Hall of Psychics

by Alicia Fabel

  “Tacos?” Just the word made her mouth water.

  “A taco bar,” confirmed Mr. Marks.

  Yeah, she was not leaving before lunch.

  9

  Annessa felt as stiff and awkward as Sam looked. What was Mr. Marks thinking when he’d assigned Sam the task of being her tour guide? Sam’s bottle-green eyes tracked movement that Annessa couldn’t see. The girl had been looking at something on and off for the past twenty minutes. It had the hair on the back of Annessa’s neck standing at attention because she knew what it was too. Sam’s lips twitched, but she tried to hide it. Apparently, the ghost was funny. That should be reassuring. It totally wasn’t.

  “That’s Revener Hall—where I live.” Sam pointed out one of the nine identical buildings that ringed the back half of campus. Above the doors, a round emblem depicted a human figure and a ghost. It was the same as one of the symbols inlaid in the floor of the admin building. Each building sported one of those symbols.

  “So everyone who lives here see ghosts?”

  “Yeah. I mean, we call them revenants, but it’s basically the same thing.” Sam rolled her eyes at something.

  “Are there a lot of revenants on campus?”

  “Um, I guess there’s more than normal,” Sam said distractedly.

  “They don’t scare you anymore,” Annessa observed.

  “The mean ones stay away from here so they don’t get banished.”

  “So you like it here,” Annessa concluded.

  “I really do.”

  “Even though they close campus and don’t let you leave?”

  “That doesn’t happen a lot,” Sam assured. “And they’re just trying to keep us safe.”

  “How do they know when it’s safe and when it’s not?” asked Annessa.

  “There are these high-level gazers, and it’s their jobs to watch for things that might affect the community.”

  “That makes sense.” Although it really didn’t. “A bunch of seers all see something bad about to happen, and psychic people listen.”

  “Oh, they almost never all see the same thing,” Sam clarified. “There are too many possibilities. But they know how to pick the most likely scenarios.”

  “So they don’t know for sure if what they see will happen?”

  “No, but they’re good. Really good,” Sam said a little defensively.

  “And that’s their whole job? What job will they give you once you graduate?”

  “That’s not how it works,” Sam assured. “Some of the most talented are offered positions within the community, but it isn’t forced. I can be whatever I want.”

  “But you have to serve on a team before then,” Annessa pointed out.

  Sam looked surprised.

  “Elion told me a long time ago he’d have a few years of service after school. He said it was same as being in the ROTC.” Only it wasn’t the same because in exchange for an education, these students were being conscripted into the Psychic Mafia.

  “Yeah, I guess it’s like that, but it’s a cause I support, so I’m good with it.”

  Annessa wondered if Sam heard herself. She was good with it? Good with entering the Academy’s war against their rivals, the Phyton, in the name of power? “Will you ever really be free? Because it sounds like even after you serve on a team, you’re always in the reserves. You could get called in anytime the guilds decide they need your expertise or help handling something.”

  “And if they do call me, I’m happy to answer.”

  “But why?”

  “Because I know the stakes,” Sam insisted. “And I know I’m on the right side of things here.”

  “Are you sure? Because people are scared of the guilded community, and that’s not for nothing.”

  “What people?” She asked with an edge to her words. “Because people don’t know anything about our community. And if they did, we’re not the ones they’d be afraid of.”

  The memory of the terrified Phyton popped into Annessa’s head. Good intentions or not, the guilded community was not some candyland run by Santa Claus. As far as Annessa could tell, they were manipulative bullies who made cutthroat decisions based on the future possibility they deemed most likely to occur. Sam had to understand that, and yet it was clear she wasn’t willing to acknowledge how unsettling that prospect was. So Annessa bit her tongue while Sam led her down a walkway between two residence halls. One building featured an emblem with a fanged monster over the doors, and the other depicted a spiral and various clock faces.

  Past those was a field flanked by two industrial buildings. Elion’s mom stood in the middle of the field, surrounded by a mass of students who were all hitting and kicking each other. After a minute, Annessa realized the students were fighting in groups of three. It was two against one.

  “This is where you’ll come for self-defense,” Sam said, “if you decide to.”

  “That’s self-defense?” They were beating the heck out of each other.

  “Oh, no. That’s advanced fighting technique for fourth-years.”

  Annessa recognized Elion’s in the center of the chaos. He was the one being ganged up on in his group, but he dodged and ducked like they were moving in slow motion. “I didn’t know Elion was a fourth-year.”

  “He’s a second year, but he’s too advanced for his level.”

  Elion’s mom stepped in when someone went down and demonstrated a move, twisting and jabbing with her hand but without impact. The student still flinched as if they’d just seen their life flash before their eyes.

  “I guess when your mom is a badass, you pick up some things,” Annessa said with her mouth hanging open just a little. Mrs. Marks always had the air of someone you didn’t want to screw with, but seeing her like that was eye-opening. A grunt drew Annessa’s attention back to Elion’s group. It seemed he’d spotted her and lost focus. He squatted, one hand braced on the ground, the other around his throat while he tried to suck in a breath. His opponents high-fived each other. Mrs. Marks followed her son’s gaze and scowled at the two girls. She let out a shrill whistle and the fighting halted.

  Sam grabbed Annessa’s arm. “We should probably go.”

  Before Annessa turned away, she glanced once more at Elion. His eyes still followed her. Not Sam, her.

  Stinking heck.

  That made her stomach twist in ways she was not happy about.

  Sam didn’t even seem to notice, or if she did, she didn’t seem bothered by Elion’s focus. She was clearly only concerned about escaping the attention of Mrs. Marks.

  “You and Elion aren’t together, are you?” Annessa asked bluntly.

  Sam stumbled. “What? Of course we are.” She pinned her gaze dead ahead.

  “Wow, you must have failed their course on lying,” Annessa said.

  Sam was either ignoring her or not listening. She was watching something—or someone—beside her. Then she shook her head. Yep, she was legit having a silent conversation with a revenant.

  “Who are you talking to?” Annessa asked.

  “No one.”

  Then Sam jerked, and her eyes flew open just before she planted her hands on her hips. A girl’s singsong voice said through Sam’s mouth, “No one? Umm, I don’t think so.”

  Annessa took a step back.

  Sam jerked and with difficulty said, “Get out of me.”

  Her head fell back slightly, and then she turned a dark look on the spot beside her. “What is wrong with you…? No… I know… I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings… I didn’t want to freak her out.”

  “What’s her name?” Annessa cut in.

  Sam sighed. “Poppy.”

  “Nice to meet you, Poppy.”

  “She says it’s nice to meet you too.” Sam shook her head the barest bit.

  “She wants you to tell me something else, doesn’t she?” Annessa guessed.

  “It’s nothing,” Sam insisted.

  “You sure? Because I wouldn’t want her to possess you again so she can speak for her
self.”

  “It’s for the best this way,” Sam said to Poppy. Poppy must have had something to say about that because Sam was silent for a long moment. “You don’t know that… Of course I do… I don’t want to make her—” Sam’s shoulders fell. “So much… Okay, but if this goes badly, I’m blaming you.”

  Annessa raised both brows curiously when Sam finally finished holding the conversation with Poppy.

  Sam said in a hurry, “Nothing ever happened between Elion and me. We’re just friends. But you thought it was something else, and so we let you keep thinking that because we thought it would be easier for you to move on and be happy that way. We just wanted you to be happy.” Sam sucked in a breath and waited for Annessa to respond.

  But Annessa’s brain had shorted out during Sam’s tirade. She stood dumbly, just gaping at the girl. Sam lifted a hand to her mouth and chewed on a nail. Annessa thought Sam had broken that habit, but apparently not since all her nails were chewed to the quick. Sam noticed Annessa’s inspection and dropped her hand. Almost immediately, though, she snaked a hand up to grab a lock of hair and started twisting it.

  “I’m sorry, Nessa.”

  Still, Annessa had no words. A pit had opened inside her gut.

  “Hey, Trouble,” Ian’s voice interrupted Annessa’s fog. “You look like you’re about ready for that ride.”

  Annessa had no idea where he’d come from, but she thanked her lucky stars he was there. At that exact moment, she’d do anything to get away from Sam and her admission. Annessa nodded and moved to follow Ian.

  “You can’t,” Sam sputtered. “You’re not allowed to leave campus.”

  “Who said anything about leaving campus?” Ian retorted.

  That actually disappointed Annessa a little. She’d wanted to put some distance between her and the people who’d torn her world apart.

  Sam tensed, planting her feet a little wider. “Then where are you taking her?”

  “This place is only twenty square miles,” Ian said. “We won’t get lost.”

  “Annessa?” Sam tried again.

  “I can’t right now,” Annessa replied.

  “I’m sorry,” Sam repeated.

  Annessa didn’t turn back. She followed on Ian’s heels to the parking lot. Once she was face-to-face with the bike, though, she balked. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

  “It’s a fantastic idea,” Ian said. “You need a distraction, I need a distraction, and there’s no better distraction than wind in your face.”

  “Unless the air in some places is sub-zero,” Annessa pointed out.

  “Good point,” Ian said as he proceeded to strip off his leather coat and put it on her. “There.”

  “What about you?”

  “I don’t get cold.”

  Annessa rolled her eyes but didn’t call him an idiot like she wanted to. She considered the bike and bit her cheek.

  Ian cut a face. “Have you ever ridden?”

  “Yes,” she said. But she was lying out her rear. She had a feeling he saw right through her too, but she pressed her lips together, refusing to admit to the reckless guy that she was nervous about a silly bike ride.

  “I’ll go slow…unless you wanna drive?” Ian held up the keys, his gray eyes questioning, and then tossed them at her.

  Annessa caught them reflexively. Oh man, that would not go well. She didn’t know where to stick the key, let alone how to drive one of those things. “You drive,” she replied. “I just want to zone.”

  When she tossed the keys back, Zoom caught the shadow and altered their projection. Instead of returning to Ian, they skidded under a car.

  Ian looked surprised. “That wisp is protective of you.”

  “Yeah,” Annessa scowled at Zoom. “I don’t think he’s thrilled with my life choices right now.”

  “That’s impressive. Most wisps are only loyal to their bender.”

  “So you know it’s not mine?”

  Ian scrunched his nose as if he knew he was busted. “I like a good mystery. The presence of a non-gifted girl hidden away in the mansion got the best of me, and I did a little investigating.”

  “So I don’t have an invisible florescent sign flashing over my head that says, normal?”

  “Nope.” Ian fished the key out from under the car, swung a leg over the seat, and started the engine.

  “Well, I still got some intense looks when I came to campus this morning.”

  “Strangers tend get everyone’s panties in a wad around here. Guilded types are impressively suspicious. And judgmental.” Ian handed her a helmet. “Here comes your boyfriend. If we’re going, we’d better hurry.”

  He meant Elion, who was across the quad and headed their way. Fast. Annessa jammed the helmet onto her head and slid onto the seat behind Ian. The second she grabbed on, Ian took off. He did not go slow.

  “That’s not good,” remarked Quinn, walking up behind Elion. Leave it to Axton’s little sister to state something like that without any hint of worry or distress. Elion, on the other hand, was not calm.

  “Can you see any issues?” Elion asked.

  “I thought you were working on things so you could see straight again,” Quinn assessed him shrewdly through her glasses, which were covered in fingerprints from constantly fiddling with them.

  Elion flinched. “I am working on it.”

  Quinn clicked her tongue and pursed her full lips, oozing disapproval. Then she tipped her head. Her pale eyes went vacant as she gazed along Annessa’s timeline. “No issues. They’re going to loop campus or ride out to the stables.”

  Elion angled for the stables.

  Quinn cleared her throat in a way that made him pause. “Looked like she was running away from you. You hunting her down doesn’t seem like a brilliant plan on your part.”

  She was right, but holding his feet in place was a challenge. “Something seemed off.”

  “That’s my fault,” Samara admitted, slinking up behind them. “I may have admitted that our relationship was a bit exaggerated.”

  “You mean the fact you two deceived her and broke her heart so you could both stroll out of her life for good?” Quinn asked.

  Elion scowled, but Samara slumped. “Yep. We are the shittiest friends in the world.”

  “She’ll forgive you.” Quinn turned to leave.

  “You saw that?” Elion wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried.

  “No, but if you explain what happened, and apologize—we’re talking groveling—I’m sure she will. She seems like a reasonable person.”

  That was high praise coming from Quinn.

  “Hey, why are you three standing around staring down the road?” asked Ax.

  “I wasn’t staring,” Quinn protested. “Those two just lost Annessa, though.”

  “What?”

  “Ask them. I have another class before lunch.” To Sam and Elion she reiterated, “Truth and grovel.”

  Ian didn’t slow until he reached the fork in the road. One way went toward the gates, and the other wrapped around campus in the opposite direction. He set a foot on the ground to keep them upright. Annessa held perfectly still, afraid to knock them over.

  “What do you think?” Ian asked.

  “That was…incredible,” she admitted.

  Ian laughed. It was a warm sound. And then he looked over his shoulder. “I didn’t mean about the ride, but I’m glad you enjoyed the whole ten seconds. Which way?”

  “The gates are locked,” Annessa informed him

  “I know the code,” he revealed.

  “How do you manage that? I thought about leaving for a hot second, and they had every exit blocked.”

  “They can only interrupt your plans if you make a plan. I never plan anything. I just go with the moment.”

  “Oh.” Annessa stuck her hands in the pockets of Ian’s coat. They were back in winter, and her fingers were burning. Somehow, Ian seemed true to his boast that he didn’t feel the cold. “How are you not freezing?�
�

  “It’s a state of mind. You tell yourself you’re cold and you are. I tell myself that the sun is beating down, warming me, and the girl against my back is sending her heat right through me.

  Annessa blushed. “Does that line work on any of the girls you coax onto your bike?”

  “All but you it seems,” Ian replied unabashed.

  It was strange. Annessa didn’t get the feeling he was hitting on her, just teasing. She wondered if that was his way of keeping himself distant from people. The same way she bottled up and ran away. How did people not notice?

  “You got awfully quiet just now, Trouble,” Ian observed. “Care to share?”

  “It’s nothing. Just trying to decide which way to go.” She shoved her hands deeper into the pockets. Her fingers brushed across something hard with square edges. Her stomach dropped.

  “You look like you’ve seen a bogey.”

  Annessa pulled the object out of the pocket and immediately felt like a paranoid idiot. It was just a coin. It was thicker than any she’d seen before, though. And she didn’t recognize the symbols printed on it.

  “Good idea.” Ian plucked the coin from her fingers. “That’s what I use when I can’t make a decision too. Heads right, tails left. Sound good to you?”

  Annessa cleared her throat, exhaustion weighing on her shoulders. “Sure.”

  Ian tossed the coin.

  “Are you a bender?” Annessa asked.

  “Nope.” Ian grinned. “Tails—left it is. Hang on, Trouble.”

  10

  “What is this place?” Annessa took in the various barns and paddocks. It was warm again, even though they’d gone the opposite direction of campus. As far as she could tell, the mansion was an island of winter in the middle of spring.

  “The Academy stables. Animals come here when they need help.”

  “They wander in on their own?”

  “Animals can sense something special about the people here,” Ian shared.

  “Animals are psychic radars,” Annessa mused. “Good to know when I try to avoid psychics in the future.” Annessa winced, realizing who she was talking to. “Sorry.”