And then I released the Dean.
He blinked several times, looking around the room slightly confused. I walked back to the door, pausing there.
“Forgive me, Margot,” Lowell said. “I seem to have spaced out for a moment. If you’ll excuse me, I have a few letters I need to write.”
“Of course,” I said with a nod and a small smile. I ducked out of the office and closed the door behind me.
I waited just down the hall where I still had a good view of his door. Ten minutes went by and then twenty. Twenty-five minutes later, his door finally opened. He held two envelopes in his hand.
He immediately cut down the hall and I sprang to my feet to follow him.
He first went to the professor’s office. He walked right in and I waited outside where I could barely hear their words. Lowell explained that he’d looked into the matter and determined Borden wasn’t at fault and he’d been falsely accused. The professor seemed confused and surprised, but what could he do? He couldn’t overturn the Dean’s decision.
I waited down the hall until Lowell walked back out and headed toward the front doors. I followed behind as he walked out the doors and cut across the grass toward the dorm where Borden lived. I stayed out of sight as he knocked on the door and waited for one of the students who answered to slip back in.
One minute later, Borden appeared at the door. His hair was a mess and he wore an old Alderidge sweater and pajama pants. I couldn’t hear the words Dean Lowell spoke, but I watched as Borden’s eyes grew wide with surprise and then his expression filled with gratitude. A big smile broke out on his face, and I realized then, that I’d never seen Borden really smile before.
It was nice.
Dean Lowell shook Borden’s hand and patted him on the shoulder. And then he turned and headed back to Alderidge.
Borden looked up from the letter in his hand, and just then, his eyes met mine.
I gave him a little smile and Borden lost his. We just looked at each other for several long moments. And then Borden nodded at me, his lips pressed into a thin line, the message of thank you received.
It was a truce. A show of forgiveness. I’d never forget. But I was ready to put it in the past and stop bringing it up.
With another nod, I turned, and I walked back to the university’s doors.
When I walked out of my humanities class, Borden was waiting across the hall. I walked to him, a thin-lipped smile on my face.
“Thank you,” he said as he stood straight. “You didn’t have to do any of that, and I know I don’t deserve it. But I really appreciate what you did.”
I nodded. “Look, I’m never going to forget that night. It was the second worst night of my life, only coming in after my mother disappeared and I realized she might not ever come back. So, there might always be a dark cloud when it comes to that night.”
I looked down at the ground, and I tried very, very hard to dispel that night from my thoughts, but there was blood and sea water in the back of my mind.
“But I’m moving past it now,” I said as I looked back up at him. “I’m deciding to trust you and to accept that you are a part of this family now.”
He started to say something, but I cut him off. “Just know, that if you ever turn against us, I know things you don’t. And I won’t hesitate to use them to protect myself and Nathaniel and my father.”
I expected Borden to call me out for threatening him, because it was a threat, and a warning.
“I won’t let you down,” is all he said instead.
So, I just gave a nod and together, we turned down the hallway. “How would you like to learn how to alter memories?” I offered in peace.
Chapter Twelve
The beginning of March, we had an extended weekend with Friday off. So, the four of us made plans.
We borrowed Dad’s car and piled in with our packed bags. Mary-Beth brought snacks, even though we weren’t going all that far on this road trip. And then we pointed north and headed into the city.
We parked where we could find parking in the sprawling city that I adored so much. I slipped my hand into Nathaniel’s and gawked and stared as we walked down the sidewalks of Boston. I took in the churches and the old brick buildings. I smiled at the masses of people walking in a hurry, none of them ever making eye contact.
“I don’t get it,” Nathaniel said as he looked over at me, smirking at my happiness at walking around, surrounded by a million strangers.
“It’s just different, even though we’re only a few miles from home,” I said, sighing. “Don’t you feel the history here?”
“Harrington was founded in 1692,” Nathaniel said. “There’s plenty of history there.”
“Sixty-two years is a whole generation,” Mary-Beth pointed out with sarcasm.
“In all seriousness,” Borden said as he walked behind us. “Boston and Harrington look nothing alike, architecture wise. Most of these buildings are hundreds of years older than Harrington’s. No brick or stone. No cobblestones. Just houses and newer businesses. And Alderidge.”
“Fine, I’ll give you that,” Nathaniel said with a smile. “I can appreciate the architecture.”
Speaking of, we rounded the corner just then and came to the front steps of the Boston Public Library, the second largest in the country.
I smiled in giddy anticipation and looked back at the others. Each of them pulled on a pair of thin gloves and pulled out their pencils, ready to find more magical books. I reached into my own pocket and pulled on my gloves as well.
We walked up the stairs and immediately went to pick up a map. We split the library in half, with all of the rooms and halls covered by teams. Nathaniel with me, and Mary-Beth with Borden. With a nod and an agreement to meet back outside on the steps in three hours, we went our separate ways.
Nathaniel and I headed to the rooms we were to cover, and I just hoped we didn’t draw any attention.
“We really should probably hit the Harvard Library as well someday,” Nathaniel said as we worked our way through the first room. We ran our pencils along the spines, watching over our shoulders to be sure no one was watching.
“You really think so?” I asked as I paid close attention.
“It’s a huge library,” Nathaniel said as he moved along. “And it’s in the same region. I don’t know why there would be more at Alderidge than there.”
“Is their library open to the public?” I asked.
“The special collections, archives, and government documents are,” Nathaniel said. “Which is likely the majority of what we’d want to investigate anyway. And who knows, maybe someday we’ll recruit a mage who’s a student there.”
It actually made me nervous, the thought of expanding our circle. Excited, yes. But who knew what the dynamic would be like as we expanded? So far it worked with Borden and Mary-Beth. But what if we found some jerk or some stuck up princess who didn’t think like we did? We were putting ourselves in danger with each invitation we extended.
But the more people we had on board, the quicker our work would progress.
We worked our way through this room and then moved on to the next.
My hand started getting tired and cramped as I held my pencil so carefully. I switched to the left and rang my right out, opening and closing my hand.