AllFreeNovel
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In an effort to give students the hands-on experience of researching through physical books, this app is only available when inside the library.
Please note that while all information within the library is accessible through the app, we encourage you to walk the stacks and find the original text. Simply tap the title and directions to the text will appear on your screen.
Well, that’s novel.
I type in my first query
Troyan Axwell
An error message pops up over the search bar.
All personal information about current or past students enrolled in Blackwood University is restricted to faculty only and must be requested through the BU Employee Portal.
Balls. Well, I didn’t really think it would be that easy. I clear the error message and type my next search.
Auction
My heart speeds up as the query serves me a single result. But tapping it only pulls up the same local news article I already read. I take a breath, tap my chin, and think of another way to go about this.
When the scratching noise of Austin’s scribbling stops, I look up to see him watching me.
“Sorry. Most don’t like to sit with me because of the scraping sounds, but I’m done now.”
“Oh, it doesn’t bother me. I come from a plane—place—where books and handwritten notes are valued over technology.”
Cool sweat beads in the small of my back. Austin doesn’t seem to notice. But that doesn’t mean the word “plane” won’t rattle around in his subconscious until he puts two and two together.
Get it together, Dove. Magic users here already know there are multiple planes. It’s not a problem. You have plenty of those already. Don’t make up even more.
“Oh. Was that because of the religious cult thing? Lemme guess. Was it the demon equivalent of the Amish? They’re against technology.”
Before I can tell him the story Sera and I practiced, Jess and Stevie descend on the table, pulling out chairs next to Austin and me, respectively.
“The Amish are not a cult, Austin,” Jess says, settling into her seat and retrieving her tablet. “They’re religious extremists, but not a cult.” She gives him a peck on the cheek and starts scrolling through the school’s social media app like she’d made her point.
“The Amish definitely classify as a cult. Same with any group that controls the information its members have access to and shuns those who try to leave.” He turns to Stevie. “Back me up here.”
Stevie shrugs. “I’m Canadian. We only have a few thousand Amish, and most didn’t make it out to British Columbia. But we do have our own group of religious extremists in Bountiful. So I’ll say this, if any person or organization tries to control others’ behavior, information, thoughts, or emotions, that person or group deserves a good hard look.”
“I bet it was something closer to Scientology,” Jess says, and though it’s not a question, it’s clear she’s asking.
“I have no frame of reference. I don’t know what mine was like compared to yours.”
“Mormon!” Stevie cries out, earning her several annoyed shushes.She lowers her head and her voice and continues. “They’re super strict about purity and staying a virgin until marriage, and some sects even have forced polygamy.”
“Polygamy? What’s that?” I ask, ignoring the nervous flutter in my middle at the similarities.
The Rites aren’t marriage but...
Having sex before then is strictly forbidden.
Stevie answers. “Polygamy is having more than one wife or husband at a time. It’s illegal and some would say immoral because it’s usually the men who have all the control and power in the marriage while his “wives” stay home and take care of all his babies.”
“Oh,” I say, and try not to give into the itch in my brain. It bursts out before I can stop it. “But didn’t you say you have multiple dads? That’s why you’re both a shifter and?—”
Stevie cuts me off. “Consenting polyamorous relationships between adults who truly care for each other and have equal say are completely different from a man who thinks his god told him to fuck as many women as possible because the more children he has, the bigger his reward in heaven will be.” She only seems a little annoyed at the comparison.
“Ah, I see the difference. Well, rest assured, that’s not the environment I grew up in, but I guess I still don’t see how anyone could divide their love between multiple people.”
