Page 77 of Class Studies
Instead of dwelling on what-ifs, I picked up the book with my final stack of notes sticking out of where I stopped. A book from the section Professor Garnet didn’t want me looking into—creating electricity out of magic.
The concept was pretty new, considering both had been around for hundreds of years. A few books full of technical jargon made my head spin. One of them analyzed the very nature of magic, using diagrams of elements combined with conceptual pictures based on several different theories on how magic worked. I gathered no one knew, but Rimmed Magic and Natural Magic didn’t function the same. One wasn’t more powerful than the other, but the spell saving the world split the fundamentals, giving Rimmed mages more control over individual aspects of magic. It fit with what I already learned.
My socket turned magic into electricity flawlessly. Despite my inability to use my power like everyone else, it logically made sense my magic was more along the lines of Natural.
This didn’t tell me what made my magic unique, though.
I turned the page, and my eyes widened—a sketch of a socket, bulkier than mine, but similar, lay before me. Scrawling handwriting labeled the parts.
Before I thought about it, my phone was in my hands. I focused my camera on the sketch, snapping a picture. My black box of electricity and circuits heated. A light pop filled the almost silent Nest before a little smelly line of gray smoke poured out of my phone.
I dropped it onto the book. The screen flickered before going dark.
“No, no, no, no,” I said, remembering Professor Garnet’s warning too late.
I shook my phone and repeatedly hit the power button, but nothing happened. My only way out now was to contact Professor Garnet, but he’d know and come get me. I whacked my head against the books behind me and groaned.
Acid burned in my stomach. Operation DUMP was going to fail.
No!
I swallowed down my panic and studied The Nest.
Movement through some netting caught my attention. I peered through the gaps between the wooden shelving. If I could see down, there had to be a way for someone to see me. I stood and shuffled until Alice, sitting behind her desk at the front, appeared in the cracks. My bookbag had paper in it. If I tossed a ball of it, someone would notice, hopefully. My stomach settled, though nervous energy thrummed through me.
I badly wanted to test my new idea, but not yet.
By my estimate, I still had forty-five minutes before I needed to be at the Alchemy Lab. I needed every bit of information I could get.
Returning to the book, I flipped it over, looking for a publishing date: over 100 years ago. Even with my limited experience with technology, it changed fast. My master’s first tablet had been a big clunky thing, and the one Abe got me was sleek and light. That had happened over fifteen years or so. Why had magic to electricity moved so slow?
Hugging the book to my chest, I let my gaze un-focus.
What was I?
The book didn’t answer my question. However, following the diagram of the socket were pages of failed experimentation. I looked for patterns and jotted them down.
Although I badly wanted to take this book with me, I couldn’t. I marked the pages in the two books I wanted to continue reading and reshelved everything.
It was time to get out. I took a deep, calming breath and pulled one of my notebooks out of my bookbag. Tearing out a handful of pages, I wadded them into balls and tossed them toward Alice’s desk.
They fell comically short, skittering across tables and bouncing on the stone floor. The sound was out of place enough to draw the librarian’s attention. She hurried up to The Nest and unlocked the door.
I waved my hands, my broken phone hidden in my pocket. ”My phone died.”
“Officer Keres should’ve thought of that.” Alice sighed. “Are you done for the evening?”
I nodded, feeling guilty for lying, but I didn’t want her to know I tried to take a picture of something I shouldn’t.
“Do you want to use my phone to call one of your boyfriends?”
I froze. How did she know? We’d not spoken since I destroyed her hoodie.
Alice smiled at my confusion. “I’m not blind.” She winked. “And girl power! There is no reason girls can’t have harems too. Bernadette had one back in the day.”
“Ah.” I rubbed my eyes, desperate not to visualize Abe surrounded by hot men. Nope, too late. I wished I could bleach my imagination. “You and Alchemist Blickenstaff are friends?”
“Thick as thieves since I arrived.” Alice grinned. “Norah’s part of our posse too.”