by D. R. Perry
"Cadence will hear about this, Crow." The girl spoke airily, as though this was a game to her. Or routine.
I backed away, somehow following Hal and his rescuer again without looking at them.
"Like she'll believe you, kid." He stepped into the shadows under the slide.
Although punch daggers weren't balanced for it, I waited until we were out of throwing range before turning around. I banished the fire and got a better look at the girl helping Hal, who looked familiar but I couldn’t recall her name. She was about Grace's height with black hair falling in untidy waves around her face. Her clothing was a strange mix of too big for her and too small. While her ankles stuck out awkwardly from the hem of ragged jeans, she practically swam in her pullover sweatshirt.
"Where'd you come from?" Hal asked.
"Around. I'm local, like you. You've got the biggest balls I've ever seen. Figuratively. I'm still only allowed to watch PG-13 movies if there’s sex in them."
"I'm Hal. What's your name?"
"Mavis." She sighed and I remembered. I’d met her at the college fair. "Merlini. Sorry about my brother. He's jerkier than an entire case of Slim-Jims."
"Crow's your brother?" Hal blinked.
"Misfortune is my birthright, yes." She nodded. "And I'm an enormous tattletale. The best, in fact." She patted the pocket on the hooded sweatshirt she wore. It chimed. "Cadence already knows about these shenanigans. That's my read alert."
"Red alert?" I blinked.
"No, read like a book, not roses." She giggled. "Danger, Cadence DelMar."
"I get that reference." Hal chuckled.
"For a dude challenged by walking, you've got a good sense of humor, Hal."
"Where are you taking us anyway?" I didn't exactly trust Mavis Merlini, even if she was Cadence’s pal and momentarily helpful.
Good call. She has an agenda. Maybe if you pushed you'd discover it. Or something about yourself that you need to know next week.
I swallowed, unsure whether to follow the voice's advice this time. It had been correct usually, and mostly on my side, but I refused to experiment with mind magic on an unwitting and unwilling person. That was the point of meeting with my friends, after all. To ask for help. If I did this, I could harm an innocent girl and worry my friends for no reason.
Thanks but no thanks, I thought at the voice.
"That gate there." She pointed.
We reached it a moment later. Mavis waved and jogged away from us. Not toward the crowd, but not the playground either.
"Isn't she a little young to be out here by herself?" Hal asked. "Maybe you should go after her."
"She said PG-13, not PG." I shrugged. "If you want me to ask, I will."
"Please." He clung to the fencing with both hands. "I'd do it myself, but—"
"Say no more."
Mavis wasn't anywhere near as fast as me. I caught up with her easily, and she stopped.
"What's up?"
"We wondered if you needed someone to, I don't know, walk you home?"
"I'm fifteen. Didn't your parents let you wander around town in October at that age?" She tilted her head while peering at my Shema Yisrael necklace. "Ooh, that's pretty."
"Yes they did, but with friends. Thanks. It was my great-uncle's."
"I don't have friends."
"Other siblings then? They made me go around with Noah a lot."
"Look, Aliyah, I get what you're saying." She nodded. "I'm a lone wolf."
"We're people, not islands, Mavis. Do you want me to walk you home or not?"
"You really are as white-hat as Cadence says." She smiled. "Like a unicorn."
"They're mythological." I shrugged. "Which direction?"
"I'm not going home yet." She pointed toward Irzyk Park. "Take me to the tank. People are there who won't let anything bad happen to me, I swear."
"Okay." I pulled my phone out and sent a group message to everyone I'd come out with that night. "Let's go."
"What's it like, being an extramagus?"
"It kind of sucks most of the time. I scare people but don't like that at all."
"I get that." She sighed. "It's hard making friends when people are scared of you. How'd you do it?"
"It wasn't easy. The first day of school, I almost burned the cafeteria down."
"Get out!"
"It's true. But that guy you helped, Hal, he wanted to be my friend anyway."
"Is he your boyfriend?"
"No. That's Logan." I blushed. "Hal ended up with Faith Fairbanks."
"Then he's super courageous. Fairbanks." She snorted. "They're almost as scary as—well, as some people even I'm afraid of. So basically, when you're scary you have to let the brave people come to you?"
"No. Sometimes, it's laughing at the same things." I told her about Grace, how we shared a joke at the beginning, and that bond stuck.
"Well, I'm good at humor at least." She shrugged.
"Plus you're a shifter. That's always got a coolness factor."
"How did you know?"
"Lucky guess."
"Can you guess what kind?"
"A crow?"
"Wrong!" She blew a raspberry. "But you're close."
"Raven then."
"Damn, you're good."
"We're here." I jerked my chin at the defunct tank that made up the war memorial. A familiar pickup truck pulled up, and the window rolled down.
"Aliyah?" Bar stuck his head out the open window. "Oh, hi Mavis."
"Bartholomew Michael Angelino Micello!" She ran up to the truck's passenger side and tugged on the handle. "I said your true name! Now you have to drive me anywhere I ask."
"For the millionth time, that's not how changelings work."
"IHOP, pronto!" She got in the cab.
"No pancakes." He looked back at me. "What's going on?"
"Mavis helped Hal so I offered to walk her home. She said to take her here instead."
"Makes sense."
It didn't to me, but I was mature enough to understand that normal varied.
"Is Hal okay? Do you guys need a ride?" he asked.
"No, we were with more friends over on the Common. Piercing Whispers had a gig."
"Oh, cool. Are you all going for afters or anything? I'd love to see my pals from Hawthorn."
I didn't want to leave a friend stuck babysitting but couldn't invite him. Extramagus business was still secret business.
"No. But we'll all be at the masquerade ball on actual Halloween. Are Gallows Hill kids going?"
"Yeah, the whole crew from extramurals and then some." He grinned.
"So, we'll see you then. And at whatever afters happen."
"Sounds good."
We said goodbye, and I sprinted back to the gate on the Common. By the time I got there, Faith, Logan, and Piercing Whispers were all with Hal. Grace and Azrael had just walked up too. They'd already worked out a location. All I had to do was follow.
Elanor brought Arick and Azrael across the street with her, leaving the rest of us relatively alone in the apartment Noah shared with her.
"Get in." Noah opened the door to the soundproofed studio. "This is as private as it gets, but it might be a little crowded."
"It's not that bad. Just stay put." Hal sat on the bench behind the keyboard with Faith.
"So, what's this about?" Dylan raised an eyebrow at Hal.
"Don't ask me." He waved his hand. "This is not the fearless leader you're looking for."
"Dammit Hal, you're a space magus, not a Jedi mind trick." Grace chuckled. "Anyway, is this like an intervention or a support group or something? Because we're all in a circle and stuff."
I let go of Logan's hand and stepped away from the wall into the middle of the room.
"No. I'm coming clean to you all about something because you're my friends and you should know." Dylan opened his mouth so I spoke before he did. "Yeah, Dylan. A few of you already know some of this."
"Dish," Noah ordered. "Elanor can't stall forever."
I told them about
the extramagus test, which entirely shocked Faith and Grace. Hal sat with his jaw clenched and his nostrils flaring. Noah and Dylan nodded through most of it, but even their mouths dropped open at the end.
"So, either I have to show proof of mind or null magic by All Saint's Day, or do the whole test again." I sighed. "And I don't know how."
"That's bullshit." Hal narrowed his eyes.
"It is. They should have checked her medical history." Faith twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers. "Especially to rule out null. Aliyah doesn't get migraines, and everybody knows null magi are practically plagued with them." She cleared her throat. "I might have studied a little too much on magical maladies." She mumbled something about alternative therapies and Providence Paranormal College.
"That makes sense." Logan nodded. "There are no documented extramagi in recorded history who had null magic. It might be impossible."
"So, how do we prove she's got mind magic, then?" Dylan asked.
"Mind works on line of sight." Grace grinned. "Aliyah has to be able to see us without knowing who's who. So how about a game of reverse hide and seek?"
"What's that now?" I blinked.
"We'll all be in costume at the masquerade ball, right? So, we keep our costumes a secret. That night, I hide myself and Aliyah with shadow magic. Then she tries to find you using her mind. Since she's hidden, nobody can give her unconscious clues. We should probably include some non-magi Aliyah can trust with this topic, like Izzy and Cadence."
"If we each start recording on our phones after Grace does her shadow thing, that's all the proof she needs." Logan clapped his hands.
"Okay, let's do this. I'll talk to Izzy and Cadence about it tomorrow." I looked around the room and watched everybody nod.
"One other thing." Noah drew a deep breath. "I might need your help, Aliyah. About my diploma."
"Sure. Anything."
"Hal?" Noah gestured at him. "You've got the info."
"So, a trustee named Andre Gauthier made the vote that expelled Noah last year. We want to talk to him, but he's a total recluse on campus. So, if this mind magic exercise is successful at the dance, do you think you could help us find him?"
"I'll do my best." I nodded.
After that, we all went back into the living room and hung around playing Mario Kart while eating convenience store snacks, saying nothing more about tests, games, or proof for the time being.
I slept at home that night and messaged Izzy and Cadence on Sunday. Only Izzy replied. We talked on a walk around the wharf, with liberal use of inside jokes and obscure references we'd shared since kindergarten. She agreed with Faith and was all in for the game, and said she'd get Cadence on board.
"How's she been?"
"A mess, to be honest." Izzy sighed. "She's not speaking to Crow. Says she never will after what happened on the common last night. How Crow threatened you and Hal. I flipped a few cards." She stared into her half-full cup of cider, then tossed it into the nearest trash bin without another sip.
"That bad, huh?"
"It's awful. He's worse than anyone could have guessed. Even with that stuff you and Grace overheard in the Lyceum kitchen last year."
"At least Hal and I can avoid him. What about Cadence? I'm worried he'll do something to her."
"Me too. The cards agree with us. But she says she's got it handled."
"Because of her mermaid's voice?"
Izzy nodded. "She didn't want to hear my reading."
"I learned way more than I wanted to last year about cruel people. They don't wait for people to defend themselves."
"Maybe she'll listen to a warning, coming from you. Want to take a spin by her place for a chat?"
"Yeah, let's do that." I tossed my cider too and we headed out of downtown toward The Point.
Nobody was home at the DelMar's apartment. Cadence didn't answer my calls or messages that day or any other I stepped off campus to make during the week. The following Saturday, Cadence sent me a picture of her folks doing an event at The Willows, along with the words "I'm in." After that, I didn't hear from her until the masquerade ball.
Chapter Sixteen
No matter how many times I asked Grace about her costume for the masquerade ball, she gave me no straight answer. The only thing I knew for sure was that her outfit took up half her closet and that she used a box from a pair of boots to hold the accessories. I couldn't imagine anything as cool as the dragon costume she'd worn in the contest our first year, but she seemed far more excited about this one.
Grace didn't get dressed for the ball on campus. Instead, she brought everything to Azrael's and said she'd meet me there. That was fine with me. I wanted to mentally prepare for the reverse hide and seek game we'd be doing during the ball. Putting my costume on alone proved more challenging than I'd expected, however. I ended up trotting down the hall to find some help, but I was late.
Nobody was home at Faith’s and Kitty's room, or Hal’s and Lee's. Dylan and Arick were at Noah's because they were the opening act. I headed to Logan's, although the last thing I wanted to do was ask him to help me dress in case he thought I wanted something else. Talking with Bubbe had helped, but sexuality still confused me, and the inconclusive extramagus test results had distracted me from thinking more about it. That's why when I knocked on his door, I prayed that he wasn't there.
You know he's not.
He wasn't. I took a long shot and headed to the only other room on this floor that housed students and knocked.
"Just a minute!" Dorian called.
"Okay."
The door opened almost immediately after I spoke.
"Oh, you can come in." He grinned. "Thought you were Xan."
"Um." I stepped inside.
"We're walking over together." He closed the door. "For reasons."
"Are you two dating?"
"No. But there are reasons of a non-dating variety. Anyway, what's up with the bathrobe?"
I opened it and revealed the dark blue fabric, which sagged in ways it wasn't supposed to around my shoulders.
"Elsa? Not what I expected but cool. What's the problem?"
I turned and moved the white faux-fur trimmed hood and long braid away from the zipper. It ended in the middle of my back, between the tops of my shoulder blades, exactly where I couldn't reach.
"I can't fasten this by myself, and Grace went to Azrael's. I should have dressed at Bubbe's. Have you seen Logan?"
"He left with Hal and company." Dorian sighed. "His dad was looking for him, Faith said."
"Wow." I wrinkled my nose. "It's hard to get my brain around their families."
"Ditto. My parents are awesome. Kind of like yours, but without a kick-ass grandma downstairs. My Nonna's way older than Bubbe. She lives in a nursing home."
"Sorry."
"Thanks." He patted my shoulder. "Voila, you're a queen! Have a look."
He went to his wardrobe, opened it, and tilted the mirror on the inside of the door toward me. I loved how the nearly indigo blue looked with my hair and the way the silver diamond-shaped rhinestones glittered in the light. The shimmering mesh cape made me feel extra pretty. I did a little twirl and smiled until I noticed something missing from Dorian's reflection.
"Where's your costume?"
"I'm going, well sort of as myself, but wearing a mask." He crossed the room and opened the hatbox on his desk. "Check it out."
Before I got the chance, someone pounded on the door.
"Spanos, we gotta go!"
"That's my cue." Dorian gave me a sheepish grin.
Out in the hall, Alex glanced at me once and nodded. "Backup. Good idea."
I blinked, but both of them acted accustomed to this sort of talk. If that was the case, why did the two of them seem so nervous and in such a hurry? For all I knew, it was the regular dynamic in their strange friendship.
Not that strange.
I pondered the voice's opinion and decided to accept it. Hadn't I concluded last week that normal varied? I t
rotted to catch up with them again, not wanting to be the lone third-year student left on campus. Plus, I had business at the masquerade ball. Sitting it out wasn't an option. Alex practically jogged once I caught up. He couldn't run as fast as me, but it was a near thing. Poor Dorian struggled to keep up, breath chugging like a steam engine.
Once out the door, Alex grabbed our wrists and pulled us around the corner and into a shadowy alcove.
"Wait," he said, then let go of Dorian to put a finger over his lips.
I almost protested but started shivering instead. Ironic, given the character I'd dressed as. However, it wasn't the cold bothering me. Despite my confusion, I felt a clear and present fear. It struck me so unexpectedly that I didn't bother pulling out of Alex's grip. The urge to conjure an inferno or flee Hawthorn's entrance at top speed didn't feel natural, like this wasn't my idea.
It's not.
Dorian, who'd called himself a coward last year, stood in front of us with his mask under one arm. He pointed with his other hand at the cobblestone five feet from us, like he aimed a weapon. No, his magic. I couldn't figure out why until Alex whimpered beside me and I looked up. He'd grabbed Dorian's jacket and clung like it was a rope over a cliff.
Mrs. Onassis walked briskly away down Essex Street. She blended into the crowd a moment later, but Dorian and Alex waited, still uneasy.
"She's gone. We can—"
"No." Dorian shook his head. "Not yet. He’s still coming."
"Think nothing," Alex whispered.
I blinked, considering that next-door to impossible. Especially after he told me not to.
Think Halloween.
Now that I could do. The sounds of excited costumed tourists, the aroma of cotton candy and popcorn wafting from food trucks, and the rich loamy scent of crisp autumn leaves underfoot already filled my senses. A childhood in Salem experiencing these every year let me magnify the experience until it drowned everything else out, even oddly-heroic Dorian and unexpectedly-cowering Alex.
I barely noticed when Mr. Fairbanks dragged Mr. Pierce along after him away from the door and into the crowd. He thought so loudly that I immediately knew he sought Alex, trying to pay back some sort of favor. A mind magus of his age and experience should have had no trouble, especially with how distraught Alex was. But he seemed entirely ignorant of our presence. I watched the back of his head grow smaller as he continued down the street.