to a teacher. She said he's our biggest asset." She patted the bag she always wore at her side to carry her cards. "Got a weird feeling right after that, but didn't have time to do a draw."

  "That tears it." I grinned. "The weird feeling could have been about Dean Adelphi's next hair appointment, for all we know. Let’s make sure you’re not redundant."

  "Maybe."

  "What extracurriculars are you doing?" Cadence flipped open a notebook and produced a pen with a downy black puff at the top. "If they're different from Jonah's, that'll help."

  "We both play Bishop’s Row." She shook her head. "He's a vampire. His reflexes and speed will get him on the team, no problem."

  "What else?" Cadence wrote Bishop's Row, then moved her pen.