Hawthorn Academy- Year Two

by D. R. Perry

  "What's up, Aliyah?"

  "I have questions about glamour."

  "I'm a mermaid, but I'll try to help. Go on."

  "Can glamour work like mind magic? Make it so a person can't speak freely?"

  "No, not at the changeling level. Not even most faeries. That's monarch-level stuff, like the queen and king."

  "Oh."

  "But Aliyah," she lowered her voice, "I’ve done it."

  "Mind control?"

  "It's a voice thing. I have to be direct—dot the Is and cross the Ts."

  "How would Temperance Fairbanks manage it?"

  "What?" Cadence stepped back, knocking her basket off the counter and spilling toiletries on the floor. "To whom?"

  "Sorry." I bent down, retrieving tubes and brushes before they rolled away. "Alex Onassis."

  "He’s got big magic. You think she whammied someone that powerful?" Cadence bent over to help me. "Is she an extramagus?"

  "Faith says no." I dropped the last tube of lip balm into the bucket. "So how could she manage it?"

  We leaned against the counter, thinking. Finally, Cadence clapped her hands.

  "What about a magipsychic device?"

  "We're banned from bringing those on campus."

  "That didn't stop you last year."

  "Good point."

  "I think you're looking for a gadget, Aliyah."

  "Should I hit the library?"

  "Are they open at this hour?"

  "Yeah, all through December because of exams."

  "So, let's go."

  "Are you sure? I don't want to keep you from your beauty rest."

  "I don't need it. I'm already gorgeous." She winked.

  We headed out of the bathroom.

  We weren't the first students in Hawthorn Academy history to hit the books in pajamas, but we were the only ones that night. The December Dance was on everyone’s minds. I had a mystery to figure out.

  I led Cadence to the giant index. Once we found listings on magipsychic gadgets, we ventured into the stacks. We took three volumes to a table and sat, flipping through them.

  "What about this?" Cadence turned the book, tapping the illustration. "It blocks memories until people with trauma can work through them."

  "I don't think it fits." I sighed, resting my chin on my hand. "He knew what he wanted to say, he just couldn't get the words out."

  "What about something like this?" She flipped a handful of pages back to a different entry.

  "Muffler?" I chewed my lower lip, scanning the item's description. "This turns the volume of voices down, either the user’s or everyone around them. But it's a scarf, and he wasn't wearing one."

  "I'm out of ideas from this book." Cadence shrugged. "What about that one?"

  I opened another tome, turning to the index. We scanned the list, looking at the names and the brief descriptions of functions, but none of them fit.

  "Is there anything I can help you find?" I looked up to see Mrs. Ashford, an infrequent helper in the library. She sat in a magipsychic assistive chair that glided above the floor.

  "Yes, actually. You must know lots about this subject." I grinned. "We're looking for a particular type of magipsychic gadget, one that can do mind magic or ban a person from speaking on a certain topic."

  "You won't find anything like that in these alternative therapies tomes." Mrs. Ashford sighed. "You want history books from the Second World War."

  "Oh." Cadence blinked. "You think it's a banned device?"

  "Likely banned worldwide if it channels compulsive magic. Those are nasty inventions, and they have a steep cost to use. Professor Luciano’s doctoral theses are all on that subject. They’re in collegiate libraries, unfortunately." Mrs. Ashford said. "The only advanced material we have is A History of Axis Extrahumans, and it’s upstairs."

  "Thanks, Mrs. Ashford."

  "I'm a librarian, so it's my duty to keep you informed." She grinned, but it didn't touch her eyes this time. She wasn't old enough to have lived during World War II, but she must've heard stories from people who'd been there. Like Bubbe’s dad.

  Cadence and I brought the alternative therapies books to the desk, setting them in the return bin. A History of Axis Extrahumans was easy to find. We both yawned our heads off as I checked the book out.

  Back in my room, I tried to read by the light of my solar magic, which Grace slept soundly through, but I fell asleep with my head pillowed on the pages.

  I brought A History of Axis Extrahumans to class the next day. During Creatives, I flipped through it instead of working on art. Hal came to see what I was doing.

  "Why are you researching Nazi magi?" he asked.

  "To counter a bad apple." I mumbled Temperance's name while clearing my throat and Hal nodded. "They had some nasty gadgets back then. If only there was one that shut their effects down."

  "Wait a minute." He scratched his head. "My Magicpsych Fair project was a switch, remember?"

  "Yeah, but this is way more complicated than lights and bathtubs."

  "Ooh!" Hal's eyes lit up. I'd almost forgotten how much he loved fixing things. "Tell me more."

  "It's sensitive information."

  "For my ears, or this location?"

  "Location." I glanced around. "I'm trying to help someone unpopular."

  "Okay." He reached for the book. "Let me see."

  "I'm trying to see if one's being used on a person." I leaned my head on my hand. "And find something to stop it."

  "Does this book have an index?"

  I showed him. Hal speed-read the listings, with one finger under the words. Most were in German, with a handful in a less obvious language.

  "I couldn’t figure it out, so maybe you know. Why Greek?"

  "Golden Dawn." Hal rolled his eyes. "Their magi helped the Axis back then."

  "Ugh."

  "I'm going to need a lexicon. Want to look it over during library time?"

  "Sure." I looked him in the eye. “But only if you don’t wear yourself out over this.”

  “I’m having a good day, so it should be fine. I promise to go straight to Nurse Smith if I start flagging.”

  “Okay, then.”

  We still had half an hour, so I got my clay container from the day before and sat with Lee, sharing tools to carve a brick pattern. I missed the cobblestone streets and brick architecture of Salem on this campus made of wood. Time passed quickly, but the design took shape under my hands until the bell rang. It went so well, maybe I’d have an entry for the Craft Expo in February.

  I let Hal select a lexicon and retreated to a corner, settling into a tufted leather chair across from two more with a table between them. When Hal joined me, he had Faith in tow. I handed the book over.

  "You and Cadence are smart. You two guessed my theory," Faith said. "I asked Tempe about a gadget. It was in my parents’ basement five years ago, but it vanished the day after I asked her about it. She could have brought it here. If it’s in this book, I’ll recognize it."

  I sat staring at her, but Hal’s face went hard, eyes coldly bright like the day he'd discovered his illness. Hal Hawkins seemed mostly harmless, but his closest friends knew otherwise. He was prone to random bouts of righteous fury, and heaven wouldn't help whoever invoked it.

  "We should call the FBE."

  "We don’t have proof." Faith sighed. "Calling them now is a boy-who-cried-wolf problem waiting to happen."

  "Okay." Hal set the book on the table and opened it. "Let’s see if anything looks familiar."

  Faith studied each picture as we flipped through, searching in a more direct fashion than the night before. On page after page, she shook her head, but Hal stopped to peer at a gadget in a sidebar.

  "This one's an Allied device, something they fought back with." He tapped the page. "It’s constructed similarly to my project, but it nullifies magic when you flip the switch."

  I wrote the page number in my notebook and we kept going. About two-thirds of the way through, Faith shuddered, wrapp
ing her arms around herself.

  "That's what I saw." She leaned forward to read without touching the page. "Says it stores all types of magic and drains energy when used."

  "Whoa." My hand trembled when I moved to pat Faith's shoulder. "So, it hurts the person using it? That sounds counterproductive."

  "It's not, though." Hal pointed at the text. "One Axis magus used it to firebomb a tank and chose to drain his entire platoon of mundane soldiers. They all died. No wonder it's banned."

  "God." I put my hand over my mouth. I tried not to take the Almighty's name in vain, but this was horrifying. "How do we stop something like that?"

  "What about that Allied nullifier?" Hal leaned his chin on his hand. "What do you think it'd do? Break Tempe's device?"

  Faith grabbed my notebook and flipped the book to the page I'd marked down before.

  "No." She read the description. "But see this? If she used it to ban someone from talking about her, it can shut that effect off."

  “One-time use.” Hal sighed. “Null magi can shut down any magic. Too bad there’s none here.”

  "Well, can we modify your switch, Hal?"

  "Maybe, but before I agree, I need to know." Hal looked at Faith, then me. "Who are you trying to save with this thing?"

  The love of his life didn't tell him what she's up to? Oh, this is rich.

  "You don't know?" I ignored the Evil Inside Voice.

  "It's not Michelina Zanelli. I know she's out of the woods."

  "Nobody deserves what he's going through," I confessed. "It's Alex."

  His name hung in the air between us. Hal examined it, judging the worth of the magus who bore it.

  "Yeah, he sucks.” I sighed. “But we need more information. He tried to tell me, but he can't unless we fix his problem."

  “I can’t judge him for his screwy world view.” Faith hung her head. “I’d be right there with him if it hadn’t been for you, Hal.”

  "If you both agree the depressive demon nightmare boy needs rescuing, I can't argue." Hal nodded. "Let's do this."

  We worked in silence for the rest of library time, checking every resource we could think of for information about nullification switches. We found a surprisingly comprehensive schematic in a magipsychic engineering manual referenced in the back of the first alternative therapies volume I’d flipped through with Cadence the night before.

  Hal checked both books out and headed to Lab with the rest of us. I partnered with Dylan and Faith with Logan. Hal wanted us to give them a heads up in case we needed their help. Most gadgets required multiple contributors, and this one was no exception. Logan insisted on joining us, so we included him in the evening's plans.

  Dylan, on the other hand, just nodded and changed the subject. I’d never seen him so focused on classwork. We’d moved on from recording the plant’s growth to a perpetual motion device, so maybe that was it.

  Why not ask about that new guitar?

  I did.

  “It’s the Lyceum.” He glued a blade on the fan at the top of the device. “One of the, uh, regulars is a fan, I guess, and she gave me an enormous tip the week before the talent show.”

  “Wow.” I blinked. “She must really like you. Or something.”

  “I guess.” The blade clattered to the bench. “A little help here?”

  I didn’t bother continuing that conversation.

  After Lab, Hal stayed behind. Logan, Faith, and I waited in the hall, overhearing him ask Professor Luciano if he could bring his Magipsych Fair project back to his room.

  "You'd like to do further study, is that it?" The professor raised an eyebrow, glancing at the doorway where we waited. “And you’ve got the time and energy?”

  Faith turned her back on them, pretending to chat with me about my necklace.

  "Yes. I'd like to explore alternate applications with some of my classmates. I think magical switches are fascinating. They have so many potential uses."

  "That sounds brilliant, Harold. Of course I'll allow it." He sighed, reaching up to rub his temple. "But you must return it before winter break."

  "I might want to work with it longer than that."

  "Then you can request it again when the second semester begins."

  "I understand, sir."

  "Sir?" Professor Luciano gave Hal a worn grin. "You haven't called me that in ages, Mr. Hawkins."

  The professor turned toward a closet and rummaged around for a moment, then produced a box labeled with Hal's name and exchanged it for a word of thanks. We met in the hall and walked toward the lobby.

  Faith shrugged. "That was easy."

  "Too easy." Hal glanced from one side of the hall to the other. "Do you get the impression something's not right with him?"

  "He seems exhausted." I nodded. "And his familiar wasn't on his shoulder."

  "Aren't exams stressful for professors?" Faith asked.

  "Probably." I shrugged. "But he wasn't like this last year."

  "Maybe he thinks we’re doing the right thing." Hal hefted the box. "If he's got any idea."

  "I wouldn't trust an adult advising against helping people, anyway." Faith rolled her eyes. "I'm glad he's our professor."

  "Me too." I grinned.

  Hal and Faith took the device up to his room while Logan and I went to Penelope's window to order four dinners to go. We'd work through the meal and have privacy. Lee was playing Truncheons and Flagons in Kitty's room that night.

  I also stopped by the café to get pastries, teabags, and some apples for later. Logan helped me carry everything to the stairs. I called out our floor. Hal let us into the room, and I passed the food around.

  "Thanks." Faith opened her dinner bag. "I'm starving."

  We took a few minutes to eat because hangry studying wasn’t productive. After that, we spread the books out on the floor, with the switch set out on a large piece of cardboard.

  "I thought we were making a magic gadget?" Logan scratched his head. "That looks done."

  "Modifying." Hal tapped the manual with the schematics. "We already have half the steps done if we start with this."

  "So, it's like your project is the base unit?" Logan raised an eyebrow.

  "Yeah." Hal nodded.

  We finished the food and got to work, following the instructions. The manual restated that this device was for one-time use and would have to be recharged to nullify effects a second time.

  "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with one shot." Faith brushed a lock of chestnut hair away from her face. "When Tempe retaliates, it’ll be major-league."

  "We have to work smarter," Hal urged. "Someone gets Alex alone before using it. She won't know how he broke out if we do that."

  "But who?" I asked.

  "Not you, Aliyah," Hal said. "You said he came to you twice. She'll be watching you."

  "Wait." Logan looked up from the connection he just soldered. "Aren't you worried? I mean, it's Alex."

  "Yeah." I nodded. "An agenda to escape. You didn't see him at the talent show, Logan. When he realized Asceco wasn't with him, he looked terrified."

  "I'll do it," Hal said.

  "No way." Faith shook her head. "You're about as stealthy as a bull in a china shop."

  "Temperance will notice any of us," Logan said.

  "Except Grace. Who can be invisible." I stood. "Should I get her?"

  Everyone agreed, so I headed down the hall to fetch my roommate. Then I realized it was still dinner time, so she'd be in the dining hall. I was about to turn my back on the door to our room, but it opened.

  "Hey." Azrael Ambersmith emerged, pausing halfway through.

  "Hi." I blinked. "Is Grace in there?"

  "Yeah." He leaned back, summoning her. I heard a muffled reply that she'd be there in a minute. He stepped all the way into the hall, closing the door behind him.

  "Are you her date to the dance, Az?"

  "No." He gazed at his shoes. "I just asked. She's going with someone else."

  "Oh." It seemed pretty obvious to me that
they liked each other. "Who?"

  "You're not going to like it."

  "What's up, Aliyah?" Grace came out of the room.

  "I'm working on something with Logan, Hal, and Faith. We could use your help."

  "Okay." She nodded, shutting the door. "Thanks for the glamour help, Az. See you later."

  "Yeah, see you."

  He went to the stairs and called for his floor. Grace insisted on fetching a smoothie for Hal to keep his strength up. I figured that was a good time to get the biggest sticking point out of the way.

  “Look, we’re doing this to help Alex, so if you’ve got a problem with that, I’ll find someone else.”

  “Help him get away from Tempe?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Count. Me. In.” Her grin was so feral I almost jumped. “This is awesome.” She ordered five pineapple smoothies.

  “I didn’t expect that response.” I lowered my voice as we approached the crowded café. “He’s your enemy, right?”

  “He’s been looking defanged lately. The enemy of my enemy is my frenemy.”

  “What’s that?” I blinked.

  “An It Girl mantra. It’s catty, but I’ve got to do whatever works.” Her smile didn’t touch her eyes.

  With the smoothies nestled in two trays, we ascended the stairs. At Hal’s room, we walked in on a discussion about infusing the device.

  "It's already got all the glamour and psychic energy it needs." Hal tapped the diagram. "Here and here, so we need to connect those parts to the barrel."

  "What's it for?"

  Everyone else drank their smoothies as I filled Grace in on the aftermath of the talent show. I included my conversations with Faith and Cadence afterward. She narrowed her eyes, then clenched her fists and paced in front of the door.

  I let her be. That was how Grace put things together, and something had the wheels in her head turning on overdrive.

  Faith and Logan made the physical connections as Hal instructed, but they called me over to help finish them with a little heat to reduce drying time.

  Finally, Grace looked it over using the monocle Hal had in his toolkit, the one that let us see all the energies infused in the device.