by D. R. Perry
You're perfectly normal for an extramagus. Yours is a high and lonely destiny.
"I don't know," I answered both Alex and the voice in my head. Ember alighted on my shoulder. She didn't take up a protective posture. Instead, it seemed like she sought comfort. Or maybe tried to give me some.
"But then again, you're not obviously dating anyone." Alex cleared his throat. "Oh. Are you like my cousin? He's asexual; doesn't go out with anyone, ever."
"I don't know?" I shrugged. Ember craned her neck out so I could see her face, tilting her head so far to the right it almost turned completely around like an owl's.
"This whole conversation got weird, sorry." Somehow, Alex managed to smile. His teeth were the tiniest bit crooked, the angle of his grin canted to the right. Maybe he was just as confused as me. "But would you go with me anyway? As friends?"
"Peep!" Ember broke the tension as usual, and we both laughed. Actually, all four of us, because his basilisk was basically a magical snake, like Noah's Lotan but venomous. Despite that small difference, I knew a serpent's mood when I saw it, so I knew she also expressed mirth.
"So, yes," I finally managed, staring at the floor. "I'll go with you to the dance."
Look up. You owe him at least that much after all your waffling.
I did, by reflex, and almost looked away on principle. Why did I listen to a feature of my mental landscape that was probably the opposite of healthy? But what was done was done.
"Wow." Alex's new smile was practically effervescent. "I expected a no after all that. Thank you."
A throat cleared nearby.
"Yes, yes. You're clearly comporting yourself in a manner befitting a gentleman for once, Mr. Onassis. And I’ve never doubted you’re a well-mannered lady, Miss Morgenstern." Professor Luciano tapped his foot. "Now that the matter of your impending date is concluded, I'd appreciate you vacating my lab if it's all the same to you. Unless you'd like to help me sweep and mop the floors in here?"
There was nothing quite like an impatient professor to motivate a couple of pokey students.
We headed out into the hall, where Faith didn't bother pulling me aside for a chat. She nodded, though without a smile. I couldn’t blame her. Hal was a mess and so was she, so I wasn’t surprised to see them heading to the infirmary.
Alex sauntered toward the cafeteria, raising an eyebrow at me, but I was definitely not ready to take dinner in there and anyway, I had something other than food on my mind. I headed back down the hall to order from Penelope and Sandy anyway, because it was routine and familiar.
"Where's the rest of the crowd, Aliyah?" Penelope glanced past me down the hall.
"They had plenty on their minds today." I shook my head. "Would you mind giving me a couple of extra soup and sandwich meals? I want to make sure some of them don't forget to eat."
"But of course."
Once the order was filled, I thanked Penelope. I brought the bags to the infirmary, hoping they’d provide a reasonable excuse for visiting. Nurse Smith agreed to let me in on the condition I only stayed for ten minutes.
"Hey, you guys." I sat in the chair at the foot of Hal's bed because Faith was in the one beside it. It reminded me of the time they came to see me while I was in here with Logan.
"What's up, Aliyah?" Faith held Hal's hand in both of hers.
Oh, he's not well at all. Look at the wall behind Fairbanks.
I blinked because I was already gazing in that general direction. The last thing I wanted was for either of my friends to think I was staring at the circles under Faith's eyes or the drawn and dried-out look of Hal's face, but once again, the voice was right. There was a tube, an opaque one, leading from a bleached pine panel on the wall to Hal's right sleeve. It disappeared under his shirt, likely ending somewhere on his chest.
I took a deep breath before speaking, focusing on the words I wanted to let out instead of questions better left unspoken. All of them were things I could ask Bubbe this weekend.
"I'm just checking to see what's going on." I set the dinner bags on the bedside table, not bothering to roll it over the bed. "You've been sick for so long, Hal. My grandma knows a lot of folks in the medical community. Is there's anything I can do to help? Like maybe see if she can get you a referral?"
"No." Hal shook his head. "After all this, Dad wants to bring me to Boston, see some specialists, but Mom won't sign off on the forms. With the custody arrangement, she gets to decide. She only lets Nurse Smith treat me."
"What?" My hands curled into fists, just about the only thing I could do to contain my magic. I was suddenly furious, almost as much as at Charity the first day of school. Even with the effort, my hands warmed up. I lifted them off my lap.
"Don't go nuclear, Morgenstern." Faith's tone was droll, but her back straightened, and she dropped Hal's hand. I felt the energy in the room change, some coalescing around her. And I understood. She was prepared to protect him, even if it meant putting me in the next bed over.
A romance for the ages. If only it weren't doomed to end in tragedy.
"Half a minute." I closed my eyes and counted to five as I took long slow breaths in and out, partly to shut the voice up, but also so I didn't go full solar. By then, my hands felt normal again. "I'm sorry, but that was a total shock and definitely not a pleasant one. Are you serious? Doesn't your mom know how sick you are?"
"I'm not sure. It's a moot point anyway." He closed his eyes. "Because without her consent, I can't see any doctors."
Bet your soul the mother knows. Doomed, as I said, unless you do what's needed, even without permission.
"What about an extraveterinarian?" Take that, evil voice. "Do you need permission for Nin to see one of those?"
"No." He opened his eyes. "But how's that going to do any good?"
"Because Bubbe has her friends around all the time. Lots of doctors at Salem General, some who do rotations in Boston, have familiars in her care. Sometimes, they leave stuff there, screening tests in case Bubbe notices a critter’s magus is also not well. So, if you brought Nin in for a checkup—" I tapped my temple. "Do you get what I'm saying?"
"Ha." Faith smirked. "Clever."
"Yeah, I think Nin should definitely get a checkup." Hal's smile was faint and wan but still there. "I'm sure me being so sick has got her stressed out, and you know how Pharaoh’s Rats are. Prone to illness when under too much pressure."
"I absolutely do." I nodded and smiled. "Oh, there's one more thing. Just to try getting extra information. Alex offered to ask his mom for a family tree analysis. For you, both sides."
"Don't tell me you agreed to go on a date with him in exchange for that kind of favor." Faith snorted. "I know you're not scared of playing with fire, but poison should give anyone pause. Even you, Aliyah."
"No, it's got nothing to do with that," I admitted before the evil inside voice got a word in edgewise.
"I hope he doesn't think so." Hal sighed. "Quid pro quo is no fun."
"I'll remember that." I tried on a grin that didn't quite fit, partly because I couldn't imagine what else Alex Onassis would want from a mixed-up girl like me. "Do you want me to tell him to go ahead?"
"Yeah, why not?" Hal locked gazes with me. "My mom never talks about her family. I figure you of all people understand what that's like."
"Yeah, I do." Now I wanted to help him even more.
What you really want is leverage over the headmaster through his son. That isn't empathy, and you know it.
I was about to protest by telling my friends I loved them, but the knock on the door meant it was time to go. Nurse Smith was a stickler about the ten-minute limit, so I said goodbye and headed back to join the others in the lounge. Alex was there, and I told him to go ahead with the genealogy. Dylan overheard that but said nothing. At the time, I believed he thought it was for me about Uncle Richard.
Later on, my way up the stairs, he caught up with me and turned all my ideas upside-down.
"What are you doing with Alex Onassis?"
"Why is everyone asking me that?" I stepped to the side, trying to get past Dylan, but he didn’t play reverse point for nothing.
"He just doesn't seem like your type." He blocked me. "Because you're, well—"
"I'm what?" I planted my feet and put my hands on my hips. This jostled Ember from her power nap on my neck.
"You wear your heart on your sleeve, Aliyah." He stood in the middle of the hall, taking up more space than I'd ever expected he could, like he expanded to fit it somehow. "You care too much. You commit your whole heart in just about everything you do, and I don't want to see you get hurt."
"I don't want to sound like a bitch, but it's none of your business what I do with Alex." My voice lowered because I wished it were his business. But it wasn’t, so the only thing I could do was call him out on it.
"Guess what, you don't sound like a saint." Gale reared up on his shoulder, turning his head to blink at me. "I'm just trying to warn you. He's not into commitment. Not even having it around, generally speaking."
"Get specific then." I tossed my head. "If I wanted vague advice, I'd go see Izzy."
"I can't." He pressed his lips together. They're full, so they didn't make a thin line like Noah's do when he got confrontational.
"Why not?" I raised my eyebrow, feeling totally ridiculous. Of course, good-natured, confrontation-avoiding Dylan Khan could only get into a fight with a Hopewell.
"You know, for someone who's trying to save the world all the time, you're oblivious to personal danger." For the first time, I noticed his hands clenched in tight fists, a mirror of my own, like he was holding something in himself back. "Everybody else sees right through him."
"For someone trying to help, you're awfully insulting." My eyes widened, nostrils flaring. "Last time I checked, you were the world's biggest advocate of neutrality. So, if that's all you've got to say about Alex, stop talking." I palmed the panel next to my door, opening it.
"Ask Noah about your new boyfriend sometime."
I walked inside without saying another word, but that last bit Dylan had said made me curious. Not the boyfriend thing since it wasn’t true, but dropping my brother's name. I could definitely talk to Noah and ask what he thought of Alex. Maybe Dylan knew a secret that wasn’t his to tell, but Noah might not have that sort of restriction.
"Of course, you've got nothing to say now."
My empty room didn't answer, of course. Neither did the evil inside voice—another sign it wanted to corrupt me, not help. Did all extramagi go through this? I'd have to check in the unlikely event there are books in the library on the subject when I got the chance. If.
I brought Ember with me to the bathroom, letting her splash around in the baths while I got ready for bed. Over the week, I tried to find time to talk to my brother, but the opportunity didn't present itself before Friday's dance.
Chapter Forty-Two
On the day of the dance, I was with Grace, carrying our dinner bags upstairs because both of us were sort of nervous. I wasn’t sure what had my roommate in such a bundle of nerves because she and Dylan had been a thing for six months now, but there you go. I guess like stage fright, official and formal date anxiety was something that never totally went away.
Just as we stepped off at the top, I saw something waving at us from the bottom of the stairs. No, someone. I stopped and turned around.
It was Faith. She had Kitty with her, and they alternated between looking over their shoulders and up at us. I got the impression Grace and I were a train they wanted to catch.
"Hang on, Grace." My roommate turned and saw what I did. She nodded and leaned against the banister to wait.
They got to the top and trotted past us, tugging at our sleeves before turning the corner. We followed them, and I noticed they also had their dinners. Hurrying down the hall, we headed toward their room. Grace kept going, but I paused.
"How are we going to get ready without our clothes?" Everyone knew what I meant, so I didn't bother elaborating.
"Aliyah, you can't be out here." Faith's whisper was so loud she shouldn't have bothered with it.
"I'll drop my dinner bag and grab our stuff." Grace patted me on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll remember the shoes." She glanced at Faith. "Unless you think I can't be out here either."
"No, you'll be okay." Kitty palmed the plate beside her door, and it unlatched. She pulled it open and gestured inside. "Go get it, and when you come back, do this knock."
Kitty demonstrated a series of raps and taps complicated enough to be Morse code. For all I know, it was. I never learned any. My roommate handed me her dinner and I walked inside with Faith, looking over my shoulder at Grace as she went back down the hall.
The lights came up and I blinked. This dorm room was the same shape and size as my own, but all the furniture had been moved around. Grace and I had decided to keep things simple and leave the beds, desks, and such as we’d found them on arrival.
Faith and Kitty totally redecorated. They’d opted to stack their beds to make bunks. This gave them way more room, and one of them had brought in a long rectangular table from somewhere. It'd been set up like a vanity, with one of the standard-issue mirrors propped against the wall lengthwise along its top.
Their desks sat back to back as a unit with one end against the same wall as their beds. The dressers and wardrobes flanked the vanity table. The whole set up left space in the middle for yet another purloined table, this one round. It had four stools around it that looked suspiciously like the ones we used in Lab.
I scratched my head at first, wondering how in the world they’d gotten all the extra stuff up here or managed to move the heavy wardrobes and dressers around. Then I realized it must have been Hal. He was a space magus and could easily have moved all sorts of stuff just by expending a little energy. He'd have had enough at the beginning of the school year, but it must've taken him a few weeks, even back then.
Looks like love put your old pal Hal on his deathbed. Are you sure all this empathy for your friends and family is good for your health?
I stood in the middle of the room, wishing the evil inside voice away. It had been silent since Monday, and I'd hoped it was away on a long vacation. Or maybe a permanent one. But no, it was back—with a major beef against the Hal/Faith ship staying afloat, apparently.
I closed my eyes, imagining myself setting it on fire, but all that came to mind was solar magic. Opening my eyes, I shook it off, and I had that maddeningly catchy Taylor Swift song stuck in my head. Thanks, evil inside voice.
You're welcome.
Sighing, I set the dinner bags on the table. Following Kitty's lead was probably for the best. She clearly used this table for something other than food most of the time, because there were a few notebooks on top of some hardbacks that looked vaguely familiar. I lifted one to check out the covers.
"Truncheons and Flagons?" I smiled. "I used to play this with some of the kids in town a few years ago."
Yes, until Azrael tried telling Izzy he loved her. More of your life ruined by romance.
"Get out of town?" Kitty laughed. "No wait, don't. Faith, why didn't you tell me Aliyah played?"
"I didn't know." Faith's deadpan delivery exploded into sarcasm the moment she dropped me a wink. "You're pretty mysterious, you know."
I blinked because I never would've thought of myself that way. I felt like my life was an open book, and had totally agreed with Dylan when he said I wore my heart on my sleeve. But transparency like that wasn’t specific on stuff like hobbies, especially the ones I’d had before coming here.
We heard the series of knocks at the door, and Faith let Grace in. My roommate carried both of our garment bags and our dressier shoes, which she hung on the wardrobe doors and set by the door respectively. She also brought my makeup case, but nothing like that for herself. Grace never seemed to wear or even own any makeup. I didn't think she needed it anyway.
She disagreed, especially after the Parents’ Night dance when she saw a photo of her
self and declared she looked washed-out, which was why I’d brought the entire eye and lip sampler pack I got on Hanukkah, which included the inevitable shades that didn't remotely go with my complexion. Surely Grace could find something that worked for her in there.
Apparently, she liked Truncheons and Flagons too because she stared at the books like they were unicorns. Which are definitely mythical, by the way. Bubbe's told me millions of times not to bother looking for one.
"With this many erased notes, there's no way you're in the planning stage." Grace snorted. "So I guess you guys have a game running."
"You'd guess right." Kitty giggled. "What do you think we do when you guys are in the lounge half the night?"
"I had no idea it was something this fun." Grace smiled. "But isn't studying important too?"
"Oh, we study, all right." She picked up a stack of homework, moving it from the table to her desk. "Usually in the library right after Lab."
"So, are you full?" Grace set dinner boxes out. "Not like this," she said, patting her stomach. "I mean the game."
"Most of the time." She nodded. "But Eston wants to run a side campaign. He gets bored with just playing, but I don't have fun that way. He might need an extra player or two."
Now I understood their outwardly odd-couple relationship. Kitty looked like she could be on a magazine cover, and Eston's whole vibe was beanpole Mensa member. Most magi wouldn't consider them compatible because she was fire and he was water, opposite elements, but they’d bonded over a mundane hobby, so connecting on a magical level wasn't essential for them.
"If we don't want to be late to the dance, we should start dinner." Faith grabbed some bamboo cutlery from the pile she and Grace had made on the table. Then she pulled out a stool and sat down.
"Right." I sat next to her and ate my own dinner, even though I wasn’t very hungry. The last thing I wanted was my stomach growling all night long, although it was a fine line between that and anxiety-induced nausea.
