It all came pouring out, like a waterfall crashing through a dam, releasing the torrent that was her life over the last six months. Natalie didn't quite tell them everything—she didn't give them any names, since those people might not want to be known, just like her—but she was pretty thorough. From their flight out of Rallsburg in the dead of night, to Natalie's days in the Laushire house, all the way up until the night she got locked out and found her way into the Kincaid home—Natalie explained everything.

  Except… when it came to the reason Rallsburg burned down? She couldn't bring herself to name her father.

  When she reached the story of her night in Seattle? She choked up. Though both Annette and Damian looked sympathetic, Natalie couldn't bring herself to describe a single moment, and simply skimmed across it as if it hadn't happened at all, letting them draw their own conclusions about her scar and the gang it represented.

  I'm lying again.

  You're leaving out details you don't understand. It isn't wrong. Until you speak to your father, you do not wish to charge him with such a crime.

  But Seattle?

  You must not think about Seattle.

  Silently while she spoke, Natalie agreed with the voice. Even with Quinn, Natalie couldn't say anything more about that night. She pushed it away. The Kincaids had enough to consider without more complications in the story.

  "...and then everything started happening," said Natalie finally. "There was that book, and I'm probably in it somewhere, so I had to run. But I got locked out. This was the only place I could think of, so I came here. Except then the book didn't get published like it was supposed to, and now Hailey's flying around doing stuff I don't understand and I'm scared that everything's just going to get worse." Natalie took a deep breath, about to continue, but Annette finally held up a hand to stop her.

  "That's… an incredible story, Natalie," she said. Somewhere in the back of her skull, buried underneath the anxiety and stress, Natalie breathed a sigh of relief that she could finally just use her real name around Quinn's whole family. Annette hesitated, shooting a glance at her husband, and it drove the brief respite away from Natalie's mind, replacing it with yet more dread and fear.

  "You guys aren't scared of me, are you?" asked Natalie nervously.

  Damian frowned. "Why would we be scared?"

  "Because… I'm one of them. You know… awakened."

  "Oh, honey," said Annette. "We were… That's not really—"

  Damian took his wife's hand and squeezed it. "She's right, Annie," said Damian. "We've got some real thinking to do about this." Damian turned to Natalie. "I'm sorry for what I said this morning. I didn't…" He sighed. "There's no good excuse for it, Natalie. I shouldn't have said what I did. It was wrong."

  "It's okay," said Natalie. Even if it scared me… you were afraid of other people like me. I'm afraid of them too.

  Damian smiled, but there was something wrong about it. Natalie could still feel tension in the air, despite everything she'd explained. She felt vulnerable. The Kincaids kept shooting sidelong glances at each other, nervous looks belying their kind words. The memory of Damian's voice from that morning sprung to mind—telling them to stay safe, to stay away from anything to do with magic, and here Natalie was bringing it right into their house.

  Except they called it my home too… and I don't want to leave.

  Natalie took another breath. "I really don't have anywhere else to go."

  Damian seemed sympathetic, but Annette's expression got harder, if anything. Natalie winced. Quinn noticed too, and spoke up before anyone else could. "She's not dangerous, Mom. She's just trying to be normal."

  That's not really true, Quinn… on either count anymore. I'm never gonna be normal, and I'm not so sure I'm not dangerous, either.

  Annette glanced at her son. "How long have you known about this?"

  "A month, I think?" Quinn shrugged. "I found out by accident."

  Oh no. Annette frowned, looking back to Natalie. "That's the thing. So far, everything we've heard about this is dangerous. Buildings burning down, or towns blowing up, and always people getting hurt. I'm not saying you meant to do anything wrong, Natalie, but I have to look at the facts. This whole magic thing isn't really under control, is it?"

  Natalie shook her head. "I can control it." Most of the time…

  "But you put Q in the hospital," said Damian, jumping into the fray against her. Natalie shrunk back a little in her chair. "I'm guessing that wasn't just bad luck."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "No."

  Quinn sat up straight. He was getting angry. "I was the one that got hurt and I say it's okay."

  "But what if it happens again?" asked Annette. "She has that kind of power, and I assume it doesn't just go away."

  They think your magic can only be used for violence.

  Huh?

  Show them. Show you can be more.

  You're helping me now?

  I am always here to help you.

  Before Quinn could reply, Natalie spoke up. "Can I show you something?"

  His parents were taken aback. After a few moments, Damian finally nodded. "Go ahead."

  Natalie looked past him to the other end of the room, where the keyboard sat against the wall. She held up one finger, and with just a little bit of energy, sent a bolt of lightning straight across the room to flick the power switch. She could have done it with just telekinesis, but she wanted to be a little flashy—use something she'd only ever used for violence as a different tool, as something nice for once.

  Every head swivelled to follow the little bolt of purple lightning as it flew. With their attention caught, Natalie began to play, tapping on the keys with her mind to go through one of her favorite songs. She stuck to the notes mostly, too nervous to do any improvisation. To her relief, she didn't mess up a single time. The Kincaids stayed silent through the whole song, watching Natalie's fingers play in mid-air from across the room.

  As soon as she finished the song, Natalie lifted her voice.

  A flutter of wings as Percy flapped out of her room, soaring down the hall to light on her shoulder. Natalie nuzzled with him for a second, before turning back to Quinn's parents again. "It's not dangerous," said Natalie. I'm not dangerous, she added in her head, but couldn't bring herself to say aloud.

  Damian spoke first, with Annette still transfixed by the sudden appearance of a tame red-tailed hawk in her kitchen. "You understand why we're afraid, right?"

  Natalie nodded. She didn't feel hurt by the question—after all, she felt just as afraid as they did most of the time. "A lot of people have done some really bad things," she said. "But I'm not one of them. I just wanted to go to school."

  Annette spoke up finally, a weak smile breaking on her face. "That already makes you unusual, Natalie."

  Damian grinned, glancing at his son. "Yeah, Q hates going."

  "I don't!" Quinn shot back indignantly. "Not… not anymore."

  "Not since a certain someone?" Damian asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Quinn blushed and looked away. His dad smiled, but as he turned back to Natalie, Damian got serious again.

  "...I'm not going to pretend we're totally okay with this, Natalie. I understand why you lied, but I wish you hadn't. The world's changing really fast right now and we're all trying to keep up." Natalie opened her mouth to reply, but Damian kept talking before she could. "You're still welcome to stay here—you and your friend," he added, glancing at Percy, "but Annette and I are going to have a lot more questions. I hope you know you can trust us."

  Natalie nodded. "I do," she said honestly. Way more than Cinza or the Laushires, anyway…

  Damian glanced over at the clock. "Okay. Now I've gotta run, or I'm going to be late for work." He stood up, planting a kiss on his wife's cheek before hurrying out to grab his coat. "See you tomorrow."

  Annette got out her beat-up laptop from her bag and started typing without another word. Quinn glanced uneasily at Natalie before standing up and retreating to his own room. Natalie stayed put, not sure what else to say. Why do I feel so bad right now?

  They did not accept you.

  They told me I could stay, though. He even said he was sorry for this morning!

  But they are afraid of you. Your friends weren't afraid. You are still on thin ice.

  Natalie summoned her bag from her room, zooming it down the hall right into her hands. Annette didn't seem to notice, eyes locked on the screen and whatever she was working on. Natalie dug into her bag and pulled out three stacks of bills—enough, she hoped, for what they needed. She reached forward and set it next to Annette's laptop.

  Her eyes widened at the wrapped pile of money, thirty thousand dollars in all. Natalie gulped. "I know you guys don't want any of my money, but… it's my fault Quinn got hurt. Let me pay for that at least. Please."

  Annette glanced at her suspiciously. "Where did you get so much money, Natalie?"

  "The woman I was living with before," said Natalie. "She was really, really rich. She told me to take as much as I needed, and I didn't really know how much that was, so I just took a whole bunch." Natalie shrugged. "My bag doesn't really run out of space, so umm…"

  "So it's real? It's not… made of magic, or something?"

  She shook her head. "They were rich before magic." On the other hand… Kendra and Lily are both really good at creation magic, and we were in hiding. Maybe it is magic money?

  It worked before. If it helps them pay for Quinn, you need not feel guilt.

  I don't feel guilty, I was just curious.

  Annette nodded. She left the stack of money where it was, rather than hand it back to Natalie as Damian had done. "For Quinn's sake, we'll use it. But we won't take any more. You should keep your money, Natalie. You might need it."

  She is not wrong.

  "Okay," said Natalie, privately disagreeing both with Annette and the voice. "I'm… gonna go back to my room now."

  "No dinner tonight," said Annette idly, focused back on her work once again. "It's a leftovers night. Help yourself to anything you like." She usually still had a ton of casework to handle even once she got home every day. It had nothing to do with Natalie or the conversation they had earlier.

  Natalie got up, Percy still hanging onto her shoulder, and wandered back down the hall to her bedroom. Quinn was waiting in his doorway for her, right across the hall. He looked happy, which only made Natalie feel worse.

  "I knew they'd be okay with it," he said excitedly.

  They aren't… they're still afraid of me. Natalie forced a smile on her face. "Guess so."

  "Want to play a game?"

  She didn't, but at the same time, she really didn't want to be alone. Being alone felt too much like defeat—like she was an exile inside their house. "You play. I'll just watch, okay?"

  Quinn shrugged. He headed back into his room and woke his computer up. Natalie plopped down on his bed, wrapping her arms tight around one of his pillows and warming herself up with a wave of magic. Percy nestled in close, and Natalie actually felt safe again. Being there in Quinn's room, even with everything else going on outside, was good enough.

  Between dodgeball, the confrontation with Blake, and the awkward conversations with Quinn's parents, Natalie felt too exhausted to get up. Somehow, Quinn's bed felt more comfortable and safe than hers across the hall ever had. After a while, she began to drift off to sleep, warm and comfortable near two of the few people (or hawks) she could really trust in the whole world.