"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Alden asked, leaning over to pop open the car door for her. "I saw you on the news."

  "Oh god yes. I need to get out of the house, no matter what." Hailey climbed into the passenger seat.

  "Where's Jess?"

  "...She's staying home for a while."

  Alden looked at her curiously.

  Hailey sighed. "She really didn't handle that whole fire rescue thing very well. It's my fault. I kinda shoved us into it without warning, and she had to do all the work holding the fire back."

  "Why didn't you just put it out?"

  "That would've drawn more attention to us. Not that it ended up mattering," she added bitterly.

  "We'll figure it out," Alden said confidently.

  "So where are we headed?"

  Alden shifted the car into gear and took them out onto the main roads. "One of our new awakened needed help with something. He set up the meeting. I was gonna push it back, but then you called."

  "Thanks for indulging me. Which one of our newbies is it?"

  "Harold. We're going out to see what's up."

  "Harold?"

  "He didn't give us a last name. I think Rupert's still trying to figure it out."

  She shook her head. "No, I mean, I don't remember this guy."

  "Oh, right," Alden looked embarrassed. "I did a couple without you."

  "You did? When was that?"

  "When you flew off to Canada to look for Dan and Boris those first couple of days."

  Hailey winced. "Sorry about that."

  "Hey, I would have gone with you if I could."

  "Everything went okay?"

  "Yeah, fine. I'm getting the hang of this."

  "Yeah, you are." Hailey leaned out the window as they pulled onto the highway, enjoying the breeze through her freshly short, straight brown hair.

  "I like the new haircut."

  "It's a lot more convenient for flying," Hailey added, running a hand through it.

  She'd recently figured out how to keep it perfectly clean and healthy with only a spell or two, in addition to being able to change its length, color and style with only a few minutes effort. She couldn't get it perfectly how she wanted it, but it was far easier than dealing with rollers, irons and whatnot. Still, the contrast between her new straight hair, which didn't even come close to her shoulders, compared to her original long wavy blonde—or even the bushy brown she'd adopted to match Jessica—was striking. Combined with a completely different arrangement of freckles and a pair of glasses she didn't need in the slightest, Hailey felt a lot more confident about not being recognized again.

  "I don't have to worry about it getting all over the place."

  "Yeah, that got pretty annoying."

  Hailey laughed. "Just be glad I didn't drop you."

  "So just the two of us, then," Alden sighed, merging them into traffic. Hailey closed the window as they sped up so she could hear him. "Who am I gonna make fun of you with?"

  "Harold doesn't have a sense of humor?"

  "Not really. Nice guy, but way too serious."

  "Where are we meeting him?"

  "A bar on the other side of Tacoma. And you're buying me a drink."

  "You drink now?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Alden shrugged. "Is that a big deal? Figured you of all people wouldn't mind."

  "I mean…" Hailey shook her head. "I stopped way back, after one night mixing drinking and magic got… messy."

  "Sounds fun."

  "At the time, yeah," she grinned. "Tell you what, soon as we're done with whatever Harold's freaking out over, I'll treat you."

  "Anything off the bar?"

  "Screw the bar, dude. I don't want to deal with sneaking you a drink anyway, Mr. Underage. I'll make you something myself. Special surprise."

  "Yourself?" Alden asked skeptically.

  "Are you forgetting I ran the best parties on the west coast?" Hailey smiled wickedly. "I'll set your toes on fire with one sip. Just you wait."

----------------------------------------

  As they pulled up, Hailey raised an eyebrow. "This is the place?"

  It didn't look like much, which she supposed was a point in its favor. A small corner tavern on a dead-end street, with an illegible name on the sign. Behind it loomed dark buildings in both directions, already closed up for the night or boarded up and abandoned. It wasn't exactly a bad neighborhood, but still.

  "Not the nicest part of Tacoma," she added, glancing around.

  "Is any part of Tacoma nice?"

  "Got me there."

  Alden double-checked his phone. "Yeah, this is it."

  "After you, then." Hailey gestured toward the door.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "What's the plan?"

  "I'll be on the roof stargazing while you go in and get yourself beat up. Sound fair?"

  Alden glanced up pointedly. "It's still totally overcast."

  "Damn. Okay, guess I'm coming in then."

  They walked in arm in arm, pretending to be a couple. Hailey managed to get Alden past the doorman with a few charming flutters of her eyelashes and a quick flash of their IDs. Boris hadn't ever sent Alden a fake one, and hers clearly didn't match her photo anymore, but the bouncer was too flustered by a sudden gust of wind blowing his hat away to pay them much attention. He waved them in while chasing his precious Seahawks cap down the street.

  "That was just cruel," said Alden, trying not to laugh.

  Hailey grinned. "Oh hush. Which one's Harold?"

  Alden scanned the bar. "Not here yet, I guess."

  "Grab a booth then. Want anything?"

  "A normal drink that won't kill me?"

  She rolled her eyes. "That part comes later. I meant like a soda or something."

  "Sure."

  While Hailey grabbed their drinks, Alden wandered over to the corner booth by the door to the back, just as they'd been taught. He found reasons to hesitate near every group of patrons, listening into their conversations just long enough to determine if they needed to keep an eye of them. Hailey watched from the bar with approval as he subtly indicated one of the men at the window booth.

  She looked closely and saw a badge at his belt she'd missed. An off-duty cop?

  "Anything to worry about?" she asked as she joined Alden at their table.

  "Probably not, he seems preoccupied." Alden shrugged and took a sip from his glass. "Hey, check this out."

  He focused on the glass. Hailey watched eagerly, and as Alden's eyes narrowed, a solid orb of soda floated up into the air, hovering for a few seconds before falling back into the glass again.

  "Nice," she said.

  "Yeah, I know, you could do the whole thing no sweat."

  "I haven't figured out water yet actually. Makoto and I are working on it. But still, it's my affinity, and I'm cheating, remember? Don't compare the two. That was really good."

  Alden smiled. "Yeah, took me forever. Didn't help that Meg kept nagging me while I was practicing."

  Hailey raised an eyebrow. "She's really in the club now, huh?"

  "I mean, she still doesn't know what awakening means or anything real, but I didn't want to cut her out entirely. She's actually been super helpful, to be honest. Figured out how to manipulate water before I even explained it. She's smarter than me," he added, a bit resentfully.

  "Ever thought about bringing her in completely?" Cinza had raised the possibility with Hailey, but they'd agreed that it should be Alden's choice alone.

  "She's too young," he said firmly. "I know, Natalie's younger, but come on. Natalie's a fluke, let's be honest. She's way too mature for her age, and she only got that way through a lot of painful crap. Compare that to someone like Meg, who's had a totally normal, easy life? I don't think she could handle it. Not at fifteen."

  Hailey nodded. "You know her best. It's your call."

  "Thanks." Alden glanced around uncomfortably.

  "What time were we meeting him?"

  "Nine. It's nine-oh-five." He looked worried.

  "Could just be a bit late."

  "Not this guy," Alden said dryly.

  Hailey shrugged. "If he doesn't show, we bail. Let's say… half an hour?"

  The half-hour went by faster than they expected, as Hailey and Alden shared another few drinks and old stories. Hailey found herself recounting more of the antics of her old friend group. Alden, of course, had no good stories of his friends to share. They'd been broken away from him by Beverly, their relationships totally erased, but he made the most of what little he could remember.

  Hailey knew why she'd done it, but she still couldn't agree with Beverly's choice. To break apart so thoroughly the lives of the two people closest to her at the time? It was so brutal and permanent. She sounded so sure that they were in real and immediate danger, but it was too much for too little.

  Beverly had started talking to Hailey again after realizing how much power she could muster, but Alden still remained in the dark. Hailey hadn't told him, at Beverly's request—but every day they hung out, she felt guilty. Beverly had been his close friend, and Hailey was keeping that from him. For his own safety, based on Beverly's fears about people trying to trace them back, but even so…

  So what does that mean about me? Aren't people gonna come after me once they spot the connections between us? Hailey felt like it was an inconsistency she couldn't just explain away. Maybe Beverly doesn't want to reconnect with him. Maybe there's something else there. She couldn't know for sure, but it seemed too cruel to her. Alden deserved the choice, didn't he? After what she'd done to him?

  She'd gotten lost in thought, and Alden noticed. "You good?"

  "Yeah, sorry." Hailey glanced around again. The bar was starting to pick up in traffic a bit, but still no Harold. Just a lot of older, burly work men coming in for the night, filling in the tables near the lone front door. Hailey sighed and returned to her drink. "I shouldn't have left her."

  "What?"

  "Jess. I didn't tell her we were going out tonight."

  "...Oh."

  "I made up a bunch of excuses in my head about why she shouldn't come, but I still should have told her, right?"

  Alden shrugged. "What if telling her would just put pressure on her to come, even if she shouldn't? Like, guilt-tripping her would. Not that you were doing that."

  "I dunno." Hailey hated feeling uncertain. It gnawed away at her brain over hours and days and weeks. "She deserves to choose that for herself. I took that away."

  "You're trying to protect her."

  "She's my best friend," Hailey murmured. She stirred at the ice in her drink, starting to feel the effects a little. An image of Jessica dancing in the street in Seattle floated into her mind. "I just want her to be happy."

  Alden didn't reply.

  Hailey glanced up. His focus was way past her, on the last man to come through the door. "Alden?"

  "Don't turn around," he whispered. A chill shot through her spine at his tone. Something was happening.

  "What's going on?" she whispered back.

  "Guy that just came in has a gun. He's got friends. Four or five of them." Alden glanced over. "Crap. They're going towards Harold."

  "Harold is here?"

  "All the way on the other side. I guess we missed him come in."

  Hailey slapped a hand to her forehead in frustration. Too loud.

  One of the men grabbed the bouncer and pulled him roughly into the bar. They locked the door, and the apparent leader of the group pulled out his gun.

  "Nobody move!"

  "Is this a movie?" Hailey hissed to Alden as they both froze. She was still facing away from them and could only make out a bit of the action from the mirror mounted above Alden on the wall.

  "Guess so," Alden whispered back. He surreptitiously pulled his phone under the table, trying to call for help. "No signal. You?"

  Hailey hovered her phone out of her bag, not moving a muscle. She floated it over to the seat of the booth underneath her fingers.

  The men were spreading out through the bar, forcing everyone to give up phones. Hailey only had so long before they reached them in the back.

  She didn't get a signal either. "Nothing," she whispered.

  "A jammer?"

  "Those are a thing?" she hissed.

  The wifi for the bar still worked. She opened up the website and went to their private chat room. The GPS function didn't work either, so she typed as fast as she could with one hand, giving their address and a brief S.O.S. message. Men with guns. Being held hostage.

  Hopefully someone... anyone would spot it.

  Hailey didn't want to go up against a bunch of men with guns with just herself and Alden, even if she probably could take them on. There was too much danger for the people around them. She couldn't risk it. They'd just have to get through the robbery without raising any suspicion.

  She dropped the phone back into her bag and snapped it shut just before the man reached their table. It was the off-duty cop from earlier. This was really planned out. "Phones," he grunted.

  Alden willingly surrendered his without a fight. Hailey glanced up at the guy. He had rough stubble covering his face and cold, dead eyes. "I don't have mine," she said meekly, trying to sound frightened. The man ignored her, grabbing her bag and upending it.

  Hailey winced, but nothing fell out. He looked at it curiously, and she quickly willed it to rotate through to the empty rows of pockets she hadn't used for anything yet. He opened it and looked inside, totally confused.

  "I just got it today," she explained.

  He shrugged, handing it back to her. Not a robbery, then? she wondered. It was a nice looking bag, even if it was (supposedly) empty. As she finally took the chance to look around, she saw that they weren't taking anything but phones. Something else was going on.

  "Everyone up!" the leader shouted. He was wearing a black hood over his face, unlike most of his men. The rows of people stood. They were about thirty in total, compared to the nine men. Not enough to overwhelm them, she decided. Maybe if it were just three or four, but I can't grab nine guns at once. Maybe if Jess were here… but she's not. Me trying to be a hero is what drove her away.

  She glanced at Alden, wondering if he could back her up. Her heart sank. His knuckles were white, and he was shaking. He's terrified. He still hasn't gotten over Rallsburg, and now this…

  Hailey was on her own.