Chapter 7
Seven
Dani’s head was buzzing as she slid into the back seat of the car Silva had ordered for them—one of those new taxis with a self-driving enchantment.
She was grateful there wasn’t a driver to make small talk with.
She opened Silva’s notebook and skimmed the list of questions, most of them softballs, with a few hard-hitting questions tucked in between.
“Anything interesting in there?”
She’d been so wrapped up in her thoughts, she’d nearly forgotten Oliver was next to her. She glanced up from the notebook. “A lot of the questions seem pretty innocuous, honestly.”
“Silva’s probably hoping that even an innocuous question from you will get a more interesting answer.”
Dani’s grip on the notebook tightened. “She told you? About my—um, my thing?” Her heart was beating fast; did Oliver secretly hate her now? But she didn’t detect any distaste in their expression, only a kind curiosity.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody about it if you don’t want me to.”
“Oh,” Dani said. “Yeah, um, I like to keep it on the down-low. People can get weird about it, that’s all.”
“Well, I don’t plan on getting weird about it. After all, if it wasn’t for your ‘thing,’ I wouldn’t have told you about being in the study, and you wouldn’t have introduced me to Silva.”
“I guess that’s true.” They had left the campus in the rearview by now, the car winding its way into the heart of downtown. She had the sudden urge to change topics. “I know you’re an arcanobotany major, but is there something specific you want to do with it?”
Oliver’s face lit up. “So I’m also a telepathy minor,” they said. “I want to specialize in a combination of the two—telepathically communicating with plants, that is.”
“Wait. What?” Dani said. “That’s a thing you can do?”
“It’s a pretty new field of research, but yeah. Plants are alive in more ways than most people realize.”
“That’s really cool,” Dani said a little wistfully. “I’m in oracular studies”—provided she lasted the year—“but I have no idea what I want to do with it.”
“I think that’s pretty normal,” Oliver said. “Not everyone knows what they want to do right away. Most of the time I feel lucky because I’ve always known, but that can be a double-edged sword, you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if the thing I’ve always dreamed of doesn’t work out, I won’t really know what to do with myself. At least if you’re not laser-focused on one thing, you can kind of keep your options open, right?”
Dani had never thought about it that way. “Right.”
“Take OneiroLabs,” Oliver went on. “I’ve wanted an internship there for as long as I’ve known they existed. But now—now, I don’t know if I could work for a place that treats people like…” They trailed off.
“I get it,” Dani said. “You pour all your time and energy and hope into this one dream, but the reality of it doesn’t always look the way you thought it would.”
Oliver laughed quietly. “Yeah,” they said. “Sometimes it looks like a nightmare.”
They were silent for a few minutes, both staring out their respective windows, until Dani spoke again. “So, a telepathy minor. Does that mean you could…?”
“What, read your mind?” Oliver asked.
“I was thinking more like read the minds of the people at OneiroLabs, but sure.”
“I mean, technically yes, but only expert-level telepaths can read people’s minds without them noticing.
I’ve always had more of an affinity for plants than humans, so it takes me a little more effort with the latter.
If I wanted to have a telepathic conversation with you, for example, I’d need to give you an enchanted token to connect with.
It’s something I could get better at, but I’d rather focus on the arcanobotany aspect of it. ”
“Interesting. I guess that would’ve been too easy.”
“People usually notice if someone’s invading their minds, anyway. That’s why Silva picked you, I think. I wouldn’t have realized you had anything to do with what I told you at Quarter Cast. I just figured I was tired and not thinking straight, which is true.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Dani said, biting her lower lip.
“Oh no, don’t be. Like I said, I’m glad it happened. And anyway—you don’t seem like the kind of person I’d be scared to share things with.” Oliver smiled at her, warm and genuine, and Dani smiled back.
The pair continued chatting as the car navigated traffic, trading stories about classes and homework. It felt nice to have a conversation with someone other than McKenna without worrying about her ability being an issue. She could get used to it.
“Hey, look,” Oliver said a short while later. “We’re here.”
Dani leaned forward in her seat as the car turned onto the OneiroLabs driveway, pausing at the gatehouse.
Some invisible exchange of spellwork passed between the vehicle and the security system, and the gate swung open.
They rolled slowly up the approach, past gardens with angular landscaping and a water feature that resembled a transparent orb turning in midair, water spiraling within.
The building itself thrust into the sky, its facade a shield of mirrored glass.
Shapes and symbols flashed across the surface, including the familiar OneiroLabs logo: the name in soothing cursive letters, bedded on a periwinkle cloud.
Dani felt slightly dazed as she and Oliver got out of the car, squinting up at the skyscraper she had so often seen in the distance.
She’d heard its design was meant as a beacon of innovation and promise to the rest of the city as well as the university, but from this angle it looked more like a pillar of extravagant profit.
Either way, Dani was suitably impressed.
“It’s really something, isn’t it?” asked Oliver.
They both glanced down at the sound of the front doors hissing open and shut behind what could only be their welcoming party: a young woman in a pale pink lab coat, a nervous-looking redheaded guy, and a security guard, who hung back as the woman stepped forward to greet them with a photogenic smile.
“Welcome to OneiroLabs,” she said. “We’re so happy to have you here—we always love hosting students from the Leap.
It wasn’t so long ago that I was one myself.
Danielle, right?” Her soft voice made her sound as young as she looked.
She had wavy russet hair, hazel eyes, and a just-overlong nose that balanced a pair of coral glasses on its bridge.
Dani thought something about her seemed familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what.
“Oh, sorry,” Dani said, “but it’s Dani, actually.”
“Of course. My mistake.” The woman favored her with a longer look, and it was under this scrutiny that Dani realized how unprofessionally she’d dressed for the occasion.
She was in her weekday messy glory, complete with a coffee-stained Fox’s Leap sweatshirt over an argyle skirt.
Oliver had come a bit more put-together, if still casual, in a striped pullover tucked into corduroys, and boots rimmed with dried dirt.
If the woman recognized them as she turned her attention their way, she didn’t show it.
“I must apologize for not knowing your name. I’m afraid your professor neglected to share you’d be joining us today.
” Her tone was polished, polite; she yielded no sign that Oliver’s unexpected presence was even a wrinkle in her day.
“So sorry about that,” Oliver said, giving her a penitent smile. “It must have slipped her mind. I’m Oliver. Thanks for letting me tag along.”
“Of course,” the woman said generously. “You’re both quite welcome. My name is Dr. Phoebe Rodriguez, and I’m the Head of Research here. I hear you’re doing a profile on us ahead of our appearance at the gala?”
Dani nodded. She knew she should probably say something else, but her mouth wouldn’t form the words.
“That’s right,” Oliver stepped in. “It’s meant to be about the company as a whole, but between us, we’re kind of most interested in your upcoming product launch. It sounds really exciting.”
Dr. Rodriguez preened. “I appreciate you saying that. This project is my brainchild, from start to finish—or to where we are now, I suppose. We’re still over a month away from the reveal, so most information has to remain confidential, but I’ll tell you as much as I’m able, and we’ll give you a full tour of our public facilities as well. How does that sound?”
“Wonderful,” Oliver said, beaming. “We’re just grateful to be here.”
“Perfect. Follow me!” Dr. Rodriguez led the group through the glass doors and into the vast lobby, which stretched above their heads for miles. Strange clouds of mirror shards drifted in the air, glittering in the dull afternoon light.
“Thanks,” Dani whispered to Oliver as they crossed the lobby. “For jumping in back there.”
“No problem,” Oliver said with a smile. “You’ll probably need to take over at some point, though, yeah?”
“By the way,” Dr. Rodriguez said from the head of their group, “this is Max. He just graduated from the Leap last year, and we snapped him right up as a research coordinator.”
The redhead doled out an introductory nod to them, his eyes lingering on Oliver’s face a hair longer than Dani’s.
Maybe he recognized them? She didn’t have time to puzzle it out.
Oliver was right; she needed to gather herself and start asking questions.
The group had already reached the elevators on the far side of the lobby, and Dr. Rodriguez was ushering them into one.
She hit the button for the eleventh floor—there were twenty-two in total—and the doors slid shut.
The car began to rise so smoothly that Dani could barely tell they were moving.
“The first eleven floors are open to the public,” Dr. Rodriguez explained as they ascended. “By invitation, that is. The upper eleven floors are authorized staff only. That’s where the real magic happens.”