Back into the world of electricity again, Hailey turned on her phone and pulled open a maps app. She'd seen a park sign near Beverly, wherever she was, and it'd be enough to track her down. Hailey just had to hope she'd be there long enough. Can't beat teleporting, no matter how fast I can fly…

  She flew over the cities below, passing Olympia by on her way to the morass of streets and highways that marked Tacoma. Then, Lakewood passed underneath, and Hailey felt a jolt right in her heart. She was heading home… well, not home, but it had been a place for her and Jessica. They'd spent months together here.

  I wonder what you'd do, Jess. You were better at coming up with solutions than me. You could use magic to learn magic… you'd figure out how to save Meg in a heartbeat. Maybe even find another way to awaken people. Does it even actually need language to work?

  Hailey flew on, past the streets where they'd fought the golems, fought Viper's men, chased cars down the highways with Rika… so much had happened here. As she entered Tacoma, she even spotted the bar, where Harold betrayed them and set up an ambush… where Alden nearly died, where Harold did die—where she met Jeremy.

  Well… at least I got one good friend out of all that. I think you and Jeremy really would've become good friends. You didn't really have time… he only met you the once. And Mom… oh man, Mom would have loved you so much.

  She wasn't crying anymore. Thinking about Jessica was sad, but… Hailey could bear it, finally. It'd never go away, and she'd always wish Jess were back with her again, but Hailey felt like she'd found a way to move forward.

  Hailey picked at the blue strand in her hair, smiling to herself. You'll always be right here, for the rest of my life, Jess. Right next to me, where you belonged.

  The park was in sight. Hailey dove… and swerved at the last minute, falling out of sight behind the trees.

  Beverly was still there—but she wasn't alone.

  Hailey tried to shape the air around her, make it as quiet as possible, and land further away. She knew Beverly could sense magic being used, but it was harder to sense any natural awakened like Hailey. If she could get on the ground and stop using magic for a little bit, Beverly might not notice her nearby… and Hailey definitely wanted to know who the other person was.

  It's not Boris… he's way up north with Dan now. It's not me, either… so who's she talking to?

  She landed with nary a whisper, to her relief, only the faintest gust on the nearest bushes. Hailey ducked low, and did her absolute best to keep her wings still. She clutched the tourmaline stone in her palm for luck as she scooted forward, walking at an awkward crouch ever closer in the thankfully-dry grass. The park was mostly deserted, only the engine noise filling the air, and as Hailey got close enough… she could hear Beverly arguing.

  "...and it's too much! I can't do this!"

  "What changed?" A guy voice, for sure… but I don't recognize it… do I?

  "What do you mean, what changed? The world found out." Beverly shook her head. Hailey couldn't see who she was talking to, and she didn't dare risk moving any closer—not with the most powerful person in the world only a few dozen feet away.

  "It was always going to happen eventually."

  "And what am I supposed to do? I can't just be everywhere."

  "They'll have to figure it out. You wanted to do this."

  "That's…" Beverly looked like she might slap him. "I wanted to keep people from dying. You guys tore apart the Grimoire."

  "I don't know what you want from me."

  "Help me," she snapped.

  "We agreed. You were there. I can't just help. If I do, everything's on the table again. We'd be crossing lines we all agreed not to cross."

  "So we just let people die?"

  "You can save them."

  Beverly shook her head. "I can't do it anymore."

  "So magic's gone, since its gatekeeper has disappeared."

  "Think about it," she said, and her voice hovered between calm and furious, never quite settling on either side of the fence. "If I start awakening people again, even one person, they start thinking it's okay. It gets big again, too big. I can't be everywhere. They'll start dying." Beverly sat down on the bench and put her face in her hands. "I screwed up, really bad, but… maybe it's for the best."

  "What do you mean?"

  "If everyone stops awakening. It was never sustainable. Not when it's just me."

  "You hold incredible power…" he murmured.

  "It doesn't have to be just me," Beverly added, shooting a glare. Hailey wished desperately she could see him, but still, she wouldn't risk it. That's Alpha. It has to be.

  "I can't."

  "You won't," she snapped. "Don't screw around with me. It's just you and me here. Jack's gone. Don't make these stupid dramatic statements and hold to higher principles or whatever. Talk to me like a person again."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "It's against the rules."

  "You made up the rules!" said Beverly exasperatedly. "Just— just break them!"

  "If I do, I'm a tyrant." He sounded a little frustrated himself now. Hailey guessed this was an argument they'd held before, and which Beverly obviously lost, since Alpha had never once shown himself past the early Council meetings… and the fights Hailey had witnessed. "If I cross that line…"

  "You could save so many lives. Make the world a better place. Do something."

  "You know, Boris and I talked about it once," said Alpha thoughtfully—which only seemed to annoy Beverly more, at least based on her expression. "He didn't know who I am, obviously, but… we were talking about Nietszche and Berdyaev. I don't want to be an übermensch. I'm not an ideal for everyone to follow. People should be able to craft their own destinies and determine their own lives, without me getting in the way."

  "You don't have to get in the way," said Beverly. "Just help them."

  "If we do anything, we have influence. Look at you," said Alpha, and Beverly winced slightly. "You've got a whole cult formed around you, and you've never done anything more for them than anyone else. I mean, you even erased some of their memories and they still worship you. Imagine if I started showing myself."

  "Because you'd be so popular," she said, dripping with bitter sarcasm.

  "I can't teleport, BB, and I can't track everything like you do either. People would have to come to me. I could extend my influence, sure, but I'd have to claim some kind of home. It just… doesn't work."

  "So find another way."

  "...We've been working on that."

  "And?"

  Alpha sighed. "He's still mad at me."

  "Oh, come on," cried Beverly. "You can't—"

  "We agreed!" he snapped, and it was his turn to get angry. "We make decisions together. The last time I did something on my own… you know exactly how that went. That's practically why we're all in this mess."

  "This is just stupid," said Beverly, frustrated. "He's holding you back because he's angry you, what, did nothing while your home burned down? What does he have to be mad about?"

  "He's mad," said Alpha, "because I keep arguing with him about changing the rules. Because I want to change them."

  "So do it already!"

  "...This is getting nowhere," Alpha sighed. "I'm sorry about what happened to your sister, but I—"

  He stopped talking suddenly. Hailey wasn't sure if she'd been noticed or not, and she wasn't about to wait around to find out either.

  Time to be reckless, Jess. Just this once.

  Hailey leapt forward, crashing through the bushes, using a flap of her wings to help propel herself across. She saw Beverly just for the briefest second—and then she vanished. Across from her, a young man with shoulder length hair, facing away from her.

  Hailey lunged forward.

  He turned into an outline of light as he spun around. Alpha threw out a hand, and suddenly, Hailey had stopped in mid-air.

  I… what? How?

  She was being held aloft—by what, she couldn't say. It had to be magic… but it was something she'd never experienced. Hailey felt out with her own magic, and found Alpha's essence pressing against her, holding her tight.

  Hailey felt her head getting light. Her heart was beating hard and fast, as adrenaline coursed through her.

  Is he gonna kill me?

  "Don't do that again," said Alpha—and now his voice was almost like Cinza's, but turned up to eleven. She couldn't hear a single similarity to his real voice. "I'm letting you go because you and BB are friends, but if you ever scry me, if you ever track me, if you do anything that threatens me…"

  He let the threat hang in the air. Hailey nodded briefly, panting, still suspended in midair in a vice grip she couldn't possibly break, no matter how many gemstones she might ever hold.

  Alpha nodded. "I'm going to let go, and you're going to fly away. It doesn't matter where, but I'll know if you aren't gone, or if you try to follow me." He paused, and leaned forward, though it was difficult to tell when Hailey could only see a glowing bright silhouette of a person. "I don't exist. I'm just a memory."

  She nodded again.

  Suddenly, the grip released, and Hailey was let go. She landed heavily on the grass, coughing.

  "Sorry," said Alpha—and it was so bizarre, after the deadly threat and sheer terror from only a moment before, to get an apology… Hailey couldn't help it.

  She laughed.

  "...Are you okay?"

  Hailey didn't answer. She struggled to her feet, pointedly looking away from the man who still utterly terrified her, and took a deep breath. A moment later, with her wings spread wide, Hailey leapt into the sky once more. She had no idea what to think of the scene she'd just witnessed… but she knew she wasn't going to find Beverly again any time soon.

  She knows I'm looking for her now. She'll come find me. That's the best I'm going to get. After that conversation… I don't think I can persuade her to awaken people again anyway. She seems set on it… unless something changes.

  Hailey shook her head. She needed to focus. There was still someone who needed her—more than a few people, really, if she remembered Quinn Kincaid's family too, as well as every other potential danger still looming on the horizon.

  Something caught her eye. A person—a teenager, in fact—hanging out near an apartment block. He had something in his hand… and as soon as she realized what it was, her heart nearly stopped.

  Hailey dove straight at him, as fast as she could. He was starting to look down at it.

  "Stop!" she shouted.

  The guy looked up.

  Oh, thank god.

  Hailey landed right in front of him, and the gust from her wings blew his hood back off his head. He stumbled back, utterly windswept. She reached forward and snatched the Scrap out of his hands.

  "...What are you doing?" she asked, breathless. "Don't you know what's going on?"

  "...Huh?"

  "If you read that, it'll kill you." Hailey raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you read the alert?"

  He shrugged. "Somebody told me that was a hoax. Wasn't real."

  Hailey shook her head. "It's very real. Whoever told you that is screwing with you. Or worse. You were about to die, dude."

  His eyes widened. "Oh, shit… you're that girl. Hailey-something."

  "Yeah, I am," said Hailey. "So trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Don't look at the pages of the book, and tell everybody else you know not to either. You will die."

  Until I can catch up with Beverly again. Until I persuade her that magic's still worth having around. That the world really can be a better place. We might need to change some stuff about how we do things, but… she should be working with us. Not like this.

  The guy was trembling. His hands shook. "Jesus…" he muttered. "I… I just…"

  Hailey tried to give him a comforting smile. "Hey. It's okay."

  "But, I coulda—"

  "You're all right." Hailey took the Scrap and stuffed it into her bag. "Remember. Don't let anyone try it, if you can. There's no half-measure here. It's either don't read it, or die."

  "...You saved my life."

  She shrugged. "I was just in the neighborhood."

  "You're a goddess," he breathed.

  Hailey smiled again, about to correct him—and the chirp of a police siren blared in her ears.

  She whipped around. A Tacoma P.D. officer was standing behind his car door, gun raised.

  "Hailey Winscombe!" he shouted. "Get down on the ground, now!"

  The poor officer looked terrified. Hailey just shook her head.

  I guess this is my life now, Jessica… well, at least I get to fly again. I'm okay with that.

   A moment later, she launched herself into the sky, with the eyes of the officer and the shocked teenager following her flight. Hailey twisted around in midair, and with another huge flap, turned to the southwest.

  Toward Olympia.