by D. R. Perry
Somehow, the spacious area felt cozy, more so than our dormitory rooms. Even though the square footage was large, the stacks and the overhang from the upper level conspired to give it a warm and homey feel. There were no individual study cubbies, only tables, as though we were meant to work together instead of squirreling away on our own.
A long counter with wooden pushcarts behind it took up the far-right corner, positioned on the diagonal so the librarians could see most of the study area. One librarian, a person with ice-blue hair, sat in a wooden wheelchair reading a paperback, a hawk perched on the high back. Carved murals adorned the walls behind the librarian in the chair, depicting downtown Salem blanketed in snow. After a brief introduction and tour by the other librarian, a rail-thin man with silver hair and a kindly face, we were left to our own devices, allowed to study or work on whatever we liked.
I headed back to the circulation desk because I had a question. I kept my voice down, in part due to the sensitive topic of discussion, but also because it was a library. Libraries. Quiet. Duh.
"Yes, we do have books on that subject." Mr. Ashford nodded, smiling. His teeth were healthy but slightly crooked, which made his expression charming. "And you can use the student index to search."
He nodded at a large podium in the middle of the library, under the chandelier. It had the largest and thickest book I'd ever seen on it, bound in shimmering iridescent fabric colored like either dawn or dusk. The material either came straight out of the Under or was enchanted with every type of magical energy. As I watched, Faith approached it, bending at the waist, and addressed it.
"Bishop's Row tips and tricks." She enunciated clearly, and after a half a moment, the index's pages flipped on their own, glowing in prismatic color as the magic enchanting it activated.
"It seems the student index is already in use, so I will help you, Miss Morgenstern." Mr. Ashford pulled a smaller index out from under the counter, set it on the table, and began searching through it.
He did this with a level of respect and care that told me that books, even ones with long lists and nothing more, were extremely important to him. Mr. Ashford lifted his iridescent rainbow-framed glasses and pursed his lips, peering under them as he bent his head over the volume. His face was mostly unlined. From this angle, I realized his silver hair was an intentional choice and not due to aging.
"Here it is." Without looking up, Mr. Ashford reached out for a pencil and a blank index card. He jotted a series of numbers on its surface. "Scientific studies of dragonets and their ways, behavioral." He held the card toward me, straightening and smiling again.
"Thanks so much, Mr. Ashford." I smiled back. "I appreciate your help."
"May you find what you seek." His statement would have seemed ominously cryptic if it weren't for his friendly tone.
Because the tour was fresh in my mind, remembering where the section I was looking for was located was easy. Everything was done by numbers, familiar from my old school because the extrahuman community had adopted the Library of Congress system in the United States. I walked down the space between the stacks and found that there wasn't much in the way of research into dragonets. There were plenty of books on their anatomy and abilities, but little about their behavior and interactions with magi.
Being rare and special is awfully inconvenient sometimes.
There were only three books that fit my criteria. The bad news was, it limited the amount of information I could get. The good news was, I could carry all of them by myself in one trip. They were even on the middle shelf, which was a happy little accident.
I took my treasures to a table directly under one of the lower-hanging light fixtures, still wrought iron with solar globes but cozier. Two of those editions had been rebound and had old and yellowed pages. Without adequate lighting, they'd be difficult to read. I, of course, had my very own light source, portable and always literally at hand, but books were flammable, and I didn't want to risk damaging any of them.
Fire alarms were a thing here, too. Being suspected of arson was not something I wanted to go through again.
At first, I wasn’t sure how to pull the chair away from the table. It was stuck to the floor. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. The chair's legs were part of the floor, as though it was carved from or had grown out of the hardwood underfoot.
When I set my hand against its back, however, the chair came loose, or perhaps the floor released it. Either way, I could move the seat and use it, pulling it close enough to the table’s edge to get some reading done.
I opened the first tome and began skimming the table of contents. It was a collection of academic papers, studies done on dragonet familiars and the magi who worked with them from various institutions of higher extrahuman learning. The titles of the papers were convoluted, which, according to Bubbe, was always the case when it came to this sort of publication, as though the wordier the title, the more likely it would be accepted into an academic journal.
This book contained twenty articles. After deciphering their titles, I realized only three had anything to do with dragonets as familiars. I flipped to the first, intending to mark it along with the others for later reading, but I got totally distracted. The author of this particular study was none other than Professor Luciano. No, wait—the given name was female, and the article was from the 1920s, so it had to be his mother or maybe an aunt.
I still marked it with a scrap of the index card but took a moment to read the abstract. I had a theory. Was this why my homeroom teacher had said he was excited to have me in his class?
Maybe he wanted to study me, and Ember too. What if he was trying to expand on this family member's research? Science was all about standing on the shoulders of giants, after all.
This idea might have disturbed some people, but I immediately began trying to figure out how to use it to my benefit. Maybe the mean girls were right, and I did have the makings of some sort of evil overlord.
I couldn't quit trying to get by here. People needed my help, and I’d promised it to some of them, so I couldn't abandon them just to salvage my failing reputation with faculty and the vocal minority of the students.
Did true kindness require total selflessness? After all, I was doing this research for two other people besides me. Bubbe always says you can't save a man from the ocean if you're drowning along with him. Until now, that had made little sense. I didn't mean any harm, so how could it go wrong?
But wasn’t the road to hell paved with good intentions?
“Shut up.” Oops.
"Shush!" It was Bailey. Because, of course, it was. "Logan's trying to study."
"No, you shush." Faith leaned a hip against my table. "Because she was already telling herself to be quiet. She doesn't need your help. If you don't like it, take the pretty boy over to the other side of the library already."
I sat there stunned, blinking up at Faith. She looked back down, first at my face, then past me to see what I was reading. I didn't know if it was nosiness or part of some information-gathering scheme. Maybe it was just a casual glance, totally normal.
But there was no question when she looked back at my face, meeting my gaze again. She'd seen what I was studying although she couldn't possibly know why, and I had no idea what she'd do with that information. She’d seen Logan’s art project in Creatives. If she’d overheard any of my conversations with Logan or Dylan, she’d suspect something was off. Logan could get into serious trouble with his family if she said anything. I wasn’t having that, so I did the only thing I could.
I stood up to move myself and my research away from Bailey’s and Logan's presence. Somehow, I managed this feat without closing the tome Faith had glanced at because nothing makes people think you want to hide something like slamming a book in their face.
As I walked past Faith, I leaned my head slightly in her direction and murmured my thanks. I wasn’t snarking at her, I was grateful. Also, I figured it'd distract her from my readings on dragonets and why they bothered bond
ing with magi.
I’d apparently made the right call because she left me alone. I let Bailey and Logan stay where they were and schlepped to the other side of the library, to a table under the second level's floor. The library period was maddeningly short compared to Creatives and Gym. I had to get a move on.
On this side of the library, the light was dim. It was so low I couldn't read the old book without trouble, but the word “can't” hadn't stopped me so far. I toughed it out, leaning my nose so close to the page I might as well have asked it to start dating me exclusively.
I tried to take the information in, absorb it, but visions of Charity and the rest of the cruel and usual crew griefing me about book boyfriends danced in my head. I closed my eyes and leaned back in the chair, about to give up on deciphering it, but one more try couldn't hurt. After all, if it didn't work out, I'd just check it out and read it in my room.
But when I opened my eyes somehow, the page was lit. Not from within or anything creepy like that. As I said, the school couldn't be haunted because of its position between planes of existence. This was a no ghost zone, so I tried to figure out where the light was coming from. Before I managed the seemingly simple deduction, Mr. Ashford shook a little handbell on the counter. It jingled as charmingly as sleigh bells in the snow.
"If you'd like to check any materials out, you've only got a few minutes. Please make your way to the desk, and we will help you."
I brought my books up. As it turned out, Mr. Ashford didn't need assistance from the other librarian because I was the only one borrowing books. That totally reinforced my reputation as a nerd, and I wished I didn't care.
Because computers didn't work well here, the library used a system only accessible to magi. The librarian went through the motions, writing dates on cards and sticking them in the pockets on the books’ back cover. The ink flowed, glowing with a gleaming white magic that originated in Mr. Ashford's hand. I was reminded of frost-laced windowpanes. So, he was an ice magus. Cool.
We exchanged pleasantries of farewell, and I headed out of the room with the rest of my class. Next was Lab, which seemed straightforward enough. I doubted Professor Luciano would give us much more on the first day than a tour and a list of safety rules.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The lab was brightly lit, open, and spacious, but its ceiling was not quite as high as the library’s. It made sense because Hawthorn Academy had unlimited space to work with. Even with the severe deficiency of windows, which made me feel stifled at times, it was never claustrophobic on campus.
I was the first one in the room, so I took a seat at the front. There were two rows, with five benches in each of them. I needed to sit in the front because I didn’t want to miss anything. Lab wasn’t easy, and the only way through was to follow all the directions exactly. Front and nearly center was the best place for that.
Unlike the classroom, the library, and the gym, this room had space just for familiars. An entire section to the side of my lab bench contained perches, tunnels, and climbing trees for our critters. The intention was to keep them out of the way during experiments.
Ember flew directly to a T-shaped structure. On landing, she bent her head down and rubbed her cheek against it. The perch was covered with carpet, like the kind of thing people with mundane cats had in their houses. Ember loved it. We didn’t have any carpet at home in our apartment or in Bubbe's office downstairs either. It must have been a huge novelty.
The next familiar to check out the accommodations was Nin. She scuttled along the floor, her back sometimes humping as she hopped part of the way. I never would've guessed Pharaoh’s Rats moved so much like ferrets, but you learn something new every day—which was the point of school, after all.
Hal slumped on the stool next to me, which fortunately had a back. He looked exhausted enough to need it. The seats were swankier than at my old school. Like the chairs in the library, they were fused to the floor until someone needed to sit in them. Hal either forgot or was tired enough for motor impairment to set in. He leaned back a bit too far.
"Whoa!" His stool came free, detaching itself from the floor.
I reached out, catching and righting it before it clattered down. Hal sighed, shaking his head. Then he concentrated, moving the errant furniture before getting back in his seat.
"Thanks, Aliyah."
"No problem."
Hal nodded, and I moved my own chair over. Clearly, he wanted to tell me something. One of the few things I seemed to do right at Hawthorn Academy was listen to people.
"What's up?" I lowered my voice in anticipation of whatever he had to say.
"I've got a problem."
"Oh?" I waited. Also wondered, since people in my year kept asking for help. I didn't know what I’d expected here, but it wasn't this.
"I don't think I have enough energy to get through this lab." As he finished speaking, Hal let out the rest of his breath. He didn't take another immediately. I'd seen this before at Bubbe's office with critters suffering a serious illness. He was in such a bad way I considered calling the nurse.
"How can I help?"
"I can’t do any actual work in here." Hal glanced down at his notepad, where his folded letter from Nurse Smith was tucked under the back page. "Nurse Smith made me promise not to use any magic for the rest of the day. But you're a strong magus. Would you mind being my partner so I can stay and take notes? I'll help with setting up equipment mundanely, too."
"Professor Luciano can’t have us doing experiments the first day!"
"Yes, he can. He's not as fair as you—"
"Welcome, class!" The professor stood at the front of the room behind the instructor's bench. He smiled, hands and arms out, palms up in a gesture to match his words.
I blinked, keeping my mouth shut for now. Not fair? How? He was pedantic, but he seemed decent enough.
The rest of the students shuffled in, choosing their spots and partners. Bailey practically pushed Faith out of the way when she tried sitting with Alex, leaving her to pair up with Logan instead. They sat behind Hal and me.
The lab portion of our education here at Hawthorn Academy was rumored to be its most intensive element. At least I didn't have to worry about being picked last or otherwise ostracized today. Even Faith looked like she'd keep her head down.
"Today, we'll do a quick rundown of the lab safety rules and then a brief but exciting exercise." Professor Luciano pulled a three-ring binder out from under his bench. "You'll find one of these in front of each of you. It contains the safety protocols and a summary of each experiment we will run during Lab for the entire semester."
I checked the table. Although it had been solid before, there was now a rectangular opening. The loose-leaf notebook inside was an old Trapper Keeper, the sort of thing students my age had carried back in the 1980s. Mine was emblazoned with an airbrushed unicorn.
Hal held his up, smirking. Its design depicted a round yellow figure with a pie-slice mouth, chasing a quartet of blue ghosts. Because we were in a magical school, the images moved, the unicorn tossing its head and the yellow man's mouth chomping. I couldn't help but giggle a little.
The professor glanced at his shoulder, where his familiar perched. He pointed at one of the wooden outcrops on the wall in the familiar-friendly space. The Strix swooped across the room, landing precisely where he'd indicated she should go.
"Please send your familiars to the designated area if you haven't already. That is always the first step upon entering the lab, and part of our safety rules. If our experiments include them, I will instruct you as to when they can be called over."
He opened his notebook, which was emblazoned with a neon-pink heart, flipping past a clear protective sheet and the title pages. After that, he turned his back, gesturing at the wall behind him, which was blank and white. A series of numbers with words beside them and a list appeared on the board.
"Take out your notebooks and turn to page eigh
t, Safety First."
A rustle of paper filled the room as everyone did as instructed. The list was simple and straightforward, even for a magical textbook. The first part was about checking labels for ingredients and instruments. The second pertained to personal protective equipment. In the third, the one our professor had already referenced, familiars were to keep to the designated area. Finally, there was a note about not running experiments while impaired. No wonder Hal wanted help.
"Flip to the first experiment and gather the materials listed, along with your protective equipment. The supply closets are on the walls in the back of the room." The professor clapped his hands. "Go!"
"I can't imagine he'll have us do much besides search for supplies to learn where they're kept." I held out my hand and helped Hal down from the tall stool, which couldn't be comfortable for him. The poor guy's feet dangled, even with the footrest.
"Thanks." He took my arm, using it for balance until he got both feet on the floor. "But no. He's having us run something. I overheard at the end of the mixer. Didn't Noah warn you?"
"No." I blinked. "He hasn't talked to me since the orientation assembly."
"Wow." Hal shook his head. "It's lonely being an only child, but stuff like that makes me kind of relieved I am."
"It's just such a big change." I reached out toward the handle built into the wall and pulled a cabinet door open. "Coming here and staying overnight, nowhere near all my old friends or the rest of my family. And Noah acting this way."
"At least you're not alone." Hal peered in at the items on the shelf.
"The only good side to that whole equation."
"Yeah, at least I'm with my dad. Some people have nobody here." He grabbed a length of tubing. "This is on the list." Sure enough, the label matched the one in our notebooks.