Chapter 7
Esme’s first few weeks at Pierpont were memorable ones, not so much due to the jumble of new faces, places, and routines, but because of the wonder that sprinkled her days.
While wandering the boardwalks around each warehouse, Esme would often witness tiny miracles, like a water-walker taking a shortcut to class between piers, or a songstress singing a sheaf of papers she’d dropped back into her arms. Sometimes a wall or door or even a tree would swell and split before her eyes, and Fern’s form would emerge.
However, students like Fern, who had mastered their Gifts, were in the minority. New Gifts were exploding amongst the fourth, fifth, and sixth-formers, as suddenly and forcefully as Vince’s had in assembly. Many of these invoked utter mayhem.
With the pearl’s return to Es
