“There could be a dozen others just at Alderidge,” I said breathily.
Turning to Nathaniel, Borden and I explained our idea of creating a way to test people simply by touch, or something similar.
“You’re right,” Nathaniel said. “This…if Mary-Beth really is one of us, and there are others…”
“It will change everything,” I said.
Chapter Five
On Wednesday, I brought the glamoured telekinesis book to school with me. It felt like this golden beacon in my bag, screaming to all the world that it could reveal secrets. And as I walked to school that day, a thought occurred to me.
This book only revealed itself to other mages. I’d written off glamouring before, but maybe it was exactly what was needed. Someone, at some point, had hidden the book from anyone but mages. We could use glamouring to create some kind of test, one that was easier and quicker than seeing if someone could read a book.
I wasn’t sure what the solution was yet, but I knew between Nathaniel and Borden and me, we could figure it out.
My brain was reeling, thinking through all the possibilities, when I stepped into the hall, and found Borden sitting in a chair against the wall. The blank expression in his eyes told me something was wrong.
I pushed my way through the crowd and came to stand in front of him. “Hey,” I said. “What’s wrong?”
Borden’s eyes rose up to mine, and in them, I saw hollow worry and anger and… he just looked lost.
“David follows up with his threats,” Borden said. “He got in touch with my family. Told my dad I’d walked away from the Society Boys. He was waiting for me at my dorm when I got home last night.”
I felt the color drain from my face, and I didn’t even know what all of this meant yet. “And?”
Borden shook his head as his eyes shifted away from me and fixed at a random point in front of him. “It was an interrogation, to put it lightly,” Borden said. His voice grew deeper with each word. “He wanted to know why and what had happened to make me leave a Society that has ties to our family going back five generations. Me telling my father that it was because the Society was filled with a bunch of bullying assholes wasn’t an acceptable answer.”
I didn’t know what to say. These were a different breed of people than I was used to dealing with.
But I did notice the electricity crackling along Borden’s hands, singing his slacks.
Though he didn’t seem to realize.
“I’m ‘under investigation’,” Borden said, his voice hard and tight. “On probation in my own family. Whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean.” He scoffed and shook his head. “Whatever. Dad can cut me off or shame me. I have my own money and dealings. This semester is already paid for and then I graduate. I’ll deal with all these assholes later.”
Borden stood, looking around as if he wasn’t sure where he was supposed to go. He was talking like he wasn’t worried, like he didn’t care. But I could see it in his eyes, how much this was affecting him.
“I’m so sorry, Borden,” I said, shaking my head. “If this is too much, if you need-”
“I need to be my own man,” Borden said, cutting me off. His eyes met mine again, and I saw the conviction and fire in them. “I need to be who I am, and I won’t apologize to any of them for it. This doesn’t mean anything is changing. Thanks for listening, Margot. I didn’t mean to worry you with it all.”
I realized then, Borden’s moods could change just like the electrical storms he could create. The aura around him felt darker, the air more charged. With an angry cloud, he turned, and set off down the hall, beelining toward his first class of the day.
And I realized then, that at some point, we were all going to have to make sacrifices for this. Resurrecting magic and being what we were was dangerous and difficult. How bad did we want this, and how much were we really willing to commit to it?
If it came down to it, was I ready to sacrifice in the same way Borden was possibly going to have to?
I didn’t have any answers to those questions, so I turned and headed down the hall to go deal with my first class.
We were all in agreement, but I still found myself questioning as I walked down the hall to my English class. Was this the right thing to do? Were we sure? Once I did this, could we really go back?
But that was fear and insecurity talking.
If Mary-Beth was one of us, we needed her, and she had a right to know.
So I held my head high as I walked down the hall, and I didn’t hesitate as I turned into the classroom.
She was sitting at her usual desk in front of mine when I walked in. When her eyes caught mine, she smiled and sat up.
“Thanks for letting me go out with you guys last night,” she said as she turned, watching as I set my bag down on the ground and took my own seat. “It’s been a while since I went out with friends.”
“I was actually thinking the same thing the whole time,” I said, smiling. “It’s usually just Nathaniel and me. Borden is a recent addition.”
“How long have you and Nathaniel been together?” she asked, raising her eyebrows in a somewhat suggestive way.
I didn’t blush, because it wasn’t the way she was likely thinking. “Since last fall. It was kind of one of those quick, immediate things.”
She sighed as she rested her cheek against her fist, her elbow on my table. “You’re lucky. I dated this guy for almost all of my freshman year. But he wasn’t that into it. I could tell. Nathaniel looks at you like you’re the freaking sun, moon and stars.”
I did feel my face flush then, because I knew it was true. “Just lucky, I guess.”
More students were filtering into the classroom, and I knew my time was running out. I bent and fished the telekinesis book out of my bag. My heart started hammering and my palms were sweating.
“Do you happen to know ancient Gaelic?” I asked, trying to play it casual.
Mary-Beth shrugged. “Grandmother really wanted the entire family to learn, but it never seemed particularly useful, so I didn’t bother.”
I nodded like it didn’t matter and opened it to the middle of the book. “I think this might have been one of the books she donated. Take a look.”
I handed it to her. She took it, and I paid special attention to how she grabbed it. Her index fingers spread over the spine, and her thumb balanced between the pages, touching the paper directly.
“Probably,” Mary-Beth said. “Grandmother loves books about magic. She’s donated hundreds of fairytales and fantasy stuff.”
My heart thundered now. I hoped I didn’t look like a total maniac, but I knew my eyes were a little too wide, I looked a little too shocked.
“You can read it?” I asked before I could think of some smoother way to say it.
Mary-Beth looked at me with furrowed brows, an amused look on her face. “I know I said I shouldn’t have been able to get into Alderidge, but yes, I can read just fine.”
I shook my head, trying to keep up with my thoughts that were running a million miles an hour. “No, sorry, that’s not what I meant. I-”
But I was cut off by the professor as he dove into the lesson.