by D. R. Perry
Not for the last time, I hoped.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Hal made it to my next meetings with Mr. Fairbanks, and I didn't have a repeat dissociative experience. After talking the whole thing over with Ms. Khan, I had a word for the feeling. I asked her if it meant I needed more help, maybe medication.
"It's hard to tell." She shook her head. "It's unlikely unless that starts happening more frequently."
"Could it have come from him, then? Like, maybe I picked up on something wrong with him with my magic? I mean, if Mr. Fairbanks needs help—"
"Then it's up to him to seek it." She cleared her throat. "And not a subject I'm at liberty to discuss."
"I get it."
Before leaving her office, I promised to contact her right away if I dissociated again. It was a relief to get back to the routine of school, even if I still felt like the worst wasn't over. How could it be, with what Logan and I overheard during winter break? Aside from my incident, the trustees hadn't done a thing besides approve Noah's return for exams. It was all too easy to get complacent. Faith remained vigilant.
"I don't buy it for a minute," she said in the baths Wednesday night. "They're waiting for the right moment."
"If only we had some way of knowing when that was." I winced. "Although it feels like I should have that figured out by now."
"I know mind magic doesn't work like telepathy, Aliyah." She sighed. "Sorry if that sounded like a blame game."
"It didn't."
"I know my father's tells. He knows I'm watching him." She shook her head. "He's in a holding pattern. Like he's waiting for something."
"There are three of them, working together. What if he's waiting for Leo or Lavinia to do something first?"
"Maybe it's Lavinia, then." Faith shrugged. "She's like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs."
"She's already ruining Xan's life though." I paddled my feet in the water. "Her plots are all about keeping a grip on him."
"And magisupremacy, don't forget that." Faith sighed. "I saw her in town last Sunday, at some sort of ladies-who-lunch affair at a cafe on the Wharf. Mrs. Merlini was there too, with Crow hovering around. So I went in and ordered a coffee."
"Did you hear something?"
"No, only saw them shake hands. Crow went for a walk with Xan's mom afterward." Faith grimaced. "On the way out, I saw a pamphlet they'd left on the table. Natural Order propaganda."
"I forget what they are."
"It's like a bigotry pyramid scheme. Magi on top, predatory shifters as enforcers, psychics and the other shifters rank-and-file. They favor enslaving mundanes."
"And vampires?"
"Slain."
"What about Faeries?"
"Sealed in the Under."
"Ugh."
"You think Mrs. Merlini buys it?
"I've got no idea." I shrugged. "She had Crow out and about last year, threatening business owners. The idea of either of them working with Lavinia isn't comforting."
"Hmm. What was that you heard Leo say again?" She snapped her fingers, trying to remember. "The lawyering up thing he's trying."
"Conservatorship."
She shivered although the water was warm.
"What is it?"
"That's big money talk for total control. Like what Lavinia's doing turned up to eleven. Basically, like having Logan declared a child for the rest of his life."
"How is that legal?"
"It's not, with how well Logan's doing here and that scholarship to PPC. So it sounds scary but pulling it off is a long shot. A doctor would have to declare him incompetent or a danger to himself. Or he’d have to admit it himself. How likely is Logan Pierce to have a mental breakdown?"
I got into the pool without answering because I didn't like the direction my mind went. Logan wasn't my rock. He was my ocean. Seas got tossed under the right conditions. For most of his life, his parents had used that against him. He'd grown and become more confident. Was it enough?
Faith let me have my silence during our swim. After we were in pajamas, she stopped me before opening the door to the hall. Light flashed off the band of metal on her left hand before she wrapped her arms around me.
"Sometimes there's nothing you can do," she said in my ear. "You can't see it coming or fight the battle for him. But it helps to believe, even if he's losing."
I hugged her back, understanding. She was talking about Hal, not just Logan. When she pulled away, the shoulder of my robe was damp with her tears.
We studied at the cafe the next night, sitting in pairs, flipping through flashcards Dorian had made.
"Thanks, these really help," Hal told him.
"That's major praise, coming from one of you geniuses."
"You're no slouch yourself." Hal waved a card. "I didn't think of this. You did. We'd be squinting at lists in our notebooks if it wasn't for you."
"I only made them because I need serious help studying." Dorian snorted. "You all fell for my evil plan. Muahaha!"
"Would you just take the compliment, already?" Faith chuckled. "You're almost as bad as I am with that stuff."
"Okay, fine." He held his hands up. "Thanks, then."
After the study session, I felt a lot better about using so much of my time on the extra Bishop's Row practice. Until an announcement over the PA gave me an enormous shock.
"Aliyah Morgenstern, Dylan Khan, and Hal Hawkins, report to the infirmary."
The guys went along, but before I left, I glanced through the café and counted all my friends. Nobody was missing. On the way into the lobby, I looked up at Ember's nest. She and Gale were present and accounted for too. I jogged ahead of Hal and Dylan, still unable to banish my sense of fear. Too much had gone wrong.
"Noah!" I gasped and ran down the ramp and into the waiting room.
He sat there, reading a magazine with a bunch of devices attached to his arms and head, grinning up at me.
"You should see the look on your face. Seriously."
"It's not funny." I put my hands on my hips.
"Or my fault. I'm getting the required medical tests I need before moving on campus for exams." He gestured at one of the treatment rooms. "The folks who called you are in there."
I walked in to find Doctor Klein and Stephanie Hawkins with Nurse Smith. They sat looking over an open file. One of the bedside tables held a box of lancets and band-aids. A stack of oversized index cards stood beside them.
"What's all this?"
"It's the Rapid Extrahuman Typing test I asked your help with months ago." Dr. Klein grinned. "I'm testing its efficacy, and since we did your typing with the longer form method, I hoped you'd all consent to take the RET."
"I'll take it, Grandma. I have to ask something before we start," Hal said. "Why are you here, Mom? Why do you care about identifying extrahumans now?"
"I saw that after the fact." She shrugged and sighed at the end. "My—um, the doctor sent letters. About her work, how life-or-death it is. I made so many mistakes. Ones that hurt you. I can't take them back. Maybe it's too little and too late. You're the only one who can decide that. But I want to do better going forward. Say the word, and I'll leave until you've finished here."
"Oh, Mom." Hal sniffled and held his arms out. "I forgive you."
They embraced like they hadn't seen each other for a hundred years. Or wouldn't meet again for twice as long. There wasn't a dry eye in that room.
Using the lancets and smearing blood from our fingertips along rows of marked circles on the cards felt like an afterthought. In minutes, the cards with the extrahuman typing had results. Dr. Klein did one herself, which came up black on the V for vampires. Stephanie's turned pink under D for dhampyr. We all came up purple in the spot marked M for magus. Hal's was a faint thistle, Dylan's royal, and mine nearly indigo.
"The darker the purple, the more magic in your blood at the time of testing," Dr. Klein advised. "Now, let's check element typing."
As expected, my card came up purple for solar, fire, and
mind. Dylan's had air and ice. Hal's made everyone besides Dr. Klein gasp. The letter A had appeared beside the S for space magic. Dr. Klein consulted her folder.
"It looks like you've got space affinity, Hal."
"How?" He shook his head. "I don't understand. I thought magiglobular anemia prevented affinities. And anyway, I was never able to dowse or any of that affinity stuff."
"Possibly, this is a side effect of your infusions." Dr. Klein said. "The magic they give you is raw, neutral as far as elements go. So your blood processes it according to your magical potential. Because the Under gives form to our truest selves, this has been seen in other cases."
"It makes sense." Nurse Smith nodded. "Somewhere way back, a Hawkins must have had space affinity. Likely before the school existed. Because this campus couldn't have been built without mapping the space between worlds. Something only a magus with space affinity could do."
Hal asked no more questions. But we’d all heard of affinities. Logan’s ability to understand critters was one example. Extra talents were well documented, even if they were fairly rare. Which might be why I saw Hal in the library later, reading a book about dowsing.
I almost asked him about it, curious what he meant to do with the knowledge or the talent if he managed to use it. But he yawned. After he checked the book out, I helped him back to the dorm instead.
Hal didn't come with us to the last off-campus practice before the Bishop's Row tournament at Salem Common, but he saw us off. In his lap sat a stack of notebooks, including one of Logan's. His translations from Ludovico's journal.
"Are you sure you don't want to take a walk with us?" Faith asked.
"I'm proofreading my final documentation for the chair. I want everything perfect when it goes to state after exams." He tapped the library book and Logan’s notebook, which he must have borrowed. "And doing a little extra reading on a new topic of interest."
"Sounds cool." I nodded. Logan grinned.
Faith gave him a hug and a kiss goodbye, and we headed out. As soon as the door closed behind us, Logan tugged my sleeve.
"There's affinity stuff in there," Logan said. "He says he needs to learn it fast."
"Bet he has a plan for it, then."
"I'm sure we'll see. He didn't want to talk about it on campus."
As we walked down the street, I shook my head, the ghost of a smile haunting my lips. We'd all come a long way on this journey through high school. At one point, I'd imagined we'd stop learning and set aside picking up new knowledge to review for finals.
However, learning had transformed from something we had to do into an essential part of life as magi. One that would continue long after graduation.
Practice proceeded in the usual way, with Lynn studying way up in the bleachers. Bobby had a second watcher with him this time. A man, younger than Hank Thurston but older than Andre Gauthier. He wore a purple knit cap on a head that might otherwise be bald. Bushy gray eyebrows matched a goatee that framed a lopsided grin.
The two of them sat through our entire practice and watched most of it. The newcomer seemed to doze off a few times. On one of our breaks, I stood on the sidelines peering at him while scratching my head.
"You know what he's doing, right?" Izzy held a cup of water out to me.
"Thanks." I gulped some down. "No, I don't."
"Projection."
"So he's foretelling our plays?"
"No. The out of body kind."
"Oh." My mind drew blanks. Cadence trotted over.
"Hey, what's Nate Watkins doing here?"
"I don't know." I shrugged. "Is he important or something?"
"He's a pretty big deal at Providence Paranormal College."
"Maybe he's visiting Bobby then." I shrugged. "He graduated from there."
"Doesn't explain why he's projecting during our practice, though." Izzy shook her head.
"Want me to go ask, Iz?" I patted her shoulder. "Is it like a bad vibe or something?"
"No. Nothing bad. Just curiosity and my cards are in the locker room."
"Okay."
Break ended and we finished our practice. I meant to go over and introduce myself after stowing all the equipment, but by the time we’d done that, Mr. Watkins was gone. Most of the others went home or to their respective campuses. Cadence, Izzy, and I stayed out. We ordered pizza to go at Engine House. While waiting, Izzy pulled cards and said we'd hear more about Mr. Watkins soon. We headed back to Noah's apartment, where he, Elanor, Brianna, and Arick sat playing Mario Kart.
Dylan sat on a stool nearby, strumming his guitar, not even stopping for lunch like the rest of us. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he shook his head. Noah got a mug of blood from the fridge and hovered nearby as we wolfed down delicious pizza. We chatted about the upcoming tournament next week and the big party and dance afterward.
"I can't believe they had enough in the budget to charter a harbor cruise!" Cadence glanced at Arick, who blushed. "It'll be so much fun."
"Are you going to make it, Noah?" Brianna asked. "Elanor already has permission to go as my date."
"I know." He sighed and shook his head. "I'm technically a student at Hawthorn for cram and exam the week after, but not allowed until then on my own. So the headmaster said I need an escort for the cruise."
"I'll do it." Dylan plucked a string and busied himself with tuning it. "If you haven't already got someone that is."
Noah blinked. He glanced at me, and at first, I didn't understand why.
He wants permission.
Finally, it all made sense why Noah had given Dylan the cold shoulder for so long. He didn't want to hurt me. Although he knew I'd meshed with Logan, my brother understood that our relationship wasn't exactly conventional.
So I nodded, smiled, then jerked my thumb at Dylan, who still avoided looking at anyone or anything in the room besides his guitar. Noah crossed the room in three long strides.
"I'd be honored to have your company, Dylan Khan." He smiled down. "Thank you."
I glanced up, wishing Ember and Gale were there to peep and crow about it. Lotan made up for it by swaying happily on Noah's shoulder. Izzy pulled a card out of her bag and shook her head. Before I could ask about it, my phone beeped. I took one look at the message and groaned at my mistake.
"Gotta go, guys." I tucked the phone away and headed for the door. "I'm late to go over the practice recordings with Xan."
I left in a chorus of “see you later.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The next week passed less eventfully than the one before. Even with an enormous game ahead, one where there'd be scouts from colleges and universities all over the world, I felt oddly calm. As I sat in the café that Friday night, I realized I wasn't alone.
"This is like being in the eye of a storm." Lee wrapped his hands around his mug of cocoa. "Resting, waiting for the wind to pick us up again, and no idea where we'll land when it's over."
"Wow, that's poetry." I intended to chuckle but it came out almost like a sob.
"You don't know where you're going either?" He blinked.
"Not a clue." I sighed. "No offers from any schools. Maybe I'll end up in the Coast Guard like my great uncle."
"I hadn't thought of enlisting." Lee leaned his cheek on his hand. "Visa might be a problem."
"You want to stay here?" I stirred my tea. "I always imagined you going to university in Europe or something."
"If I can't stay here, I'd rather go home." He sighed. "My parents worked so hard to give me a way out. They say there's no future for a magus in rural China, but the only other place that feels like home is with Izzy."
"She's in at Providence Paranormal."
"I know, like Logan. And I'm not, like you."
"Your only chance is getting scouted at the game, huh?"
"Pretty much."
"Save a seat on the college rejection ship." Dorian sat with a green smoothie, Julia perched sleepily on his shoulder. "The drawer in my desk is stuffed full of letters that say no. C
oast-to-coast tour, even."
"Ditto. Let's ask Grace to make us a commemorative quilt out of those papers."
"Sorry, I burned mine." I held my hand out, palm up, and conjured a tiny flame. "Accidentally on purpose."
We laughed because the alternative was worse. Maybe that storm Lee mentioned earlier would wash something better ashore.
The next day, I couldn't eat. However, playing on an empty stomach with my history of collapsing was madness. I got a coconut smoothie with the works from the café and took it back to my room. After drinking it, I put my uniform on. The common had a tent, wards, and special transport to shield Messing's vampire players from the sun, but nowhere for us to change clothes. I had some time to think over strategy alone since Grace was still downstairs at the dining hall.
It wouldn't matter which team won. Winning boosted prospects in most mundane sports, but Bishop's Row at the college level was so new, the scouts simply wanted to see us play. So, I'd planned everything around showcasing the players I thought needed to be seen. Until last night, I hadn't known Lee's situation.
Grace and Lena were so solid together on defense. If I sat either of them, we might lose too quickly to show off. That left Faith or me at mid. Faith already agreed to sit for Xan against Gallows Hill since strategically we'd need her against Messing's vampire players. Showing off his poison against shifters and changelings was his best shot at getting scouted.
If Lee didn't get a student visa, he'd have to leave the country. I had a place to go no matter what. I'd step out for him in that second match since his conjuring speed made up for my dual magics.
That's settled. Don't be tardy now.
I headed out onto Essex Street, ending up in a throng of students, staff, and faculty. Everyone, not only the Bishop's Row team and the cheer squad, was coming. Even the trustees, although Andre Gauthier looked green around the gills. I searched the crowd for one face in particular because I wanted to run my strategy for sitting out by Hal. I didn't find him.
The pit of my stomach dropped until I asked Faith where he was.