She knew it was coming. She'd seen it before, on that night. Jackie had made it their only stop on the way out of Rallsburg, against the silent protests of the others. They tried to hide it from her, but Natalie noticed anyway. She didn't say anything, because she wanted to take something with her… but in the end, there was only so much intact after the fires.

  "That's my house," she murmured to Riley, though nothing there resembled a home anymore.

  They were getting further into the town with every passing minute. Riley led the way, showing Natalie how to move between places of cover and concealment without exposing herself too much. They flitted between shadows, two ghosts prowling the dead streets of the town.

  Riley didn't say anything, just a silent nod of acknowledgment. Natalie was okay with that. She didn't need anything else, just someone recognizing her.

  They took a short break when they reached the university campus. The wall was pockmarked with holes where the iron fence bars had pulled free, ripping chunks of brick away. Little piles of rubble surrounded the place. Nobody had cleaned it up. Natalie felt oddly annoyed by that — Rallsburg was a clean place. Everybody picked up after each other. Except… nobody did anymore, because nobody lived there anymore.

  "Where would he be?" asked Riley, eating a small package crackers. She offered one to Natalie, who took it gratefully — she was surviving on just the cookies from Cinza's, plus leftover jerky she usually fed to Gwen. There had been food in her bag, but she'd unloaded a lot of it in the Greywood for her friends. "If your home is gone, but he's still going somewhere you'd know."

  "...My castle?" said Natalie, shrugging. "Except that's not in Rallsburg, and Mr. Ashe said dad was going to Rallsburg."

  "Specifically?"

  "Huh?"

  "Did he say 'Rallsburg'? Or something else?"

  Natalie nodded confidently. "He did."

  Riley frowned. She glanced around, peering into the darkness. An overturned streetlamp, broken into pieces, lay across the road in front of them. Even if it were upright, though, it was the middle of the night. Rallsburg never turned its lights on at night, so it wouldn't have helped Riley see. Natalie could still see though.

  "He'll be here somewhere," said Natalie. "Somewhere I'd want to go."

  Riley dug into her backpack. She wore a fair-sized pack in addition to the rifle strapped over her shoulder. Natalie didn't like looking at it, but she trusted Riley, and knew the gun might be necessary. She did her best to ignore it. After a moment or two, Riley came back with an odd-looking pair of binoculars with a head-strap. They had four lenses instead of the usual two, and there was a faint green light inside as Riley flicked a switch on the edge.

  "What are those?"

  "Night vision goggles," said Riley. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, keeping everything out of her face, then strapped the goggles on. "I'm sorry, I only have one pair."

  "That's okay." Natalie shrugged. "I can see in the dark. I did… a ritual on my eyes."

  Riley shivered. Natalie assumed it was the cold at first — it was the dead of night in December, after all — but she was plenty bundled up. She's afraid. But what would she be afraid of? I feel like Rook was never afraid of anything. I only met her a couple times, but still…

  The fear didn't go away, either. Natalie could tell, from the way she'd tensed up, the way her movements were a little more precise and rigid. Is it me? Something I said?

  She is right to be afraid of us.

  I don't want people afraid of me. That's awful.

  If they fear us, they will listen to us.

  No. That's not okay. They'll listen to us because we're trying to help, or because we know what's going on, or 'cause hopefully we have the right answer. People being afraid is what made… all this. It's the reason my dad's gone.

  "Are you scared of me?" she asked tentatively.

  "No," said Riley, still peering out into the darkness, though with obviously much less effort than before the goggles. "I am afraid, but not because of you, child."

  "What, then?"

  Riley hesitated. She lifted the goggles off her face again, blinking rapidly as they adjusted from the green light back to the darkness. Natalie was grateful her own night vision didn't suffer such a transition.

  "I am afraid of magic."

  "...Why?"

  "Because I do not understand it. Because I cannot control it. I will not resist anymore, but that does not lessen my fear." Riley pulled the goggles back on. "We should keep moving. He may be elsewhere, and we have nothing more to see here."

  "...Fear," said Natalie suddenly. Riley looked down at her in surprise. "Dad does things because of fear. He'd go somewhere nobody would expect. Somewhere he's always been afraid of."

  "And that is?"

  "The old library." Natalie sprang to her feet. "Come on."

  Riley hurried to keep up, as Natalie darted through the streets. She still stuck to the shadows and alleys between the half-shattered buildings of the town, but she knew exactly where she needed to go — and the half caved-in turrets outlined against the night sky pointed the way, like a lighthouse without a flame, drawing them in.

  "We should not go directly there," said Riley, as they got closer. "If we get close, he may discover us, or one of his associates."

  "...Right," said Natalie, though in her mind, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

  Focus on saving him first. The reunion shall wait until after we have prevented his death.

  I know. I just… I know he's there. He's so close, and it's not the middle of a battle this time. If I could just—

  His men might kill you.

  They'd never!

  Your father would never, but you do not know his men. You cannot be certain.

  "There," said Natalie, pointing at the wreckage of Boris' bookstore.

  To her surprise, it was actually relatively intact, compared to most of the other buildings. The hand-painted Books by Boris sign was in near-perfect condition, thrown out into the street and avoiding much of the fire damage. In fact, Natalie was pretty sure she'd actually put out the fire at Boris', while she was riding through town trying to get people into the Market.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Riley glanced around the street thoughtfully — as least, as best Natalie could tell through the goofy-looking four-eyed goggles. A faint green ring shown from each one, barely visible to Natalie, but she knew night vision could do amazing things. Finally, she nodded.

  "This looks good," she replied, and to Natalie's relief, she was tilting back toward her 'Riley' voice. Natalie had begun to mentally file the two as different sides of the woman, and she certainly preferred Riley to Rook any day.

  People with multiple personalities are supposed to be crazy, right? Like, mentally ill?

  It may just be her way of coping with stress. You have your own ways.

  Yeah… I talk to you.

  It is not the same thing.

  Natalie shook her head. Riley didn't notice.

  They headed into Boris' shop, sneaking past the rubble piled on the outside. Riley stepped through the shattered door frame, her thick boots crunching on the shards of glass scattered across the floor. Natalie winced as she followed, and Riley noticed this time.

  "You need better shoes," she murmured. "Those tennis shoes aren't going to last long out here."

  "I know…" Natalie glanced at her bag, embarrassed. "I had some boots but… I took them out back at Cinza's house. I didn't have time to dress right."

  "I noticed."

  Natalie blushed, remembering how filthy her clothes were at this point. She wondered if she still had anything good to wear inside, but considering how dirty she was, Natalie didn't want to put something new on without taking a good shower or a bath.

  "Let's go upstairs," said Riley, nodding to the half-broken staircase. "It'll be easier to watch the library from here."

  Natalie followed. Upstairs, they found the remains of a bedroom. Natalie glanced inside the closet, and for a moment, her eyes lit up at a whole rack of girls' clothes which looked like they might fit—until she pulled one off. A pile of ash and dust flew out, filling her lungs. She coughed, hard, trying to clear her throat, and dropped the plain yellow dress to the ground.

  Or, more accurately, half of a dress, as the rest had burned away.

  Riley looked up in alarm. She'd been setting up a place to rest her rifle, a little alcove set into the remaining half of the outer wall. There was a huge chunk missing where the window had once been, and the night breeze flowed inside, carrying away the ash and dust kicked up by Natalie's brief exploration. Outside, the whole library was plainly visible, lit by the sinking moonlight.

  Percy fluttered inside through the gap, recognizing they were stopping for a while. Natalie called down to Gwen and Scrappy, letting them know to stay quiet and hidden downstairs while they waited. They'd keep watch and keep them safe.

  "This is a great forward position," murmured Riley. She leaned over her scope, the goggles lifted back up onto her forehead. "Clear lines down every street and a full surround of the library, including every known entrance. You picked well."

  "...Thanks," said Natalie, a little uncomfortable again. I don't know if I want to be good at stuff like this.

  "We will know if anyone approaches. Can you confirm your father is inside?"

  "I… I'm not sure," said Natalie. "I'll try."

  Carefully, she started to reach out with her magic. She wasn't quite as cavalier as she had been in the forest with the military patrols, since she was hiding from both awakened and normal people now. Inching her willpower across the gap toward the library was slow going, since she was making stops to watch for any other presence, any essence as Cinza called it, in the Rallsburg air.

  "Why does Boris have a bunch of girls' clothes?" asked Natalie quietly as she kept it moving.

  Riley shrugged. She was laying flat on the bed, after having cleared it of a layer of ash, soot, and shattered glass. Her rifle was propped up on a plastic drying rack, and Riley was still leaning into it with one eye closed, so her shrug was a tiny motion.

  "I didn't know much about Boris. You probably knew him better. Was he of that persuasion?"

  "Of… what?"

  "Think of it like…" Riley paused, considering. "A secret life. I can't say if this applied to Boris at all, but sometimes, people are very different in private."

  "I don't think so…"

  "Then perhaps he had a young relative who came to stay with him." She shrugged again. "There could be any number of explanations. We may never know."

  "He's still alive, you know," said Natalie.

  Riley smiled. "Then you should ask him sometime."

  Natalie's aura finally reached the library. To her surprise, she found something. It wasn't another presence, not exactly… but it was magic. The whole library teemed with it. Every stone, every turret… the place was brimming with some kind of power.

  She felt more closely, thinking it to be some kind of trick. Maybe it was like Omega's tree hideouts, where there was a secret source of power hiding inside the rocks. Or maybe it was like the Greywood, pulling its energy from the land. Natalie couldn't find anything like that though. So far as she could tell, it was the library itself which gave off the energy.

  Curious, Natalie tried to pull at it, just like she did with gemstones, but nothing happened. Maybe if I was closer…

  Someone spoke, not too far away from them. Natalie instinctively ducked. Her aura fled back into her body with a faint rushing sensation, like a stream of water underneath her skin. Riley hadn't reacted, so it was something only Natalie could hear. She strained her ears, listening carefully.

  "...Affirmative."

  "I figured I wasn't doing anything useful back at camp, so I headed out. Tracked him here, sir, over."

  "So where is the bastard? We were thinkin' the big stone library. Over."

  "Bang on target, sir. He's inside. Do what you gotta do. Out."

  Natalie winced. She knew one of those voices pretty well by now, and she knew exactly what he was doing here.

  "They're here," she murmured.

  "I heard," said Riley. "I assume this means Stebbins is close to us?"

  "Huh?"

  Riley pointed at her ear, and sure enough, there was an earpiece still clamped on. "Stebbins was the other speaker. You must have heard him and his radio. Which direction?"

  Natalie pointed at the wall, down the street from them. "He's on our side of the street… but I dunno how close."

  "Good enough." Riley nodded slightly, her eye never leaving the library. "Your friends are downstairs to keep us safe?"

  "Yes."

  "Then I suggest you prepare for whatever attack they might send." Riley's voice was quickly shifting back to Rook. Natalie's fear doubled over. She felt like she might be sick, but she knew she couldn't afford any weakness. Anything might happen.

  Josh said they were going to do the magnetic ritual again. If it's Hector, Ruby and Cinza… can I block it? Am I strong enough?

  We are.

  How do we even block it? I've never done anything like that. I've blocked simple spells, and I used to mess with people all the time during council meetings… but this is so much more than that.

  Use the resources at our disposal.

  "Stebbins, Ashe."

  "Go ahead, Ashe."

  "Got a guest on the line. Need your sightline to confirm. Over."

  "...Hi… can you tell me… which part… he's in?" asked Will's halting voice, crackling through the radio.

  "Whatever you are going to do," Riley murmured next to her, "be prepared to do it." Her own finger hovered just outside the trigger guard of her rifle, while her eye gently traveled from side to side, scanning the area.

  Natalie, in a panic, opened every gem pouch in her bag and upturned it. A huge cache spilled out. Brightly colored stones rattled over the floorboards. A few of the smallest pieces fell through, landing on the floor below. Natalie plunged her hands into the cold pile, pulling on the energy of dozens at a time.

  Sheer magic power surged through her body. Natalie had never felt so much. She cast her aura out into the air, and suddenly it was like a huge net. Instead of feeling in a space, Natalie was suddenly everywhere at once, in a way she could barely comprehend. Her mind was racing. So much sensation, so many little tingles of magical energy, and all she could do was hold on.

  "We got it," said Cinza. Natalie panicked—she'd missed part of the conversation in her rush. "Stand by."

  "It's about to happen," said Natalie. Riley tensed up, but it was nothing compared to the sheer anxiety rolling through Natalie's body in waves.

  She was having trouble breathing. Every muscle was on fire. Her lungs were trying to pump air in and out at an impossible rate. Her eyes watered up. She couldn't stop blinking. Every finger was twitching at random angles, completely independently of one another, brushing gems around in the pile.

  Natalie felt it.

  A huge spear of magical energy hurtled through the sky from the Greywood. Natalie's massive net braced, as she hurled her own essence forward. A gasp escaped her lips, followed by a cry of pain.

  The spear landed.

  Natalie felt like a white hot knife had jabbed into her skull. She cried out—and suddenly, Riley was on top of her. A hand went over her mouth, holding her down. Natalie's body protested, tried to wriggle free involuntarily, but Riley was too strong, and Natalie's mind was too busy dealing with the huge wave of pressure still emanating from the Greywood.

  The magic was beginning to coalesce into the familiar pattern, one she had witnessed before. It was gathering into a tight cloud, centered on one of the turrets in the library. As Natalie threw her essence out, fueled by the gemstone pile surrounding her fingers, she felt something… familiar. She recognized the spell's aura—and in a sudden burst of fear, Natalie was recognized in turn.

  The magic abruptly vanished. Natalie stopped struggling. Her essence reeled back in like a fishing line, rushed back into her body. Riley collapsed and rolled off her, both breathing heavily. Natalie closed her eyes, too exhausted to move.

  Within moments, she had fallen unconscious.

  Outside, across the street, the library sat undisturbed—and for anyone else watching that night in Rallsburg, they would have thought nothing in all the world was amiss.