“Halsey!” he called, stopping me in my tracks. His voice was stern, but it didn’t seem angry so much as impatient.
“Where have you been?” My aunt Alice asked as she darted into the room. “I want to know why we had the Director of Crisis Management here looking for you not five minutes ago, and why she was asking questions about how you’ve been feeling lately.” She gave me a hard glare.
“Uhh…” is all I said, scrambling for words because I realized I couldn’t tell her about the men who just tried to grab me. I couldn’t think of a logical way to explain about Jen and why we were with her in the first place. But then I realized what my aunt had said.
“Director of Crisis Management?” I asked. That didn’t sound like a job title for someone who arrests people for Unauthorized medical care, but she had arrested Jen.
“Did you hear your aunt?” my uncle asked, this time, his voice a little louder. “Why was the Director of Crisis Management here for you?”
I cleared my throat. “Because Lauren Stover died?” I answered, though it sounded like a question. “Complications or something at the hospital for a disease she had. Lauren attacked me, remember?” I blurted, then kicked myself because I no longer had the injury that was bandaged just yesterday. I quickly tried to change the subject. “The director was probably just making sure I didn’t feel guilty or something, but I know it wasn’t my fault.” I was starting to babble and knew I needed to find a way to shut my mouth so I could get to my room already.
My uncle studied me, then turned to Alice. “She did say the girl died,” he nodded, then seemed to resolve something. “Negligence by that blood-money hospital from the sounds of it.” He pressed his lips into a line, nodding again for emphasis, and I breathed a sigh of relief since he seemed to be on track to drop his inquisition. I needed to get out of here before that director woman decided to come back.
“Well, she left her card for you,” Alice said, taking it from her apron pocket and handing it to me. It read Eve Adams, Crisis Management Director in bold, black letters, with her contact number and queue code embossed in the lower left corner. “She said to call her the minute you got home. But see what’s in that box first,” Alice added, pointing me to a shoebox-sized package still wrapped in brown paper on the table. “A nice young man dropped this off for you. He said he was from a prestigious school—a direct competitor to The Citadel monopoly,” she continued, impressed.
I took a few steps toward the box, but a knock at the door jolted me back.
“Why are you so jumpy?” my uncle asked with a chuckle. A few seconds later, the ping of my communications chip sounded in my ear, and I blinked to see what it said.
Max:
Sorry about back there. I was just surprised. I’m outside,and we have some trouble.
He was surprised? How did he think I felt?
I crossed to the door and opened it, half expecting Max to run the other way when he saw me. But instead, he visibly exhaled.
“I’m sorry,” I said to him. “I got embarrassed and just started running and—”
“It’s OK,” he said quickly, catching his breath. Bird caws filled the air from somewhere in the distance, and a chill ran down my spine. “Halls, I just passed that police lady’s car,” Max said quietly. “I hid so she wouldn’t see me, but I could tell it was her. She might know where you live.”
“She does know where I live,” I said too quickly and handed him the card she’d left me. “She was just here wanting to talk to me.”
“Are you plotting a revolt? Let the boy in!” my uncle bellowed from behind me. I stepped aside to let Max in and watched his expression crinkle as the lingering smell of the cabbage stew obviously settled over him. I held back a smile.
“Open the package,” my aunt said impatiently. Max and I exchanged knowing glances, and I made my way back to the box.
Inside was a T-shirt and another box, this one covered in a thin crepe material. I lifted the lid and a 3-D projection began hovering over the box, which I nearly dropped. I set it on the table and watched the large, gold letters E and B become animated and dance around each other until they settled over the gate of a huge, rod iron fence. A few seconds later, a multitiered, white building with pillars materialized behind it.
As the scene panned out, a wide expanse of blue stretched out to the horizon in the background, and in the foreground, palm trees came into view over the top of the iron gate. A few seconds later, an impossibly perfect looking man with white-blond hair pushed the gates open and stepped through.
“Hello, Halsey. My name is Uri,” the man said, startling me at the personalization. “We at Eden’s Bluff would like to welcome you to paradise,” he continued, spreading his arms out and glancing over his shoulder. “You were chosen from thousands of students across the nation to be a member of our academy—among the first, might I add, in hundreds of years to receive an education that rivals that of The Citadel Network of higher learning. Rest assured, all our career paths guarantee Authorized credentials upon completion. Care to take a look around?”
The man gave a quick nod, then turned to go back through the gates. A second later, he was walking through the door of a huge estate house. Inside, two hallways spread out in opposite directions, and a winding staircase disappeared into the top of the screen.
“Wow,” Max said under his breath. “I’ve only seen places like that in old movies.”
“This is our welcome wing, as we like to call it,” Uri continued. “All the administrative offices are in this building, but if you’ll follow me…” he added, curling a finger at the screen as he walked toward the huge bay window at the back of the room. “This is the pride and joy of campus. Six student dorm buildings, an archery field, not to mention two hundred acres of rolling forest, fields, and curated gardens, all nestled by the sea in the Caribbean. Quite a view, no?” Uri turned back to face us and smiled. “Please feel free to upload the included school information to your cloud so you can take your own virtual tour, and if you have any questions, my personal queue code is also included. If you decide to join us at Eden’s Bluff, Halsey, please RSVP by midnight tomorrow, and we’ll arrange for your complimentary transportation. I apologize for the narrow window, but given the timing of your school year's end, this was the soonest we could approach you with our offer. If you agree to join us at Eden's Bluff, we'd like to have all travel completed while the weather is ideal so you have a chance to acclimate before classes begin. Please take the virtual tour for details on what to pack, travel, and more. Welcome to paradise, Halsey. We hope to see you soon.”
With another perfect smile, the transmission faded, and a small drive chip lay at the bottom of the box.
“I’ll take the virtual tour first,” my aunt said, immediately picking up the chip and pressing it to her temple as she crossed to the nearest chair.
“Looks promising.” My Uncle Ray met my eyes. “Must cost a fortune, though.”
“Actually, they gave me a full scholarship, room and board too,” I added, still not quite sure why I wasn’t jumping up and down in elation.
“It’s completely free?” Ray asked, blinking a few times as if to clear his vision.
“That’s what the letter I got said. Here…” I blinked to pull up the file, then blinked again to send it to his inbox. “I just sent it to your queue.”
He blinked twice, and I waited while he read the 3-D projection of the letter I’d sent him. His gray brows gathered, then raised as he shook his head.
“I guess I don’t have to worry about you working for some idiot in the valley,” he said through a weak laugh.
“Ray, look at this place…” my aunt Alice crossed to us and handed the chip to my uncle so he could apparently take the virtual tour, then turned to me. “If you let these people know you're coming by midnight tomorrow, they'll have you there in forty-eight hours. Forty-eight hours. Now that's efficiency.”
“But we just ended high school today,” I said, surprised.
“What’s the problem?” my aunt asked. “It’s just as fancy as The Citadel you insisted on applying to...even though it’s just an oppressive governmental tool, designed to pigeonhole everyone on the wrong side of the wall, but I digress.”
I didn’t want to defend The Citadel so much as I wanted to defend my choice to apply there, but it didn’t matter now. I couldn’t argue that Eden’s Bluff looked just as prestigious and legitimate as The Citadel, and from what I could tell, there was no reason not to be excited about the opportunity.
But I met Max’s eyes and confirmed my stomach was turning for a reason. There were some things we needed to settle before I could make any promises to Eden's Bluff.
Max sat in the chair in my room, still not saying a word, and I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I don’t know what happened,” I said abruptly, not meeting his eyes. “I don’t know how I made that sound back at the school when those guys jumped out of the van.” Max took the chip from Eden’s Bluff off his temple, apparently having finished the virtual tour. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Were you just watching that Eden's Bluff thing?”
He sighed. “Vetting. I was vetting that Eden's Bluff thing," he answered with a weak smile, then pushed a hand through his shaggy hair when I raised an eyebrow at him. "OK, Halls, look, I figured if you knew what happened, you’d tell me, and if you didn’t, then me asking about it wasn’t going to help anything.”
I collapsed on my bed. “It had to be whatever Jen gave me, right? The hiccup enzyme or whatever she called it?” I asked the ceiling.
“I looked it up—jicambi is only supposed to do what she said, give your immune system a boost. It didn’t say anything about making you sound like an eagle,” Max said, and I could hear the laugh in his voice.
I debated telling him about what I’d seen happen to my hands—how my fingers looked like feathers for a second—but decided not to. It had to be some kind of stress-induced illusion because nothing had happened since. I didn’t feel any different besides, and I didn’t need him thinking I was seeing things now, too, because he'd just worry.
“Maybe it’s a side effect, like it strengthens your voice or something along with everything else.” I smiled, feeling much better about the rationalization the more I talked about it.
“Those guys Jen sent after you…” Max said, his voice full of warning. “I heard her yelling at them as they drove away. They’ll be back, Halls.”
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the officer who arrested her was just at my house either,” I added. Max shook his head and flopped down next to me on my bed, both of us staring at the ceiling now.
He handed me the chip from Eden’s Bluff. “At least this place puts The Citadel to shame. I mean, it's on its own island in The Caribbean. Its own island.”
I didn’t know what to say, although my throat was still tight and my muscles tensed like I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and throttle someone. I sat up quickly and got to my feet, then moved to peek through my blinds.
“It seems too good to be true,” I said, mostly to myself.
“Hey.” Max crossed to me and turned my shoulders toward them, lowering his eyes to mine. “You want to know what I think?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"No." Max chuckled. "I think you're trying to find something wrong because it's not The Citadel. That's been the only legitimate place in your opinion for so long, anything else seems, well, either not good enough or too good to be true. But Halls, this is what you’ve always wanted.”
Again, he was right, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that this just wasn't really happening.
“Something just doesn’t seem right, Max. It’s all too fast. How can they want an answer by tomorrow?”
“It’s not exactly down the street, you know? And you heard that Uri guy. They want everyone to get there while the weather is nice so they can get acclimated. Though I think that was actually code for please arrive before the hurricanes knock your plane out of the sky.”
I laughed a little at that. He made sense, as always, and for a few minutes at least, I felt better.
“I guess I just don’t like feeling forced down a path,” I said, somewhat to myself. “I think you’re right about Jen. She’s not going to stop. And if she has some corrupt officer on her side now too…”
Max glanced up and nodded. “I didn’t want to say it because I didn’t want you to worry if you decided to stay here and take one of the internships, but…” he trailed off. We both knew there was only one option that made sense, as abrupt as it all seemed.
“Then this is it I guess.” I blew out a breath as tears filled my eyes. “You’re going to The Citadel, and I’m going to The Caribbean.”
Chapter Eleven
It was 11:45, and the car was supposed to come at noon to take me to the airport. From there, it was only supposed to be a two-hour flight to Eden's Bluff, which seemed a little short to me for flying all the way to The Caribbean from Portland, Maine.
My aunt and uncle said their goodbyes before they went to work earlier this morning, and to their credit, they were sorry they couldn't wait with me for the car to arrive. Neither of them could afford to take a day off at this time of year with so many internship applicants just waiting to take their place. Anyone who didn't find a job would just become another scavenger south of The Valley where the Sweeper droids tended to be less prominent. I rolled my eyes at the thought since that was the very place they should have been the most prominent, but there was really no way to control that part of the city. The Citadel had forgotten about them, and after so many years in the failed system, they were just as happy to be forgotten.
I shook loose from the tangled thoughts and glanced at Max, who was waiting for the car on the front porch with me. Neither one of us had said a word since he arrived, but I knew it wasn't because we didn't have anything to say. It was because we both had too much.
"We can always queue," Max finally said in a voice so quiet, I wasn't sure I'd heard him. "I don't start classes for a month, so I'll be around. I mean, I'd be around anyway, but I'm just saying..."
My throat felt tight, so I swallowed hard, refusing to turn into a teary mess right before I had to leave.
"For sure. You'll be the first one I queue," I said. Max pressed his lips into a closed smile and leaned forward in his chair, nodding at the ground. "I probably won't even be able to make it to the airport without pinging you." I tried to laugh.
He got to his feet and leaned over the railing. I crossed to him and leaned on my forearms next to him. The front yard was wild forest, save the dirt path that wound over the hill toward us. Any minute, a car would roll up, and that would be the end of everything so far. It would be the beginning of something new. Somewhere I've never been. And for the first time in as long as I could remember, Max wouldn't be there with me.
Tears came so fast they almost choked me. I sniffed reflexively, but it was too late to push them down.
"Hey..." Max said, his hand moving over my back. "Come here." I straightened, and he pulled me into a hug. His arms closed around me as I let the tears fall, though, it wasn't as if I had much of a choice. He took a deep breath and held it as his heart pounded against my cheek, and this broke the dam. He cleared his throat. "It's not forever. Oh, I have something for you."
I nodded against his chest, then pulled back to see the mess I'd made of his shirt with all my crying.
I gasped. "Sorry... Geez." I swallowed hard and wiped my face, but he just laughed it off.
"I'll be right back." He trotted down my porch steps and around to the side of my house, returning with my walking stick a few minutes later. "I got Marvin to let me back in the school over the weekend. Not sure you can take this with you or anything, but I
figured you'd want it..." he added, then pushed a smile to the side of his mouth.
"Keep it for me," I nodded. “And thank you.” I crossed to him and fit myself under his arm in a side hug, and before either of us could say anything else, a black car with tinted windows rolled over the hill.
“Whoa,” Max said as the car came to a stop and the driver got out to greet us. He was about our age and tall, even taller than Max by what seemed at least a few inches. His dark hair was pulled into a short ponytail, and his black t-shirt and jeans were form fitting. I caught myself staring at his form, in fact, and blinked a few times to snap myself out of the momentary trance.
“You must be Halsey?” he said, extending a hand to me as he flashed a shockingly white smile, the contrast all the more apparent against his tanned skin. His dark eyes twinkled as he approached. “And you’re the boyfriend?” he asked with the same brilliant smile and a nod to Max.
“Um…” Max said around an abrupt chuckle. “No, just good friends,” he added with a squeeze to my shoulder.
“All right, well, a friend of Halsey’s is a friend of mine. I’m Leo Red-Cloud. It’s my third year at Eden’s Bluff,” he said as he shook Max’s hand, then turned to me. “Sorry if you were expecting Uri. He thought it would be more comfortable for you to have someone close to your age pick you up. Did you have a chance to watch the welcome message? Sorry, I know I just dropped it off yesterday.”
“I did,” I said, trying not to stare at him. “It doesn’t seem like that place could be real.”
He flashed another wide, perfect smile. “Wait until you see it in person. Anyway, Sylvie is getting everything ready with the flight, so we can take you to her if you’re ready.” Leo gave me a nod, then reached for my bag. “Let me just put this in the trunk.”
Academy of Magic Collection Page 62
