Hawthorn Academy- Year Two

by D. R. Perry

  "We need Cadence."

  "We're trying to keep this as secret as possible." Faith shook her head. "And she's the biggest gossip on campus."

  "Doesn't matter." Grace gave the monocle back to Hal. "Alex had no trouble talking to Aliyah until after Cadence sang in the show. I think Tempe put that power in her gadget somehow."

  Grace handed the monocle over, and I peered through it.

  “There aren’t mind magi here, so she couldn’t have gotten it that way, but what if she managed to meet one off-campus?”

  “That is a theory question.” Logan reached for the monocle and had a look. “A similar power can counter mind energy, like psychic empathy. Merfolk magic isn’t well-documented, but Doris knows it. Cadence’s voice ability is close enough.”

  "I get it." I nodded. "We only have one shot, but we can't risk her mentioning it because our entire plan hinges on Tempe not knowing how we're canceling her magic."

  "There's only one way without telling her," Logan said. "Get her to do the mermaid voice thing in front of whoever's carrying the switch while it's hidden."

  “But when?” I scratched my head.

  “The dance.” Faith answered. “She’ll be totally distracted, trying to outdo Grace. And the sooner we do this, the better for Alex and us.”

  "The dance is tomorrow night." Hal sighed. "That crunches our time. We've still got loads to do."

  "It'll go faster now that I'm here." Grace sat on the floor between Faith and Logan. "Crafting is my jam."

  “I’m on self-care and rehydration duty.” I opened the panel to the grooming station, fetched water, and heated it with solar magic to make tea.

  The extra help did speed things up, though it was exhausting. Faith took Hal’s hands during breaks, bolstering him with her undead energy. I passed food and drinks around like a waitress. When we ran out, I dropped by Kitty’s to see if she had extra snacks at Truncheons and Flagons.

  “We finished our dungeon crawl almost an hour ago.” She handed me a bag of tortilla chips and a jar of salsa. “You guys are burning the midnight oil. Taking exams seriously?”

  “I guess we are.”

  “Awesome.” She peered under the round table. “Yes! Dorian left the rest of his Mountain Dew.”

  “Will he mind, do you think?”

  “Nah. I’ll tell him Logan needed it. Magic words.” Kitty got a brown paper bag, plucked the salsa from my hand, and put it inside with the soda cans. She added a half-full bag of mandarin oranges. “Oh, and Faith donated these to my game, so I’m just giving them back.”

  “Thanks, Kitty.”

  Since it was Friday, we still had another hour to work. Our familiars had all zonked out during the last snack break. Hal switched from hands-on conjuring to reading the manual and supervising. Fortunately, the extra food helped us keep going, which we needed. The dance was in less than twenty-four hours at that point. It felt almost anticlimactic when we finished fifty minutes later.

  We all yawned our heads off as we said goodnight only minutes before lights out. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow, while Grace sat up in bed, reading about Tempe's device in A History of Axis Extrahumans. She’d polished off the Mountain Dew.

  Chapter Forty-One

  I sat at breakfast with Hal, Faith, Grace, and Logan. All of our familiars dozed in the critter-friendly area in the corner. Grace was the only one without bleary eyes. I had no idea where her energy came from. She didn't even have a cup of coffee like the rest of us. Logan's arm stretched halfway across the table, supporting his head. He blinked wearily at me.

  "I can't believe we built the whole thing," he mumbled.

  "Modified, technically." Hal leaned against the wall inside the booth, using his hand as a pillow.

  "Will it work, do you think?" Grace raised an eyebrow.

  "Yeah." Faith rubbed her eyes. "If you shoot your shot at the right time."

  "Thanks, guys." I yawned, stretching an arm overhead like I wanted a nonexistent teacher's attention. At second glance, I realized teachers were in the cafeteria. Professor Luciano sat in the corner with Messing’s Dean Adelphi over a pot of tea.

  “That’s what friends are for.” Logan grinned.

  "I didn't do much, but I'm glad I'm not the only one willing to help our old enemy."

  "He doesn't deserve it." Grace shrugged. "And we need to maintain our winning streak."

  "Yeah." Faith nodded. "She won’t stop, but it’ll be hard for her, losing an asset."

  "Don't you care what happens to Alex after all this?"

  "Not really," Hal said. "He took major advantage of you last year, Aliyah. Don't expect that snake to change his stripes."

  Did you really think all their intentions mirrored your own?

  I shook my head, putting three heaping spoonfuls of sugar into my coffee and stirring. I didn't care about their reasons, which weren’t as informed as mine. I was the only one who’d seen the look on Alex's face that night.

  His sense of helpless distress in the light booth had been pitiful, and he was unable to escape on his own. I couldn't save the guy I cared for, so I'd help the one I used to be with instead.

  He didn't ask for help.

  "Tzedakah is the greatest mitzvah." I blinked and put my hand over my mouth. "Oops."

  "That's not a thing from Passover, is it?" Grace sipped her orange juice.

  "No, but it's been on my mind since Yom Kippur." I wrapped cold fingers around my warm cup. "We've been so focused on winning everything, I worry I'll forget that helping is important."

  They didn't freeze in place, but everyone got quiet and still. And stared at me.

  "That'll never happen," Logan said.

  "Yeah." Faith snorted. "That's like saying a fish forgot to swim."

  "Or the sun forgot to rise," Grace added.

  "As long as you don't let your guard down." Hal tilted his head, reminding me of his dad. "You can help Alex, but don't go trusting him afterward."

  "No worries." I sipped my blissfully hot coffee. "He'll probably turn his nose up in the air and call me a do-gooder."

  "Oooh, big insults." Grace made a duck face and waggled her fingers at me. "Aliyah, the Good Witch of the South."

  "Salem's in the north." Logan scratched his head.

  "Sorry." Grace winked, amping up her accent. "It's southern to me, don't you know."

  Everybody laughed.

  "Hey," Faith said. "Wasn't there a null magus in the papers a few years back?"

  "Yeah." I nodded, then took a big slug of coffee. It was the perfect temperature, warm enough that it comforted my throat but cool enough to not burn. "Al Dunstable. He saved his faerie girlfriend from iron poisoning by canceling her troll magic. Nixed his Sidhe variety, too. Now they’re regular magi."

  Hal sat bolt upright in his seat, staring with eyes like twin moons. Faith put her arm around him. My sleep-deprived brain couldn't imagine why.

  "Sounds interesting." Logan leaned over his coffee and inhaled deeply. "Tell it while I fall asleep? Like a bedtime story?"

  "Yeah, tell us," Faith said.

  "I think I'll doze off before getting a sentence out." I nodded. "I've got everything I know about it in a scrapbook at home. We can go over it another time."

  They nodded, still leaning together with their arms around each other. Moments passed. Logan nodded a few times, then shook exhaustion off long enough to remember his coffee. Finally, it occurred to me why the story of Al Dunstable and Gemma Tolland would hit super close to home for Hal and Faith, and maybe even give them hope.

  "How will you guys get through the dance?" Grace broke the silence.

  "With a good long nap," Hal said.

  "Why are you drinking all this then?" Grace pointed at the coffee.

  "Because we don't have whatever you're using to look so chipper." Faith pointed at Grace's face, with its distinct lack of circles under the eyes. Then I realized how she did it.

  "It's Umbral magic. She's as tired as we are, just hides it b
etter. Am I right?"

  "You got me." Grace smiled and tapped her nose. "I'm wearing this enhancement for an errand. After that, it's dreamland for a few hours."

  "Beauty sleep," Logan said. "I need that."

  We all had a laugh, then finished our beverages and breakfast. When we got up to bus our table, a snarky voice called out behind us.

  "Look at the pajama crew. Field trip to Walmart later?" I turned to find Dylan.

  "What?" I blinked, staring at my friend.

  "You heard me. Looks like you spent all night with books, but there's nothing to study for right now. What were you up to, anyway?" He crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrow.

  "We'll talk later, Dylan." I approached him but he shook his head, glaring at me.

  "Not now, Aliyah." He addressed me but glared at Grace. "I don't have the energy for your psychobabble."

  Logan and Hal blinked blearily at Dylan and Faith rubbed her chin, but Grace slipped her arm through mine and led us all toward the dishwashing window.

  "Don't mind him." Grace shook her head, sighing. "He probably just needs more time."

  "No, Grace." I turned my head, staring at her. "He's had plenty of that. Plus time working on his music and hanging out with friends in his band. He's waiting for something. Maybe an apology?"

  "It's been almost six months since we broke up. And what do I need to apologize for?"

  "I don't know." I shrugged. "He's been through more than you think, what with discovering he's an extramagus."

  "Look, I get it. It hurts to break up." Grace sighed. "But I had nothing to do with the extramagus thing. His attitude's gotten ridiculous."

  "It's worse than you think for him. I can’t say more than that."

  "Why?" She shook her head. "Look, maybe you're a sanity unicorn. What if Dylan's just normal for an extramagus and having a mental break?"

  I froze, stung as if she'd just slapped me in the face. Logan dropped his coffee spoon. Hal blinked.

  "Holy shit, Grace, I can't believe you said that." Faith rounded on her, putting her hands on her hips.

  "It didn't sound good." Hal shook his head.

  "I'm sorry." Grace pressed both hands to her chest.

  "Save it for Dylan." My face flushed, or at least it felt hot. Maybe it was my hand, channeling solar magic. I took three deep breaths before continuing, "Just two words. I'm. Sorry. That's it. Why is that so hard for you to understand?"

  "Because I owned my issues last year, and part of that was refusing to take the blame for stuff that's not my fault."

  "How about I give you a reading, Grace?" None of us had noticed Izzy approach, which made sense considering how tired we were.

  "I don't believe in those."

  "For amusement then." She shrugged. "Maybe it'll be relaxing."

  The rest of us stared like we were at a CW drama-watch party.

  "If the rest of you get off my case, fine."

  "If you don't mind, I need to hit the hay." Hal shuffled toward the critter area, looking for Nin. “Before I have to hit the infirmary.”

  "The rest of you go back to sleep," Izzy said. "You all look like something the mercat dragged in."

  We left, sleepily waving goodbye. On the way out, I glanced at Professor Luciano. Had he noticed Dylan’s disdain and our subsequent argument? No. He hadn’t gone to Dean Adelphi for social time. Cards covered the table between them, the tea pushed to the side. He was getting a reading, and at the center of it all sat the Tower.

  Ouch.

  Death wasn’t the worst card to get in a tarot reading by itself. Two made it scarier: the Tower and the Chariot reversed. I glanced at the other cards surrounding the Tower. Mostly, they were cups and swords and not too bad. But there was the Chariot reversed in a future position, and Death was beside it.

  The Professor didn’t glance up, even though I’d been staring for a while. Dean Adelphi did, and she narrowed her eyes. I didn’t wait around to see what she’d do next.

  That reading was foretelling a catastrophe.

  After seeing that, it should have been harder to rest, but I was almost asleep when Grace came in and went directly to bed. If we didn't sleep now, carrying out a covert plan to hoodwink Temperance at the dance would get dangerous.

  I wore my dress from Parents’ Night. It was amazing looking and comfortable, plus I didn't mind wearing the same special-event dress twice. Grace chose something completely different. It was a lavender and gold chiffon confection that draped across her body with no discernible fastenings, and it had a neckline that plunged to her solar plexus. Her footwear seemed risky.

  At first, I wasn't sure why she’d picked six-inch platforms. I wondered how she'd dance in them. Kitty and Faith came by our room to get ready, joined by Cadence and Izzy later. The hour before the dance consisted of a flurry of preening, plus a few panicked moments where Cadence helped Grace struggle with dress tape.

  Grabbing a handful of spare dress tape strips, I took advantage of her distraction. Grace's handbag sat on her bed, out of her view, so I headed toward it with the tape. Faith saw what I was doing immediately.

  "Hey Cadence, if your voice isn't too tired, I'd love to hear another song." Faith stepped up to the mirror beside Grace with her eyeshadow palette and started applying.

  "Okay."

  Instead of a showstopping vocal showcase, Cadence regaled us with a sedate rendition of an old song her mother loved: Tiny Dancer by Elton John. I turned Grace's bag so it pointed at Cadence, opened it, and stuffed the wardrobe malfunction fixers inside.

  Cadence had her back to the switch, but the space between it and her was unobstructed, a direct line of sight. I stood by the bag, keeping it open as long as I could. As she reached the end of the last verse, I closed it and went about the business of applying lipstick.

  Let's hope it's enough.

  A knock at the door made us all freeze in our tracks. At that point, we weren't expecting anyone. I went to answer it, hand glowing faintly because I worried it was Temperance. She'd been too quiet, and our wins against her so far suddenly felt too easy. I needn't have worried.

  Logan stood outside the door, hanging his head and blushing.

  "Hey, Aliyah? Can I go in your group of friends to the dance?"

  "Of course." I nodded, banishing my magic. "You told Dorian no, huh?"

  "Yeah, guess I chickened out." He sighed. "But I said he can ask me to dance once we're there."

  "Do you want to talk about it?" I stepped into the hall, closing the door behind me and lowering my voice.

  "I don't know." Logan tilted his head, peering at my face without meeting my eyes as if he expected to find something there he didn't like, but the tightness in his expression eased and the blush faded.

  "It's all good if you don't."

  "No, I should get it off my chest." Logan leaned against the wall, staring across the hall instead of looking at me. He had an easier time if he didn't have to make eye contact. "This is gonna sound stupid, but the way he asked, well, it felt almost insulting."

  "Definitely not stupid. And I agree." One corner of my mouth tilted up. "Someone gave me advice that might also work for you. Here goes." I cleared my throat. "Your someone special should worship the ground you walk on and make you feel happy."

  "My brain knows that." He sighed, gazing down the hall toward Dorian's room. "But my heart's another story. It feels like nobody understands what it's like."

  "I absolutely do." I leaned close beside him, whispering, "I've had a crush on Dylan for a year and a half."

  Logan's lower lip trembled as if he might cry. My breath caught in my throat, which choked up with tears I refused to allow to ruin my makeup. So I turned and reached out, and we ended up in a shaky sort of bear hug.

  We'd done that before multiple times a day when he’d stayed in the room at Bubbe's office. This time, something was different. Not emotionally or in any weird hormonal way; physically, something was wrong. I glanced down briefly, then at his face again
.

  "You need to go back to your room before the dance, Logan." I loosened my grip, holding him at arm's length.

  "Why?"

  "Pants. You’ve still got pajama bottoms on."

  "Oh!" His face turned red, like the first day we’d met. Logan's social gaffes and mistakes had diminished since then, at least around his friends. "Yeah, I'd better fix that. See you soon, Aliyah."

  "Yeah, see you."

  I headed back into the room and told everyone Logan would join us. Grace looked away, collecting her bag. We left minutes after that. Everyone else was ready, and the dance was about to start.

  I stood in the third-floor hallway, waiting for the folks I'd invited to go in this group. Faith had gone to get Hal, and they showed up with Kitty and Eston. That made sense because they were on dates.

  The rest arrived one by one, except for Izzy, who arrived with Lee, of course. Bar and Brianna showed up, Crow at their heels. Cadence smiled, and I was in the middle of a relieved sigh until the bird shifter headed for Grace. She passed her bag, nullifying switch and all, to me.

  "It's up to you to save the prince of darkness," she murmured and stepped forward.

  That was when I noticed his distinctively designed suit, complete with lavender vest and tie. Crow cleaned up extremely well, to the point where casting directors at Lifetime or the Hallmark Channel might clamor to give him romantic leads in teen movies. They linked arms.

  Everyone's favorite it girl is about to make some unexpected waves.

  "Grace?" I put a hand on her free arm, stopping her. "Are you seriously doing this?"

  "Sorry." She looked me in the eye, at least. The regret there shocked me into letting her go. "I'm countering something. You'll see when we get downstairs."

  She let Crow call out the first floor to the staircase. Hal and Faith followed them, along with Kitty and Eston. Their movements revealed Dorian, who'd been standing behind them. He stared and blinked, watching the stairs carry them away. After that, he hurried to my side.

  "Aliyah, I've got to tell you something." His eyes were wide. "I just found out."