Light of Equality (Hawthorn Academy Book 5)

by D. R. Perry

  "She's got that part right." Dad nodded.

  "Then go on the news." Noah shrugged. "Do an interview with Cadence’s mom. Make a viral video. Mom and Bubbe almost never freak out about the same thing. Maybe they're right."

  "Noah has good ideas here. Other ways to raise awareness." Mom put her arm around my brother. I stared, wondering why nobody did the same for me.

  They're afraid. You're incandescent.

  I looked at my hands. The Evil Inside Voice was right. I glowed with a light too orange for pure solar magic. I'd conjured both elements without realizing it. I'd never hurt my family, but they didn't seem to believe that.

  "Peep." Ember craned her neck around to look me in the eye, then reached out with one claw and stroked the bridge of my nose, the way I did with her when she was upset. At least she wasn’t afraid.

  She's on your side, always.

  I turned on my heel and ran upstairs, slamming the door to my room before banging my head on the sloped ceiling. I fell into bed sickened and weeping and curled up around Ember. Even the aroma of Bubbe's chocolate babka turned my stomach.

  Eventually, I had to use the bathroom. Outside my door, I found a plate piled with food, a sign of love. Too bad what I needed that day was their support.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The next day, Dylan replaced Bailey in Professor Luciano's homeroom. Bailey had gone to DeBeer's class with her sister. I waved as he entered the room, pointing at the seat between Logan and me.

  Dylan sat in the back, head down over his notebook as the professor gave his lecture. He wasn't alone since Hal came in right after him and took the seat beside him. Faith made her way to the front and sat with us.

  I had a hard time concentrating for the second day in a row, for more than one reason. That afternoon we'd be in the magipsychic lab with our teams, working on our projects for the fair. My brain moved a mile a minute on other things besides Axis and Allied magi during the Second World War.

  Maybe you're just avoiding uncomfortable subject matter.

  I shook my head and activated the book’s auto-notes, then doodled in the margins. I’d want to look over more detailed notes later than what I could manage taking now.

  “Rumors of shifter and faerie activity during the war became the stuff of foxhole folklore. Magi kept their involvement on more subtle terms. The Allies had magi working in secret as munitions designers, but the Axis magi were more ambitious. If they’d cared more about advancing the mundane Axis cause, Allied forces would have lost the Second World War.”

  Too close to home for your family.

  I couldn't ignore the reactions from my classmates, whose gasps carried through the room. Only Dylan seemed unimpressed, likely because the UK had endured direct attacks on their soil. Although misery loves company, I hoped their stomachs didn't turn as much as mine did. If the Axis had won, I’d never have been born.

  Don't go making assumptions now.

  "What?"

  "Miss Morgenstern, if you're having trouble hearing from the front row, I'm not sure what other accommodation to give you." Professor Luciano turned from his chalk drawing. "However, it is vital that you absorb the lecture from this point forward. It’s of extreme importance."

  "Sorry about the outburst, Professor."

  "Let us continue, then.

  “Only the most specialized of educators would be able to tell you that Axis magi were distracted by one specific obsession. I happen to be one of two in the know at this hallowed institution."

  Logan put his hand up and spoke after Professor Luciano nodded.

  "Who's the other?"

  "He's unable to teach here despite holding numerous degrees, but you all know Ezekiel Brown. His knowledge comes first-hand from occupying an Axis magipsychic research base at the end of the war. In a chamber beneath the basement level, he found this."

  He completed a chalkboard picture, then stepped aside so we could see it. Instead of troops in uniform, bombers in flight, or a bombed-out countryside, he'd depicted a device I'd never forget after the previous day's events: the glass and iron dais used in the test.

  A loud wooden clattering sounded behind me. Dylan had stood, and his chair had toppled behind him. Gale flapped in the air above his head.

  "How many?" He pointed at the board. "How many extramagi did they torture? How many died?"

  "Nobody counted them. Even today we’re not sure, but estimates are in the thousands."

  I raised my hand, and he acknowledged it.

  "Why isn't this widely known?"

  "It’s a complex answer. The forces occupying the base couldn’t determine what the device was for until much later. They had to keep it secret from their mundane allies. But in the sixties, when it became apparent to our society that a reveal would happen, extrahumans with influence took pains to investigate the Axis records and this device, along with several others in storage. Once we needed a Registry, we had enough magipsychic technology to create our own regulatory organization. The rest is public relations, designed to ensure peace between humans and extrahumans."

  "Why didn't they count the extramagi?" Faith asked without raising her hand. "The Axis murdered them just like they did mundanes. Didn't the Allied magi care?"

  "I'm afraid they did care, Miss Fairbanks, but for the wrong reasons. The Allies stopped the war, but they were flawed." He looked over our heads. "Do you need a break, Mr. Khan?"

  "No." He shook his head, then beckoned to Gale, who landed on his shoulder again. "No, I think I'll be okay hearing this from you, sir."

  "Here." Hal righted the seat, and Dylan murmured a word of thanks before sitting back down in it.

  The lecture continued, eventually concluding with a list of related books in the library. In Creatives, Dylan immediately got his guitar and sat in the corner, tapping the strings instead of strumming them. I understood he needed to play but didn't want to distract everybody else. All the talk of horrible magipsychic devices had jogged my memory about some of the more beneficial ones.

  I got permission and headed down to the library to get something. The Ashfords nodded and smiled, giving me no trouble when I requested the item be checked out under Dylan's name instead of mine. When I returned to Creatives, I headed to him.

  "Give these a try." I held the item out to him.

  "This guitar’s acoustic, so I don't see how headphones will help. Nice thought, though."

  "It's magipsychic Bluetooth. Let me show you."

  He nodded, so I slipped the headphones over his ears, then took the guitar from him. I held the body to one side and the fretboard to the other while imagining sound moving from the instrument to the headset, then I handed the guitar back to him.

  "Give it a try."

  He strummed a chord, and his mouth dropped open. He looked up at me, blinking. I smiled.

  "Do you like it?"

  "How did you know about this miracle?"

  "Noah uses something like that at home when he plays bass, but they work with any instrument."

  "Wow." He gave me a half-smile. "You're a lifesaver."

  "Nah, I just got them from the library."

  "It's a huge improvement for practicing. Thanks, Aliyah."

  "I'll leave you to it, then." I headed toward the cabinet, intending to do some woodworking, but Hal stopped me.

  "He should worship the ground you walk on, you know."

  "What?"

  "You heard me. Dylan doesn't appreciate you. I know about yesterday. I wasn't there, but sometimes space magic means I see and hear more than I should."

  "It was beyond horrible, so I'm going to keep doing random acts of kindness for Dylan Khan if it's all the same to you."

  "Are you sure you're okay with pining like Echo after Narcissus?"

  "I’ll live." I put my hand to my cheek.

  He blinked, eyes reddening. Nin poked her head out of his pocket and squeaked, a series of shrill and angry sounds punctuated by an occasional click. Ember hung her head, giving me a reproa
chful stare.

  "I'm sorry,” I said, “I want you to live long and prosperously and have, like, ten kids with Faith."

  "Me too. You aren't Echo. I just want to see you happy. Loved."

  "Not everybody has someone destined for them, Hal. I'm okay with that."

  Liar.

  I didn't argue anymore with Hal or the Evil Inside Voice, but I didn't have the time or the heart to work on a carving of Dylan's dragonet either. I got a lump of clay and wedged it, preparing it for a piece to work on the next day instead.

  In the magipsychic lab, we lucked out in the team department. I worked with Cadence, Izzy, Faith, and Brianna, which meant we could make those communication orbs.

  Unfortunately, Professor Luciano wasn't our instructor. Instead, we were supervised by Principal Hawkins, Hal's neglectful mother. I didn't expect much, but she surprised me.

  "I love this project." She smiled with genuine excitement. "Communication orbs were one of the first magipsychic items introduced to the mundanes after the Reveal, and they went a long way toward enabling us to integrate our societies."

  "Miss, can we please just start?" Izzy had her hand up but didn't wait for an acknowledgment. She was excited, but Principal Hawkins had no idea.

  "Part of the extramurals agreement was that we faculty members instruct as well as supervise. I chose this project myself, so I won't drop the ball, so to speak." She smiled, juggling three of the sea glass orbs we'd use in our project. "Don't worry, I know my stuff, and by the time you're done, so will you."

  My knees went out from under me and I sat down hard, fortunately in my seat. Stephanie Hawkins' demeanor shocked me because it was nothing like Hal and Faith had described.

  Faith sat there, silently wearing her best resting bitch face. I copied her, mostly in solidarity. Izzy joined in too, but Cadence acted like her usual bubbly self.

  "I'm going to write some notes on this board here." She picked up a piece of chalk. "You ladies from Hawthorn already know, but I'll mention this for the other students. The booklets on the corner of your table automatically copy everything I put up, so there's no need for you to scribble. Just listen."

  I'd learned most of the facts she lectured on by reading about communication orbs ahead of time, but Principal Hawkins was surprisingly entertaining. She gave us mnemonic devices disguised as quips, things we wouldn't soon forget, and when she demonstrated the tools and materials, she used techniques straight out of circus arts, as she had with the orbs.

  Stephanie Hawkins was a natural teacher. Although all her extrahuman traits were passive, she understood the material and how we'd use it, and she conveyed it brilliantly. Even shifters were more magical than dhampyr, but nobody else seemed to mind. Especially not Brianna, who knew nothing about her true nature.

  You see why Hal's father fell in love with her.

  "Whatever." I winced immediately.

  "I know, right." Faith elbowed me in the shoulder, briefly jostling Ember, who turned her head and went right back to sleep.

  "All right, enough lecture. From now on, you'll have the entire lab period for the remainder of the week to collaborate on your project, write your report, and make your display. As an unassisted group, of course, though I'll be here for safety reasons. I can tell you guys are awesome, so rivals and frenemies might try to spy on you." She giggled. "Think of me more as security than a chaperone."

  The work was more intensive than making three orbs with limited capabilities had been last year. This time we'd make six, with visual, audio, and recording capability. Each orb got coated with a mixture of infused solutions we made ourselves. These differences added loads of conjuring work, energy-charging, channeling, and chemical application.

  Sorting the ingredients was a persnickety task. Some of the substances and items were nearly identical and stored in similar containers. Fortunately, Brianna had an eye for small details. We put her on the task of categorizing everything.

  "I feel like a bull in a china shop here." Brianna stood with her hands behind her back. "It all looks so delicate, like if I sneezed, it'd break."

  "Don't worry, we'll need your help with more than sorting." Cadence patted her shoulder. "Glamour is the key magic we'll use to enchant these."

  "I'll help you," said Faith. "You point them out, I’ll set them aside."

  "Aliyah, I could use your help with these." Izzy beckoned me over.

  She held a tray of unlabeled vials, all twelve containing white powder. Izzy needed my solar magic to tell them apart because six of them would temporarily turn purple when exposed to UV light. Sorting them must've taken longer than I thought because the bell rang before we knew it.

  "See you guys tomorrow." Principal Hawkins opened the door, beaming and waving as we exited.

  "Do you think we'll finish by the end of the week?" Brianna shook her head. "It seems impossible to get it done, and we still have Bishop's Row practice three nights a week."

  "I'm on my school's team, so I know what you mean." I nodded. "We can totally do it, but we'll be tired."

  "How do you think the others are doing?" Faith asked.

  None of us knew, at least not until we got to dinner.

  Chapter Sixteen

  "Why do we have to be teammates, anyway?"

  "Settle down." Lee got between Dylan and Dorian. "Professor Luciano picked you. Prove him right since he believes in you."

  "You get along with everybody." Dylan snorted. "You've got no reason to be miserable."

  "They separated me from my best friend.” Lee shrugged. “Anyway, we've got to finish our project, and if we drop the ball, we’re letting Grace, Keisha, and Azrael down. So let's get things under control long enough for that."

  Dorian nodded. "He has a point."

  "Shut your lazy mouth."

  "Dylan, can you sit with me?" Logan picked at his thumbnail, one of the habits he couldn't shake in times of stress. "I've got questions about air magic, and the twins keep giggling and saying their ways are mysterious."

  "You know everything anyway, but fine." Dylan followed Logan to a booth in the corner.

  "He's moody." Izzy shook her head.

  "Well, he's still upset over the whole thing."

  "Yeah, I know. The breakup. But she's dated and dumped somebody entirely different since then. Is this much trauma normal for romantic people?"

  "Well, how would you feel if you and Lee broke up?"

  "I told you, we're best friends, not a couple."

  "He's behind you."

  "Yes, I am." Lee sidestepped to stand next to Izzy. "And she's right. We're not a couple. Anyway, everyone's different."

  I couldn't tell them about the extramagus test, so I let them go on about relatively mundane stuff, puzzling things out between friendship and romance. Maybe I shouldn't have, but nobody has hindsight. Even precognitive psychics came by that selectively.

  After that argument between Dorian and Dylan, we didn't see any more evidence of unrest from our year, but the first-years were another story. It started that night and got worse over time.

  The first thing I noticed was Michelina Zanelli crying in the third-floor bathroom. Faith hadn't been in yet, and I was early for my soak in the clawfoot tub. It was a good thing, too. Michelina sat in one of the shower stalls, water running to wash away her tears as her opossum sat outside, whining miserably.

  I waited until she was done and had some time to get dressed before approaching. Since I figured she wouldn't say much, I planned my words carefully.

  "Hey, Lena. Welcome to the third-floor bathroom. You're welcome to use it anytime."

  "Oh. Thanks, I guess." She pushed the curtain aside and emerged, hair still damp.

  "Did you find everything okay? If you didn’t, I could give you a little tour."

  She nodded, then pointed at the wooden box of bath salts I held in my hand.

  "All that stuff's in here."

  I led Lena to the other side of the partition, showing her the wall panel where they stored
a plethora of toiletries for tub baths. I took my time, explaining everything in my most neutral voice. Maybe she just needed space to calm down after whatever had sent her up here.

  If she minded me over-explaining, Lena didn't show it. She followed me around as the toiletry explanation turned into a short tour. By the time we’d finished, she managed a hushed word of thanks before heading out of the bathroom.

  Faith held the door for her as she left, then came in with a quizzical look on her face.

  "What was that about?"

  "I'm not sure. She was crying in there." I jerked my thumb at the shower. "Do you know who her roommate is? Could it be Temperance?"

  "I'm not sure. All my sister and I have exchanged this year are dirty looks."

  "Okay. Let's find out tomorrow."

  "Good idea. Are you swimming tonight?"

  "No, I'm too tired. I was just going to soak in one of the small tubs."

  We each pursued our individual method of bathing. She was still swimming when I left for bed.

  The next day was Friday, and I had to head home for the holiday. My family was preparing for Sukkot. The festival of booths was a lot of fun, even if we got rained out more often than not.

  The point of the holiday was spending time with friends and family, so along with Cadence and Izzy, I also invited Dylan and Logan. Logan stayed behind once again, but Dylan left right after class with me, walking down Essex Street away from campus. He needed to escape campus even more than I did.

  "Isn't Noah coming?"

  "He'll be along later. Said something about extra library research for his group’s project."

  "Okay. What are we doing once we get there?"

  "Mostly making decorations for the sukkah. Paper chains, popcorn on strings, woven fronds for the roof—that kind of thing."

  "And then, if it doesn't rain, we have dinner there?"

  "That's right."