by D. R. Perry
I had nothing to say to that. Even the Evil Inside Voice stayed silent. I swallowed, unable to get past the lump in my throat, even if I'd had words at the ready.
It's easy to think of something after the fact, a zinger or defiant statement on your right to exist. But when I stood face to face with someone who considered me less than human, my ability to act narrowed. My options got honed down to a single point. I was lucky to just stay put.
So I stood and trembled. My entire body felt wavery, like heat rising off blacktop in the middle of summer. But it was cold, and finally, I had an idea. Simple, maybe too easy, but it'd have to do. I couldn't talk Professor DeBeer down, but she wasn't the only participant in this conflict.
"Dylan, let it go."
Professor Luciano and Hal leaned on each other, looking as unsteady as I felt. Kitty rushed to their rescue, inserting herself between them and getting her shoulders under their arms. The cranberry stain on her silvery gray blouse stood out like a wound.
"He has everything, Aliyah." Dylan's voice stretched almost pleadingly, like he wanted my permission to hurt our classmate. "And he hasn't worked a day in his life for any of it."
"Understood, Mr. Khan." Professor Luciano took a deep breath. "But this situation has more wires than a pipe bomb, and the only way to defuse it is if someone steps down."
"Ask your colleague." Dylan's gaze moved from Dorian to DeBeer. "I thought she was in my corner."
"Isn't that what they hired us to do?" Professor Luciano tilted his head, raising his eyebrow. "Support our students?"
"He is the bomb, Lucy." Professor DeBeer shook her head. "Not the situation. Look at him—both ice and air, and bound to do evil and harm."
Dylan's jaw dropped, his face paling as much as it could for someone with his complexion, and his eyes widened. The professor's words hit like a slap, and I knew too well how it felt when someone you trusted weaponized their words.
A moment later, his eyes narrowed. I watched him, wondering because it didn't look like anything I'd felt. Then I remembered the Evil Inside Voice and how it encouraged me to follow impulses. Did Dylan have one in his head?
"You want evil?" Dylan took a deep breath. The air around him got so cold my eyebrows frosted over. “You want harm?”
Across the room, Izzy raised her hand. She held a card up, the Devil reversed. It meant I had to step up and try to take Dylan with me.
"No." I countered. "You're better than this." I stood up straight. "Stand down with me."
"I'm sick of it. Turn the other cheek, be the better man. With grades, with money, and now magic." He turned his head, arctic gaze meeting mine. "But I'll do it for you, Aliyah."
Just like that, the cold vanished. Dylan untangled his hand from Dorian's jacket. Professor DeBeer shut off her lightning, releasing the familiars from their paralysis at the same time. They scuttled across the table. Mercy came up covered in the remains of Kitty's soup, a crouton hanging from her beak.
"Mr. Khan. My office. Now." Headmaster Hawkins' voice boomed through the cafeteria.
"Sir, can I—"
"No, Miss Morgenstern. I'll talk to witnesses later."
"What about my colleague?" Professor Luciano rubbed his back, glaring at Professor DeBeer.
"As I said, later." Headmaster Hawkins looked at Dylan. "I'll listen to Mr. Khan's account of events before doing anything else.
Dylan followed the headmaster, glancing back over his shoulder before exiting the cafeteria. He looked shell-shocked, like he couldn't believe what had just happened.
In the far corner, Temperance Fairbanks held her grundylow and smiled. Alex leaned against the wall near her, gazing at the floor.
"Well, Izzy." I turned to look at my psychic friend, "you wanted to see how magi go to school, right?"
"Not like this." She shook her head, holding up her hand to reveal another card.
It was the Tower reversed, just about the worst card anyone with catastrophic levels of power could get. Dylan Khan, as it turned out, had that in spades.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
"Thanks." Dorian caught up with me at the stairs, Mercy cradled in his arms. "For what you did back there, talking Dylan down."
"I didn't do it for you." Ember lifted her head, peering out at him from under my hair, then shot me a withering look. "Sorry. That was mean."
"Help was help, whoever you meant it for." He patted Mercy, sighing over all the condiments and other cafeteria detritus in her feathers and fur. "And this dirty birdie needs a little help from Irish Spring."
"Do you ever take anything seriously?" I stepped onto the moving staircase, and he followed. Izzy caught up, standing a few steps down. "That was a bad scene, Dorian."
"Everybody saw Grace's breakup theater." He leaned against the railing. "And some other guy just asked her out. I couldn't have predicted Dylan would go extramagus on my hiney. And why shouldn't I crack jokes?"
"Was I a goofball back there?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Well, no." He sighed. "But serious isn't my style."
"Bury the hatchet with him. We can't be at each other's throats all year, with Temperance just waiting for us to mess up."
"You have a point, but I can't do it."
"You might have to," Izzy said. "Cards don't lie."
We rode it in silence. At our stop, Izzy ushered us along the third-floor hall.
"So, I have to make nice with Dylan?" Dorian tilted his head at her. "He's the one in trouble."
"I pulled that Tower card for Dylan, but you were the focus of his anger when I did it."
"Would you mind giving me a full reading?" He wrinkled his nose, waving a hand at Mercy. "After she gets cleaned up."
"What?" She blinked.
"Is that so strange?" He asked. "A gryphon having a bath?"
"No, the reading. Usually, magi don't want them."
"My parents are psychics." He shrugged. "For me, it's comforting."
"Well, in that case, sure. My room's on the fifth floor."
"We can use mine." I jerked my thumb down the hall. "Grace is in Creatives, working on a project. I can even give Mercy a bath while you do it." Each room at Hawthorn had a fully stocked grooming station accessible through a panel in the wall.
"Okay, then." Dorian nodded. "Let's go."
I let them into my room, clearing off my desk so Izzy had a surface to work on. After that, I opened the grooming panel, ran water, and added soap. Mercy flew over, ducking and splashing in it like a giant birdbath. At least she liked getting clean.
Anything could happen in Izzy's reading. She'd been precognitive from an early age and had lots of practice, but her abilities had no obligation to follow our social agenda. I hoped Izzy could convince him to make an effort with Dylan.
You can't save all of your friends from his anger. The Ambersmith boy might be his next enemy.
“At least he's not in our class." I put my hand over my mouth, getting suds on my chin.
"I don't know. The headmaster might make him switch with someone." Dorian took my statement in his own context. "Considering what DeBeer said about extramagi back there."
"Oh." I blinked. I hadn't mentioned my inside voice to him, so naturally, he’d thought I'd said something sensible.
"It looks like Dorian's got something." Izzy tapped the card she’d just flipped, the Two of Wands reversed. "He'll have to work with someone he doesn't like in the very near future."
"That could mean a number of people, actually." Dorian sighed. "I'm not sure why Grace installed me in the in-crowd. I'm the least popular third-year guy."
"You have your fans." Izzy tapped another card, the Five of Cups. "Somebody here thinks you’re awesome, all shiny and sparkly."
I held my tongue, not mentioning Logan. It was up to him and Dorian to figure that out, and maybe the reading wasn't about romance anyway. Last year, I’d had more friends than expected. Why not Dorian?
"What I really want to know is, will I get expelled?"
"Okay." She
nodded, flipping over the four of swords. "That's unlikely. That problem's in the past."
"So, all I have to do is stay out of trouble?" He rolled his eyes. "Not as easy as it looks."
"You've got a student mentor, remember?" I grinned. "Logan's looking out for you."
"Ha." Izzy flipped another card. "Yeah, it looks like you need more support. Logan's a water magus, right, Aliyah?"
"That he is." I nodded. "Why?"
"Check it out." She held up the card. It was the Page of Cups.
"I forget what that one means." I gave Mercy's back a good scrubbing.
"I know it." Dorian sighed. "My sister worked with cards sometimes too."
Neither of them divulged the card's meaning, just exchanged glances that didn't include me. I kept my thoughts to myself, hoping it was positive.
"But that's not enough." Izzy shook her head.
"Okay, okay." Dorian sighed. "Aliyah's right. I have to talk to Dylan."
"Bring a friend." She tapped the next card, the Knight of Swords. "Dylan used to have a long fuse, but not right now. I had no idea he was an extramagus, either."
I busied myself with changing the soapy water out for fresh. Mercy ducked under the faucet's stream, shaking her feathery little head in the flowing water. Ember peeped from my shoulder, then splashed down to join her.
"Aliyah didn't seem surprised," Dorian said.
"He told me last month. Said he'd talk to Professor DeBeer about it." I close my eyes. "I watched him request a meeting with her that same day, too."
"But tonight, she was the opposite of helpful." Izzy sighed. "Sounds like she's got a hate on for extramagi."
I shook my head. "Enough about that. You're still doing Dorian's reading."
"Almost done." She flipped the last card. "Well, this is frigging great."
Dorian leaned back, his face paling. "The Devil never is unless you're about to go to a party."
"Even then, your fun's gonna be laced with trouble." Izzy shook her head. "This year's a minefield, so we'll have to watch out for each other. Which includes Dylan."
"She's all clean." I wrapped a towel around Mercy, patted her dry, and helped her back to Dorian's shoulder. When I turned, Ember had perched on the edge of the bath, waiting for her own towel and rubbing a patchy spot on her tail. I got her dry and applied some oil.
Izzy cleared her cards away, then helped me put the chairs back. We left the room, heading out to mingle with the other students.
"You want me to what?"
I didn't recognize the voice coming from the newly reopened café, so I peeked around the corner and found Kim Ichiro cornered by her fiancé. She saw me, so I nonchalantly headed to the counter. The manager stood behind it, waiting for someone in the throng of people staring at the menu to order something already.
"I'll have my usual, thanks."
"Caramel latte with soymilk coming up." She busied herself making my drink, giving me the perfect opportunity to listen in on the conversation behind me.
"Bring Cosmo to campus." Blaine Harcourt's voice was at low volume, but nasal and tinny enough for me to hear it.
"Why?"
"Have you seen the boy catch mice? I'll be safer from those homicidal rodents the Hawkins family carries around if he's here."
"Wait a minute." She cleared her throat. "You want a thirteen-year-old boy around all these upperclassmen? In cat form, no less?"
"Exactly." I caught Blaine's nod out of the corner of my eye. "I'm his godfather, and we can protect each other."
"Put on your big dragon pants, Blaine." She poked his chest with her index finger. "Familiars are bonded to their magi. Besides, Hal's a sweetie, and Nin's kind of cute."
"What if an unbonded one comes along?"
"The Headmaster says the only Pharaoh's rats on campus are his and his son's. They're both female, too, so they can't breed."
"I'm not entirely sure I believe that."
The cafe manager handed me my drink. I was about to let them have their conversation and not interfere, but Blaine's face was pale and sweaty, and his hands shook so much that tea sloshed over the rim of his cup. A nervous dragon shifter might vindicate folks who considered shifters too dangerous for campus.
"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear. Maybe I can reassure you."
"And you are?" Blaine raised his eyebrow. He also took a step back, allowing Kim to escape the corner and approach.
"She's the Morgenstern girl." She tilted her head, blinking. "Fred Redford said she helped put the fire out at the Night Creatures concert last Halloween."
He shook his head. "I don't see how a student can help in this situation."
"Let her talk, Blaine." I thought Kim might elbow him in the ribs, but she linked her arm through his instead. "Listening can't hurt."
"Okay."
"My grandmother's the extraveterinarian who licenses the familiars here. She keeps a public record of every critter on campus at her office down the street."
"I'm more worried about the off-record ones." Blaine wrinkled his nose. "They could be hiding in secret passages or something."
"There's a book about Hawthorn Academy in the library." I shrugged. "It's got blueprints, maps, and information about all the magical systems in here. It’s reassuring."
"Wait a minute." He raised his eyebrow. "Are you a brainiac?"
"No, that's my friend Logan. He had his own concerns about campus security and felt way better after reading it. Maybe it could help you too."
"Come on, Blaine, you love libraries, and we haven't seen the one here yet." Kim did elbow him this time, but gently.
"I suppose it can't hurt. Lead on, Morgenstern."
I brought them to the academic wing, where they both paused at the stained glass windows in the doors. Kim pulled out her phone, asked me to stop, and took pictures before I led them through.
Once we got to the library, I introduced them to the Ashfords, who were busy stamping books. After that, Blaine marched directly toward the index in the middle and flipped through it.
"Wow." He shook his head. "Mr. Waban would have a field day in here."
"Is he the librarian from your old high school?"
"Hardly." Blaine sniffed. "He's the oldest dragon in North America, though he did fill in as librarian at Providence Paranormal for a couple of years."
"I thought your mother was the oldest dragon here?"
"Mr. Waban has at least two centuries on her." He tapped the page under his finger. "Is this it? Hawthorn Academy: a Study in Between-World Architecture."
I nodded. "Yes."
"Smashing." He headed through the stacks, leaving Kim standing beside the index with me.
"I thought he was scared. What happened?" I asked.
"Blaine’s a fire dragon, but this is his real element." Her smile carried loads of pride. "If you put him in a library, the rest of the world goes away. Thanks for bringing us here."
"You're guests. It's the least I can do."
"You know, I didn't expect the students here to be helpful. I've heard a thing or three about the Fairbanks family. I'm surprised your school's participating in extramurals."
"It's Hal's dad. Ever since he took over, he's done all sorts of things differently. What do the Fairbanks have to do with it?"
"Mr. Fairbanks holds a seat on the school's Board of Trustees. Didn't you know?"
"Yeah." I winced. "I heard that. Mr. Pierce and Mrs. Onassis have similar views, but that’s only three out of seven seats."
"I see." She grinned. "Do you know the headmaster's son? I mean, personally."
"Yes."
"I'd like to meet him if you have time to introduce us."
"He's probably in the infirmary right now. He goes there before breakfast, after lunch, and after dinner every day."
"Oh." The corners of her mouth turned down for the first time since I'd seen her. "Is he okay?"
"I'll let him answer that question." I sighed. "I'm not the gossipy type."
"I
understand." She nodded.
"I've got it." Blaine held the book, beaming. "Would you mind terribly if I read it in here?"
"If you don't mind me going to visit with another student." Kim followed him to the table.
"Um." He glanced over his shoulder at the Ashfords, who nodded and smiled. "I suppose you can leave me in the care of these kind librarians for a little while."
"Peep!" Ember blinked sleepily for my shoulder, then crawled down my arm to get a better look at Blaine. "Peep?"
"I get to see your dragonet up close?” He grinned. "I never see them in Newport or even Providence. Mother doesn't like having them around, but there's no accounting for taste."
"Ember's one of two on campus." She flapped her wings, peeping and puffing her chest out proudly.
"She's adorable. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the other." He grinned. "Don't take too long, Kim."
"It'll take as long as it has to." She smiled, then leaned over and planted a kiss on the top of his head. "See you later."
We walked down the hall and out of the academic wing, and I pointed the way to the infirmary. I almost headed down with her when someone behind me cleared their throat.
"I guess I'll see you later too, Miss Morgenstern." Kim winced. "Thanks, and good luck."
Headmaster Hawkins stood behind me. He beckoned, and I followed him to his office. Inside were Professor DeBeer and Dylan, with Logan between them. I stopped in the doorway. The headmaster walked to his desk, sat down behind it, and picked up a pen.
"What's this about?" I asked.
"Mr. Khan tells me you knew he was an extramagus."
"Sort of. He said he was worried he might be one. I told him to talk to his professor, and he wrote a request for a meeting in the two-way notebook right after that."
"Did you see him attend such a meeting?"
"No." I shook my head. Dylan hung his. Gale rubbed against his cheek, chirping softly.
"I see." He wrote something on a paper.
"If you don't mind my asking, why?"
"I do mind, and I won't divulge further details until I've concluded my investigation."