Page 38 of Group Studies

A few minutes before the wonderful foghorn of rescue would go off, I hailed Abe. The alchemist came over. After asking a few questions, she approved our design. I looked for my bookbag, but found it resting on Ram’s side of the table.

Ram smiled at me and beckoned.

I clenched my fist. My phone, still against the pencil sharpener, caught my eye. Although I technically needed my books, as long as I had my black box of note taking, I could wing it without them. “Nevermind,” I mumbled, snatching up my phone and bolting out of the lab as my rescue sounded.

The crowded hall swallowed me into the safety of anonymity.

Immediately, I found a corner and scrolled through Mêler, but I didn’t see Ashe mentioned anywhere. I messaged Saffron’s friend, Roisin and Sandy. But no one had seen him.

I couldn’t shake the bad feeling taking root in my gut. The longer he was missing the more likely he’d gotten into trouble. It was all my fault.

Like a woman possessed, I ran to every spot we’d spent time. A mage I’d never met before screamed at me to leave after I threw open the door to Saffron’s Coterie room.

Sheepishly, I did, before sprinting for the cafeteria. It was mostly empty when I arrived. Beryl and Nitis sat at their usual table, but I didn’t see Ashe anywhere. My stomach dropped before growling angrily. I didn’t know how I could be hungry with all this worry weighing me down, but I was already here. Beryl watched me with concern as I streaked by him, first with no snack and then with half a PB&J in one hand and a pickle in the other. It had just smelled so good.

I ended up walking into Metaphysics late, still eating, and still with no idea where Ashe vanished too.

Quiet conversations bounced off the round dome of the Sphérique when I arrived.

Ram immediately slid up to me. “I’ve got your bookbag.”

I shuddered and rushed to stand between Tanwyn and Saffron. Both of them shifted to make room, glaring at the big mage.

Ram’s smile widened and mouthed the word ‘bookbag.’

“Aphrodite, you’re in the middle today,” Professor Garnet said, pulling my attention.

My gaze flicked behind him. Officer Keres stood straight with his arms crossed over his chest. I had this urge to ask him where Ashe was, but I held my tongue. Nothing about that would go well for either of us.

I focused back on the professor. “Ah, really?

“Really,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “You’ve not been in the middle since our first class. Your clasps are off at the moment. I believe your protection potion ran out this morning, unless Alchemist Blickenstaff changed her plans.”

I scowled. “She didn’t.”

Professor Garnet nodded and introduced Officer Keres to the class. “He’s given us special permission to test your limits, Aphy.”

Officer Keres uncrossed his arms. He pulled a wooden stick covered in runes, out of a holster on his hip. About a foot long and half an inch wide, he pointed it at me. I flinched away.

“If you even start to transfer or force another to your will, beyond what’s required, I will render you unconscious,” he said evenly.

I swallowed, my already racing heart making me light headed. Would they even let me wake up or would that be it?

“It shouldn’t come to that,” Professor Garnet said, his eyes softening.

Saffron’s hand slipped into mine, squeezing it. My eyebrows shot up as I glanced down at our intertwined fingers but squeezed back, angry at myself for taking his comfort, but also grateful to have it.

“This is about controlling the barrier between your magic and your mind, that’s all,” Professor Garnet continued. “Each of us will project an object into Aphy’s thoughts. Her job is to describe it so I can know how accurate your projections are. It’s an exercise in creativity and mental flexibility.”

He looked around the room one more time before focusing on me. “The second half of this is all you, Aphy. You’re to remove the object from your thoughts any way you can. That includes influencing our very thoughts. But, you’re to focus on the object and only the object, understand?”

He didn’t wait for me to answer, instead, he glanced back at Officer Keres who nodded. Taking a deep breath, he made eye contact with me. “You’re not influencing free will. You’re not transferring power. All you're doing is influencing the magic already connected to you.”

The moral ambiguity of the situation made my blood run cold. This was hypocrisy, pure and simple: forcing me to do something while threatening to knock me unconscious if I made someone else do something.

Professor Garnet clapped his hands. “Let’s not waste this opportunity.”

Saffron released my hand. I emerged from my haven of safety to sit cross-legged on the concrete rune for spirit in the middle of the floor. Like always, interdimensional pockets opened, and padding emerged. I usually made a wad of my gym clothing and my towel to sit on, but thanks to Ram, I didn’t even have that.

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