Page 79 of Above
“Sure you don’t.”
“I’m serious. I don’t think you’re some mistake. I think the stars care too little for the past or future to even make mistakes. They’re just doing whatever they can to entertain themselves in the present. All they want is a good show. It’s us who want the consistency. The purity. The power. Controlling who gets magic gives us all of those things. And I see the merit in doing it. But I don’t think it makes you less. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re the smartest person in most of the rooms you enter.”
I grabbed the door handle, ready to escape if needed. “So you’re telling me that none of you actually believe in the wholemake Dajahim pure againagenda?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. Priya and Dove definitely believe in it. They see things in much the same way as our parents do. Quinn too. Az…well, he believes in it probably more than any of us.”
“Figured,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.
“Your precious Talon does too.” Dofrel was uncharacteristically defensive. His hands balled into fists. His jaw set.
“No he doesn’t. He sees me as equal. As worthy.”
“Maybe, just maybe, he does. But anyone else like you is still an akhata to him. And I’d bet my entire inheritance—which isa lot of coin, by the way—that he’s still just as dedicated to the cause as Az is. You’re an exception, not a rule.”
With that, Dofrel patted my shoulder and slipped past me, entering the alchemy classroom. I stood there, considering what he meant. Mulling over all that I had learned in such a short conversation.
For hours the four of us worked hard to concoct hundreds of vials of rot—which would be used on arrows to shoot at enemies—and revival—which would be on hand if needed. Really, our job would be to decipher what their own choice poisons would be though. When the intels came back from their mission to planet nine-three-four, they’d bring samples for us along with any information we’d need to begin our work. For now, it was mostly preemptive tasks.
That was why, when we were dismissed, none of us felt like we had gotten significant work done.
“I feel like we’ve wasted the last three hours,” Edward Volton, the other boy in our division, said, rotating his likely stiff neck. For a second, I stayed silent as I cleaned my station, careful not to touch the rot. But then I realized no one else was speaking either, and I couldn’t help but flick my eyes up.
Volton stood there, facing me with a nervous smile, looking as if he were waiting for my response.
He had never spoken to me before. Neither had Zura Roshen, who also gazed at me curiously from where she stood beside Volton. On my right, Dofrel was pretending to hand-clean the sparkling black surface of his station, the sight ridiculous whenhe rarely did anything without magic, the kind of second nature that separated of eadi from other shaytan.
“Oh, um, yeah. I feel the same. But when Captain Dofrel left she seemed remotely impressed, so that’s good at least.” I sounded terribly vapid. My stars, had I always been so dull?
“Please, my mother is rarely dazzled,” Dofrel scoffed out. “She has impeccable taste that I think prevents her from pretending that doing basic alchemy is anything worth applauding.”
“Well, maybe we should show her we can do more than just the basics,” I retorted, angry now that he would make me look even dumber than I already did.
All three of their surprised gazes locked on me instantly. Stars help me.
“What do you have in mind?” Zura asked. There wasn’t even a hint of sarcasm there, no hatred or distaste in her voice. For whatever reason, I felt a deep desire to impress the three of them in that moment.
“Have you ever heard of wretched demise?”
By the time the bell tolled to signal the top of a new hour and the end of our lunch break, we had successfully brewed a large cauldron full of wretched demise. More than that, Roshen seemed to have decided I was worth befriending.
Zura Roshen, who was born from a shaytan mother and an eadi father, walked with me to our first afternoon lesson, chatting casually about her life.
“My father died three years ago. He hadn’t been willing to take haya when he knew it would only delay the inevitable. My mother took really good care of him though. Even when my grandparents shamed her for it.”
I listened closely, so interested in the novelty of such a life. I knew that in rare cases, shaytan and eadi had children together. It wasn’t often discussed, but we all knew it happened when eadiand shaytan weren’t careful. In even fewer circumstances, those children went on to be given magic themselves. Unlike of eadi, those shaytan were scarcely viewed as mistakes.
“Are your parents still alive? Do you have any family?” She inquired, her dark hair tucked behind her ear to reveal a raised brow.
Much like mine, freckles dotted her dark skin, and her eyes were the shade of green I so loved—like the leaves of a tree in the dark of night. She was about my height and build, though she had been blessed with a bust I hadn’t. She was quite nice for someone pretty enough to catch the attention of anyone she wanted. Which scared me just as much as her line of questioning.
“My parents and sister take haya, so they should live a while longer.” It felt bleak to talk as if their deaths were nothing. My voice wavered as I spoke, my heart stuttering, because this was the reality if I couldn’t figure out something better. “I fear their deaths.”
“That’s reasonable. I think because I watched my dad age and knew it was what he wanted, it didn’t hurt as badly. Then again, I also had my mom and two brothers, so I’m sure that played a part too.”
“You have two brothers as well?” How shocking. A shaytan made that choice not once, but thrice. “Are they shaytan as well?”
“Oh yes, all three of us are. I’m the youngest and the only one who decided to attempt the shadow ritual. One of my brothers is a healer and the other is a historian. They’re very smart. I was the only one who felt out of place enough to join the elites.” A wistful tone took over her words, her eyes losing focus as we neared the top floor observatory. I had a feeling we’d be researching more on planet nine-three-four. “I wanted to be something more.”
