Percy shifted on the pillow, rousing her from sleep—the longest, deepest sleep Natalie had felt in ages. Not a single nightmare had broken the whole night, though a few tried their hardest to scare her awake. Natalie shook her head, getting hair out of her eyes and trying to blink through her bleary vision.

  She was still in Quinn's room, with morning sunlight streaming through the window. Quinn was asleep on the floor nearby, wrapped in a blanket with a couple spare pillows. Natalie stared down at him from where she'd ended up, laying across his bed with a light blanket she didn't remember ever pulling on. A couple tiny holes at the tip gave it away—Percy had managed to drag it over her with his talons.

  "Quinn?" she whispered. He didn't budge. She didn't want to wake him up, so she cast a much smaller version of the muffling spell around herself to make her movements totally silent. Natalie wasn't sure if it actually worked—the usual one was about blocking out an area, while Natalie was trying for a girl-shaped wrapping pressed right up against her skin—but Quinn didn't wake up as she left the room, Percy riding her shoulder out.

  As Natalie walked out into the hall, she nearly barged straight into Annette. "Oh!"

  Annette peered at her through reading glasses, which gave Natalie a better idea of the time of day. If she hadn't put in contacts yet, it was really early—even before breakfast. Annette had her cracked old laptop tucked under one arm, a mug of fresh coffee in her hand, and an expression just as surprised as her own.

  Natalie's cheeks flared up. She glanced over her shoulder quickly, both to hide her embarrassment and to emphasize her point. "I was just—"

  Annette smiled. "It's fine, dear. We figured you could use a good night's sleep."

  Natalie nodded. "...Thanks."

  "You haven't been sleeping well, I'm guessing."

  "...No."

  Quinn's mom sighed. "Well, since we're both up, how about some breakfast?"

  "Yes, please," said Natalie.

  Neither Damian nor Quinn joined them for breakfast—Damian would have been out very late for the Friday crowd, and Natalie had no idea how late Quinn had stayed up playing games. She and Annette ate in silence, just cereal and milk with orange juice, but it tasted good. Just as Natalie was about to speak up, though, Annette nodded toward the TV.

  "So, can you control anything with that power?" she asked.

  Natalie smiled. She didn't bother with the lightning this time, simply flicking the power button below the TV. It clicked on, right to the news channel Annette usually watched in the morning.

  "Well, losing the remote won't be such a big deal anymore," she added, going back to her cereal.

  Natalie hesitated. "So… you're okay now?"

  Annette sighed, setting down her spoon and looking at Natalie very seriously. "I suppose we'll have to set down a few more ground rules, but yes, I think we're all 'okay' with this."

  "Rules like what?"

  "Well, I doubt this will be a problem for you, but we'd rather not anyone else find out about your… abilities." Annette paused, looking thoughtful. "Do the rest of the gang know what you can do?"

  "Yeah."

  She nodded. "So, if they're over, that's all right, but if we have anyone else here to visit, you can't use magic at all. Even if you think nobody's looking. All right?"

  "All right." If I have to defend myself though…

  You will defend yourself.

  "And as for Quinn—"

  "I didn't mean to fall asleep in his room," said Natalie quickly, cheeks heating up as she did. She tried to force them to cool down with magic, but it didn't help—apparently, she couldn't just keep herself from being embarrassed. Her next few words were accompanied by cloudy breath anyway. "It won't happen again."

  Annette had a real adult-smirk on her face as she replied—the worst kind, when Natalie felt like she was missing out on a joke she couldn't understand yet. "I was going to say, don't do any magic that involves him. I know you wouldn't ever mean to, but I don't want any—"

  Natalie interrupted her impatiently. "I can't even if I wanted to. It's Mason's Law. Magic can't be used on other people. Nobody can break that."

  "Oh!" Annette frowned. "Well, that's… that's all right then… who's Mason?"

  "A guy from home." Natalie shrugged. "I didn't really know him very well… He taught me how to do some stuff though." And he was a real jerk about it, too. I think he only taught me how to do fire and temperature stuff because Rachel asked him to.

  "I want to hear more about that," said Annette, "if you're all right with telling m…" She trailed off as the TV cut off the banal morning weather and traffic with a frightening siren sound. They both turned to watch as the breaking news story shoved through, like an intruder in their quiet morning.

  "...live footage from the BBC in London, local time 4PM. In the distance there, that's the private estate of Cornelius Malton, the energy tycoon and chairman of the Culver-Malton Group."

  "Is that—"

  "We can confirm that was Hailey Winscombe, the famous 'awakened', who just entered the grounds. It looks like… oh my God."

  Natalie watched in horror as a tiny speck flew down toward the building like a meteorite from space. As Hailey dove, people were hurled off of the building's open flat roof, specks flying off in the distance as though she had an invisible shield in front of her—or a whole lot of wind…

  The camera cut away before they saw anything else. "We are now confirming that Hailey Winscombe seems to have attacked the Malton estate, for reasons unknown. Sources from the BBC tell us that Mr. Malton is currently in the building."

  "You know her, right?" asked Annette quietly, eyes locked on the TV.

  "Yeah…" Natalie winced. "I don't know what she's doing."

  "Why would she…" Annette trailed off, realizing Natalie didn't have any answers.

  I wish I did though… Hailey, why are you doing this?

  A moment later, the news switched back to a wide helicopter camera, watching the building again. A little black car zoomed out from the garage, followed by another from the street, and Hailey flying between the two of them.

  "...Can you fly?" asked Damian. Both Natalie and Annette jumped—neither had heard him come in, glued to the TV as they were.

  "No," said Natalie, still transfixed by the image of Hailey gliding over London streets. "She's the only one who knows how."

  They watched the whole chase on TV, from almost every angle. The news kept finding different people to watch from—cameras on the ground, helicopters, drones, everything they could get their hands on. Finally, they heard the whole speech from Cinza, perfectly clear in her echoey voice, broadcast around the world.

  "...from the real threat lurking among us," said Cinza, standing before the crowd with the FBI agent and a totally-spent Hailey flanking her. Natalie gulped. She knew what was coming next, an instant before Cinza said it.

  "No…" she whispered, but of course, she couldn't stop it. Natalie was a whole world away from Cinza.

  "There is a man in the forests near Rallsburg. His name is Brian Hendricks." Cinza laid out her father's crimes bare for the world, one by one, even those Natalie didn't know about. Every word pierced her heart a little more. She'd been hoping for so long that, despite everything she'd seen, she might be wrong about him.

  Cinza had just called him a mass-murderer in front of the whole world. There wasn't any going back from that. Natalie knew it.

  "Natalie?" Annette asked, noticing her distress. She shook her head frantically, hands covering her mouth, afraid she might say anything to give it away—though they'd surely find out as soon as they did any research—and afraid she might miss something just as important, since Cinza hadn't finished speaking.

  "...Malton's men shot her dead in the streets of Lakewood… Jessica Silverdale. Remember that name."

  Tears sprung to Natalie's eyes as Jessica's face flashed through her mind.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "Natalie?" Annette asked again.

  "It was her funeral," she whispered. "The one I went to on Thursday. Jessica. I didn't know what happened."

  "...I'm so sorry," said Damian quietly. Natalie appreciated it, but any slight comfort was driven away by Cinza's next words.

  "...You have seen what we can do. Even a man at the top of your world cannot escape justice if we seek it. If you come, we will defend ourselves."

  Cinza turned away, with the FBI agent and Hailey only a few steps behind. The news people didn't seem to know what to say, leaving her last words punctuated with eerie silence. The camera lingered on her retreating robe, as they crossed over the wall in the street—which subsequently sunk back into flat pavement—and got into a car, driving away to who-knew-where, while Hailey flew off into the distance.

  The news turned to commentary for hours after that. Natalie was stuck to the couch, trying to make sense of it all. She couldn't follow a lot of what the people were talking about, especially the politics and such, but she felt like if she didn't try, she'd miss something that would affect her. She might be hidden at the Kincaid home for the time being, but Natalie couldn't assume she'd be there for long anymore.

  He's been called a murderer in front of the whole world now. The clock is ticking.

  I know.

  They know he is in the forest back home. You must find him first.

  I know.

  You cannot wait until December anymore.

  But—

  You have hesitated long enough. It's time to act.

  Natalie shook her head. What was she supposed to do—get right off the couch and head out the door? She had no idea where he was, and the Olympic Forest was huge. She had a real home here. She felt safe, comfortable. Maybe it's not worth it.

  You can't just abandon your hunt.

  I never even started it. I'm actually kind of happy here. Why can't I just stay with Quinn?

  "They just said they're above the law," said Annette quietly, still back at the kitchen table with Damian. "She attacked that man in his home, without due process. Just flew right in and..." She trailed off fearfully.

  "It'll blow over," said Damian, though he didn't sound confident even to Natalie. "Let them figure it out."

  Natalie got up. She couldn't stand watching it anymore. She hurried back to Quinn's room, desperate for something to distract her. Quinn was awake, finally, and at his computer. As she walked in, he twisted around in his chair. "Natalie…" he started, and her heart fell even further. Oh no… He doesn't know about the stuff in London. This is something else.

  "What?" she asked fearfully.

  He pulled up a window on his computer. "Tyler found it this morning. He sent it over."

  Natalie leaned in, looking at the screen. It was a scan of a book, handwritten in a style she found vaguely familiar. As she deciphered the words, a darkness settled down on her chest.

  "...No, the true strength lies in conviction. ███████, though ███ might appear weaker than any among us, possesses great power equal to the rest of the natural awakened—and the conviction to use that power when pressed. See how ███ cleansed the fires of the riot, how ███ claimed a wolf as a mere mount! ███████ is the strongest and bravest of us all, and fie those who would speak otherwise. I know no other who, at any ███, could command whole crowds to a standstill simply by walking forward with head held high..."

  "That's me," whispered Natalie, pointing at the black box where her name was supposed to go.

  Quinn nodded. "We figured, after the stuff about animals. You said nobody else can do that, right?"

  "...Yeah." Natalie glanced at him. "How much is there?"

  "The whole book. It's on a couple sites, but I don't think it's gotten very big yet. Tyler only found it because he's always on these kinds of sites." Quinn shook his head. "At least your name's not in there."

  "But what about..." Natalie trailed off. Cinza didn't see it happen. She has no idea about the people in Rallsburg, and this book didn't include anything from Seattle. Nothing about what I did.

  Quinn looked up. "What?"

  "Brian Hendricks," she said. Lucky for her, most people didn't really obsess over the victim lists from Rallsburg. Quinn didn't know her last name, and she wasn't about to tell him. Not yet. Not until I find him. "Does it talk about what he did?"

  "Yeah," said Quinn. "She calls him the Traitor. Him and Robert Harrison, who's the Spy. They sound like really bad people."

  Natalie winced, but didn't contradict him. "Did you read the whole thing?"

  "Not yet. It's really long."

  If Cinza talks about me and my dad in there… he could probably figure it out. But Cinza doesn't know what I did. Nobody else will either. Just me, Rachel, and Quinn.

  "There's a lot of really big stuff going on right now," said Natalie, glancing back toward the living room, where she could still hear the commentary on the TV about Cinza and Hailey. They were talking about a warrant for Hailey's arrest. She explained what she'd seen, and the briefest explanation of the Cinza she knew—the strange girl with the weird voice who always seemed to have some secret agenda Natalie didn't understand. "I don't know what's going to happen next."

  Quinn frowned. "Do you think she's trying to take over the world?"

  Natalie looked back at him with creased eyebrows. "No," she said, doing her best not to roll her eyes. As dumb as it sounded, it wasn't totally crazy with how the world seemed to be changing. "I think she's just trying to keep her people safe. The Greycloaks, I mean."

  "Are you one of her people?"

  "She said I was." Natalie shrugged. "I don't have a grey cloak, if that's what you're wondering. She'd probably give me one if I asked, but I don't really want to be."

  "Quinn? Natalie?" Damian had appeared at the bedroom door. He came in and sat down on the edge of Quinn's bed. Natalie leaned back against the desk, while Quinn spun around to face his dad. Damian glanced at Natalie first. "This is going to sound strange, but… Natalie, how strong are you?"

  Natalie winced. "...Really strong," she murmured.

  Quinn jumped in before his dad could say anything else. "She's stronger than anybody. Even Hailey."

  I don't know about that… Hailey's smarter than I am, and older, and bigger, prettier, everything-er. I don't think I could beat her in a fight. Not that we'd ever fight. That's horrible.

  Damian nodded. "Remember what I told you yesterday? About how dangerous it's getting around here?"

  "Because of people like me," said Natalie quietly.

  Quinn's dad shook his head forcefully. "No. Not people like you. Just… people who can do things like you can." He sighed. "This isn't really something I can say easily, but I need to. If something happens, Natalie, I need you to protect Quinn."

  "Huh?" asked Quinn.

  Of course I'd protect Quinn! Why is he even saying something like that? Natalie frowned. "Nothing's going to happen, Mr. Kincaid."

  "I don't know what's going to happen," said Damian. "I've heard a lot of weird stories recently, at work and on the news, and all of them are around here." He sighed again. "If we could move out for a while, I'd be getting us far away right now, but we don't have anywhere to go either."

  We're not dangerous though… It's magic. It's a good thing. There's just some bad people around…

  Damian looked back to Natalie with a firm, hard gaze. Natalie wilted slightly underneath it—she'd never seen him so intense. "No matter what, you keep him safe, okay?"

  "I promise," said Natalie. She reached out and took Quinn's hand, holding it tight. In his room, Natalie actually felt safe, and the fear and pain stayed low. She still felt it, and the nausea still begged her to let go, but it wasn't unbearable anymore. "I won't let anything happen to Quinn."

  Quinn glanced up at her. "I can take care of myself, you know."

  Natalie rolled her eyes. Across the room, a pillow lifted up into the air. Without warning, it hurled itself at Quinn, smacking him in the face. The pillow bounced off right into Natalie's waiting arms.

  Grimacing, Quinn nodded. "Yeah, okay."

  Damian laughed. "Thanks, Natalie."

  He left, and for a brief moment, Natalie actually felt relieved—but it vanished as soon as she turned back around and saw Cinza's book still splayed across the screen, a passage about Natalie highlighted right in the center. "Everybody's gonna find this soon," she said.

  Quinn nodded. "So what does that mean for you?"

  "Well, I'm not in the book," said Natalie with a shrug. "There's no Natalie there. It's just a black line. I'm dead like everybody else from Rallsburg."

  "So you're not going to run?"

  Natalie shook her head. "I gotta stick around to protect you, remember?"

  Quinn rolled his eyes. "No, you don't."

  I will, though. She giggled. "Come on, let's play something."

  As Quinn got out the decks, Natalie leaned back in the folding chair, closing her eyes for a minute. She felt impossibly torn between what she'd been planning for months and the new path Quinn's dad had just opened up for her. For five whole months—from May until October—Natalie's entire life was just waiting until she felt like she was ready to go find her dad.

  Except… now she had somebody else she cared about.

  Your father cannot wait forever.

  Quinn needs me too.

  Quinn was never in danger until you arrived. If you left, he'd be in no more danger than before.

  Except I can't now. The whole school knows we're together. People would figure it out.

  The specter of her father loomed in her mind, overlapping with Quinn sitting a few feet in front of her on the floor of his bedroom. The two people in the world she cared most about—and the two who cared most about her, if she didn't count Gwen—and Natalie couldn't be with both of them.

  Dad chose this. I'm done waiting for Rachel, I'm done worrying about Rallsburg. I'm done tying my life to his.

  You were made to hunt him.

  No, you were. I'm trying to have a normal life, and you're the opposite of normal.

  "Your pick," said Quinn. Natalie leaned forward and picked up a forest, her go-to when she had no idea what she wanted to do.

  You know what you want to do. You want to go back home. Find Gwen, find your father, and ask him the question that's been bothering you since he disappeared.

  I want to go to school and have friends. And yeah, I want Gwen back, but I don't need my dad for that. I can figure it out.

  Quinn picked up two graveyards. Natalie frowned. She wasn't sure what strategy that could lead to. Quinn didn't usually play any undead in his games. Something was different. She looked back up at him—and something about him was different. More… pronounced—or was that just Natalie, seeing him differently?

  I want to stay here with Quinn.

  You're wasting your time with him. He's normal. You are not.

  I'm okay with that.

  You shouldn—

  Natalie set her cards down. "Hey, Quinn?"

  Quinn looked up from studying the piles, surprised. They usually went through the whole draft without a single word. Both enjoyed the quiet. Before he could answer her, Natalie had already leaned forward. She had no idea what she was doing, except that she knew she wanted to get the voice to shut up—and she wanted to prove to herself that she could.

  Her instincts battled against her emotions in thunderous tidals waves. Natalie leaned in close. Electricity seemed to crackle in the air, setting her skin buzzing. The drummer in her heart began pounding as if she'd gone insane—fitting, since Natalie was pretty sure she was crazy. Warmth radiated off his skin as she closed the last little gap between them.

  Her lips touched Quinn's. For a moment, just for the briefest instant, they kissed.

  The fear and doubt rushed back in. Natalie fell back onto her legs, before it got too painful, before anxiety and memory swallowed her whole. The warmth didn't go away, though, as she blushed bright red. She stared down at the piles of cards, trying to hold in the intense mixture of emotions swirling through her. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Quinn spoke.

  "...Your pick," he said—and it was perfect, precisely what Natalie needed in that moment.

  A tiny smile creased her lips as Natalie picked up a village. The game continued, and neither of them said a word about it, though Natalie caught a faint embarrassed smile of Quinn's own a few moments later when she finally looked back up. Seeing it caused her to smile wider, which bounced back to him, until soon enough they were both grinning like idiots while they played.

  They played through the whole game, Quinn winning the first, and another after that which Natalie won—and while the voice came back, helping her as it always did, Natalie didn't hear a single word more about Quinn.