by D. R. Perry
"He's watching on an orb with his dad. Saving his spoons for the boat cruise."
"At least he can still see you play." I told her my idea, along with why I was changing the rotation.
"You're something else. You know that?" She grinned.
"Did I hear you right?" Grace tapped my shoulder. "You're benching yourself against the hard-mode team?"
I nodded. "Keep it quiet. I want to tell the rest of the team together."
"That's our captain." Grace smiled.
After I attached my ear cuffs and we'd put on our ballistae, ankyr, and cestus, we huddled up. Dylan nodded, Xan blinked, and Lee cheered. We broke, and I ran out on the field, leaving Lee and Xan on the sidelines.
The game against Messing went better than I'd hoped. They had two vampire girls from first and second year in addition to Jonah, and their conjures were fast instead of powerful. Grace and Lena both had enough brute force to absorb their throws easily and Faith tagged them out pretty quickly. They didn't have Jonah's power, and Faith's orbs were too hefty for them to block.
Izzy was our most formidable opponent. She managed to tag me and duck behind Jonah in time to evade Dylan's massive ice orb. She'd surpassed me for sure. She got Lena too, although Jonah went down right after that under Grace's umbral throw. Grace's cestus flashed red a moment later. I stood at the side, watching with a furrowed brow. That tag came from out of nowhere. Grace didn't call time out, only grumbled as she stepped beside me.
Izzy was somehow the last Messing player standing, but only three of her teammates stood aside when there should have been four. It confused me so I counted again while scratching my head.
"Watch out!" Grace shouted to Faith. Finally, I noticed that other player. A guy I'd never seen before. "Umbral affinity three o'clock!"
Of course, Izzy's secret weapon couldn't possibly have umbral affinity. That was a magus thing. Telepaths sometimes had a similar trait. Just like that, he tagged Faith out. Dylan stood alone, staring at the telepath player because if you looked away from folks with powers like that, you'd never remember they were there in the first place.
Dylan dual conjured, a trick he'd only worked on at the gym on campus. He wasn't amazing at it but shocked both Izzy and the telepath with the play. He almost hit himself in the face with his air orb but managed to launch it along with the ice one. The telepath tried jumping in front of Izzy to absorb both tags, but he went down under the ice, leaving the air orb in play.
Dylan's air orbs dissipated slightly under normal conditions, increasing in diameter. With a dual conjure, they doubled in size.
Izzy hit the dirt too late. We won. Barely.
In the middle of the court, we took turns shaking hands with our opponents.
"Good game." Izzy smiled.
"Good game," I replied.
Dad and Bubbe came down from the bleachers to say hello.
"Nice strategy, kid," Dad said.
"We wouldn't have squeaked out that win if Grace hadn't seen their telepath."
"You're the one who put her on defense." Dad shrugged. "I've got dad-tinted glasses on." He grinned at the others. "Amazing work, everybody. You would have given my old team a run for their money."
"You were a team captain, Mr. Morgenstern?" Dylan blinked.
"Yeah, I was." He smiled. "Runs in the family I guess, because Bubbe was too."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" I chuckled at my grandmother.
"Back in those days, Hawthorn was much bigger, with four divisions in each year. It's why you see things like Root or Berry on the older trophies." She shook her head but still grinned. "Mine was Branch, and you won't see that because we lost every match but had a blast."
After they left, we watched the Messing cheer squad's interpretation of Natural by Imagine Dragons. Their act was solid although once again unconventional for a cheer routine.
"Looks more like something that belongs in a Broadway musical finale," Dorian commented from his seat behind the sound equipment. "Probably on purpose." He pointed out a woman in the front row on the opposite side of the court. "She's the NYU faculty member who signed my rejection letter. Bet Jacinda gets in."
"Did you hear back since early acceptance, though?" Dylan asked. Dorian shook his head. "Don't give up hope then, mate. You're still in for regular."
Our team's break continued through the match between Messing and Gallows Hill.
"Ouch!" Lee winced as Jonah ended up on his back under one of Crow's orbs. "When did Merlini get so brutal?"
"I don't know. He never came to weekend practice." I shrugged. "Brianna says he's their MVP now."
"And you want me off reserves?"
"Well, you and Xan. Yeah."
He whistled. "You sure you still want to put me out there? I think you're the only one with the firepower to counter him."
"Absolutely." I grinned. "Don't underestimate yourself. You conjure faster than anyone else on our team, and most of theirs."
Izzy was the last woman standing and turned sideways to make a smaller target, panting as she struggled to gather enough energy for one more orb. Even the dodgy telepath got tagged out. Brianna still had Azrael on defense and Crow at mid. All three of them threw, and that was the end of Izzy's last stand. Gallows Hill won.
"I'm nervous." Lee wrung his hands.
"We all are." Dylan grimaced.
"Not me." Grace smiled.
"Good." I patted her back. "That's the kind of defense we need. Right, Lena?"
She nodded and cracked her knuckles while grinning like a wolf at Crow Merlini, who'd left the court without a single handshake for his opponents.
"What are you doing?" Xan asked.
"Getting ready to make bully toast," she murmured.
"Gods, I'm glad you're on our side." Xan let out a nervous chuckle.
"Relax." Dorian waved a hand. "Cheer time part two."
Cadence led her squad out on to the field. Dorian waited for her nod, then pressed a button. I sat there blinking, totally stunned. I shouldn't have been. Because, like at the talent show last year, Cadence used music as a weapon. This time was pop instead of punk, a dance remix of Taylor Swift's We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.
Almost everyone over on the Hawthorn side cheered, and a few laughed. But not Grace.
"What?" I asked her.
"Trouble." She jerked her chin at the Gallows Hill section. "He's nothing nice, but you already know that. Acts like she's like his property or something."
Crow sat with his jaw clenched, fists too. I didn't like how his eyes glittered. They reminded me too much of Halloween when he almost attacked Hal and me. I glanced at Messing's benches, where Izzy sat staring down at something in her hand. A card. She paled.
I had no time to go over and ask her about it because once Gallows Hill's routine ended, I had to send my team out on the court for the final match of the day.
It went better than I expected after watching Messing's defeat. We lasted longer than them by a full three minutes, mostly thanks to Lee's near constant barrage of wood orbs. Lena absorbed three of Crow's uber throws by holding the most compact conjures I'd ever seen. Also, her stature and slight build made her a difficult target.
Grace took a direct hit from Brianna to save Dylan. Lee managed to bring Azrael down by tossing on the right after Lena discarded an absorbed orb to Az's left. Xan stepped up, running between the mid and defensive lines to misdirect and block, employing one of my plays from the videos.
Brianna took Xan down right after that. If she'd been used to seeing him on weekends, she might have done it sooner, but I think she underestimated him. Lena howled for all the world like a wolf shifter and threw at Brianna. She would have won us the game right then and there, but Bar took the hit for his captain and Crow followed up while Lena was vulnerable and tagged her out. She'd gotten overconfident.
It was going rough out there. Dylan started his double conjure, but Crow knocked the air orb right out of his left hand. Lee went into a sort of ov
erdrive at that point, forcing Crow to defend himself. As they duked it out and tagged each other simultaneously, Brianna tossed a solid glamour ball at Dylan, whose ice orb was only half-formed. Direct hit. Game over.
Everybody cheered because the plays were brilliant on both sides. Gallows Hill's section of bleachers went wild. I headed out on to the court with Faith to join the line of players. I grinned at my team.
"You all rocked it out there, and I'm so proud. Thanks for being the best team ever. Hope you're not sore that we lost this one."
"Nah." Dylan grinned. "Everyone we played with today was a friend."
"Almost." Grace rolled her eyes in Crow's general direction. He'd walked right past us without stopping to shake hands.
"One bad apple." Lee shrugged.
"He'd better not spoil a single one of that bunch." Faith jerked a thumb at Bar and Az, who marched off the court with Brianna on their shoulders.
As I thought about leading my team back to our seats, Logan approached, walking a ways ahead of his squad.
"Sorry, Aliyah." He hugged me.
"It's cool." I hugged back. "You've got a routine to lead. Knock it out of the park, Logan."
"Thanks."
The players left to make room for our other classmates to show off. We weren't disappointed. Hawthorn might have lost the tournament, but we won the cheer competition. They did a practically flawless performance to My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark by Fallout Boy that used every participant's magic. The familiars joined in, too.
The Overtons danced like dervishes, extending their leaps into near flight with air magic, framed by their pigeons. Logan and Eston made rainbows with fine sprays of mist backlit by lights their familiars carried. Every time the lyrics mentioned fire, Kitty shot jets of it from both hands, boosted above the rainbows by Arick.
The entire crowd got on their feet, swaying in the stands.
Except for Leo Pierce. He sat sour-faced, as though his son, the routine, or even the song itself gave him personal insult. Maybe it did. Noah played that song on repeat for practically six months so I happened to know it was pretty scathing. Especially to a fire magus with tons of skeletons in his closet, like Mr. Pierce.
At the end, I removed my ballistae, ankyr, and cestus. Also my ear cuffs. I looked up to see Bobby Tremain grinning at me from across the field, both thumbs up. He pointed at another man hurrying across the field toward my team and me. Mr. Watkins. I nodded and smiled back. Before he got there, something else happened.
"Khan, is it?" A voice with an across-the-pond accent sounded behind me, much more polished than Dylan's. I turned to see a nimble-looking fellow with gray at the temples of his otherwise sandy hair. He extended his hand. "Coach Nigel Quinn. From Oxford Occult."
"Yes, sir." Dylan nodded and took it. "You played for the London Ravens. MVP five years in a row."
"Indubitably." He nodded. "You're a brilliant player, but I'm sure you're already aware. I'd very much like you on my junior team, if you haven't made a decision yet on a university, that is."
"I haven't, sir."
"We're covering tuition for our players although not room, board, books, or fees. If that's feasible for you, please do consider my offer, Mr. Khan."
"I'll talk it over with me mum. I mean, I'll discuss it with my mother, sir. Thank you, sir."
"Very good." He produced a card from his coat pocket. "Please contact me with your decision, one way or another. Good day."
He sauntered away, not across the field as I expected, but into the bleachers behind us. I turned to see who he approached, but before that happened, someone cleared their throat behind me.
"Bobby Tremain called me a million times about you and your team. Lynn, too. Said I'd have to see it to believe it."
My mouth dropped open. Had they been scouting me all that time? I remembered where I'd heard of him before.
"Um, see what? Sir."
Nate Watkins was the toughest professor at PPC. Not just academically, either. He'd endured a magical coma, out of his body for months, harmed by bad old Uncle Richard. Now here he was, dangling a future I hadn't realized I still wanted over my head.
"You're the captain here, Morgenstern." Mr. Watkins raised an eyebrow. "But you barely played. Tell me, why is that?"
Was this a test? A million different answers flew around my brain. Strategy, synergy, following classic plays from the game's history. None of those impressive-sounding answers was the truth.
Go with honesty, then.
"I wanted to give them all a chance to play because they deserved to be seen." I glanced at Xan. "They're all my friends."
"You applied at Providence Paranormal College back in September." He glanced down at his phone and frowned. "Early acceptance denied, I see."
"Yes, sir."
"Hey, you." He snapped his fingers. "Team Hawthorn. Tell me what you think of Morgenstern here. Would you play on a team for her again?"
"Definitely." Faith nodded.
"Three more years and then some." Grace smiled.
"Any time." Lee grinned.
"Yup," Lena mumbled.
I looked down at my shoes, waiting to see whether Xan would snark off about me or follow the crowd with hollow platitudes. He did neither.
"She never gives up and doesn't hang anyone out to dry. Not even me."
"What's that mean?" Mr. Watkins glanced at his jersey to check his name. "Onassis?"
"It means I was a total douche canoe for a year and a half." He cleared his throat. "She could have sat me all day here. Instead, she recorded practices I couldn't make because I work and put me in against our toughest challenger. Sir."
I looked up. Xan's face was red. Mr. Watkins chuckled, then peered down at his phone and shook his head.
"Well, you've still got another year to go at Hawthorn, Onassis, like Zanelli. Plus, I promised Nigel I wouldn't try poaching Khan. Anyway, I'm putting together the first official junior team for PPC, and I want the rest of you on it. Mendez, Collins, and Micello already said yes. Practice starts the same week as orientation."
"But we're not accepted." Lee blinked.
"Yeah." I nodded. "I even got a rejection."
"Early acceptance doesn't mean no acceptance, kiddos." Mr. Watkins chuckled. "Your letters are in the mail Monday morning."
"If they play." Xan crossed his arms over his chest. "That's what you mean, right? This is an ultimatum, some kind of quid pro quo?"
"No." He shook his head. "That happens to be when this batch goes out. There's scholarship money for anyone on this team from a former student's memorial trust."
He looked tired for a moment. I knew all too well what that look felt like. I wanted to say yes more than anything, but he hadn't come to recruit me. He said he wanted a team, including my friends in need.
"What do you say, folks?"
"Are you all mad?" Dylan blinked. "Don't you want something big to celebrate at the party tonight? Take the offer!"
He got his drafts, minus one. Grace declined, as I expected. That didn't faze Mr. Watkins.
"Yeah, Ambersmith gave me the same answer. Nigel also took Merlini." He shrugged. "Having a little room on the team is a good thing. Tryouts hype everyone up."
Noah stood with Elanor, giving me his best golf clap. Between his first and middle fingers, I saw a duplicate of the card Nigel had given to Dylan. Was Oxford Occult looking at him too? I couldn't ask until later, because he got into an enclosed transport with the students from Messing.
Finally, I knew what I'd be doing for the next four years. With my friends.
Most of them, anyway.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The boat cruise was a casual affair, so Grace hadn't made outfits for it. In a way, that was a relief. I'd have felt overdressed in a major way, wearing Hawthorn formal with everyone else in t-shirts. The boat didn't leave until eight, so we all had dinner before going upstairs to get ready. That was a good thing since my appetite returned with a vengeance on the way back to cam
pus from the games.
Logan still showed up at my door wearing a sea green tie with a blue shirt and navy sport coat. His eyes sparkled like light on the ocean. I smiled because he looked happy and at ease like a weight was off his shoulders. I wasn't sure why, so I asked.
"It's hard to explain." He shook his head. "I wouldn't have thought so if you'd asked me yesterday. It’s because I won a performance competition, one with critters involved. But, I did it on my terms, without anyone or their familiars feeling uncomfortable. I think that's why he wasn't happy about it."
"You took something you were raised to do and made your way with it." I nodded. "I'm proud of you."
"He's not." Logan sighed. "No matter what I do or how well it turns out, he's never satisfied. Maybe that's not as important as I thought it was. Your mom came right over after the routine. She said I exceed expectations. Maybe that sounds a little odd to most people. Not me."
"That's how Mom talks sometimes. She's right because you do." I took his hand. "If your father can't see it, that's his loss."
We headed down the stairs and off-campus, this time in a group of all the third-years, and their plus ones..
Hal's chair glided easily along Essex Street and to the Wharf, where we got on the boat. The festivities took place on a three-season deck with a solid roof overhead with columns evenly spaced along it for extra support. In foul weather, the sides would have had windows and panels up. Since it was balmy, only the windows stayed up, giving us a partially outdoor venue.
Messing was already there, and Gallows Hill arrived after we had. I looked around for Izzy, but Lee had found her first. I let them have some time together, figuring he'd want to tell her the good news about college.
Cadence squealed and dashed in my direction. I braced for impact unnecessarily since she ran right past me and embraced Arick. Romantically—I'm talking like hands in the hair and open-mouth kissing. Logan and I stood there blinking while Xan chuckled and Dorian applauded.
"Whoa." Eston reached into his pocket. "Guess I owe you twenty bucks, Dorian."
"Should have talked to Dylan before making that bet." Xan grinned. "He's known about Carick for a week straight."
