Three days later, New Year's Eve, Jonathan picked up Drew at a convenience store. He didn't know where Drew lived, and vice versa. They just hadn't ever told each other, but now it felt like a good security measure to keep. It was the night, the first part of what they'd been planning all weekend.

  Jonathan told his mother he'd met a new group of friends, but hadn't specified what, exactly. His mother hadn't been happy, but she'd let it go. She asked if he'd come to shul on Saturday after missing the day before, but Jonathan was already planning to go back to the club to keep planning. They wanted to get this done fast, especially since they knew what was likely going to happen on Monday.

  Timing was everything.

  "You ready?" Jonathan asked as Drew climbed in again.

  Drew's hands were shaking, but he nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

  Jonathan expected to be just as nervous, but to his relief, it wasn't there. If anything, he was impatient, excited… and angry. He always felt angry now, whether in little bits or in huge bursts.

  They got onto the highway. It'd be a decent drive up to Seattle, where their target lived. Drew fiddled with the radio and got a music station—some kind of hip-hop. It wasn't Jonathan's thing at all, but the beat got him pumped at least.

  He had to control his excitement. If he got pulled over, in a car owned by who-knew, with what they had in the glove compartment? Just a few months ago, nobody would have bat an eye at a box of gemstones… but now, and next to a pair of loaded guns?

  Nina had given them both a pistol, with two magazines of ammunition. They were only for self-defense, of course, but having them gave Jonathan an incredible boost in confidence. Before, he'd never liked guns—but now that he knew what it was like to be on the other side of a gun… Jonathan would use anything he had in a fight.

  Not that they planned to get in a fight. Tonight was something else.

  It took a little under an hour to get there. They left late enough to avoid the rush hour traffic, which would be more important on their way out. If all went to plan, of course, they wouldn't be followed—but to Jonathan's relief, Nina and Corbin accounted for a lot of the smaller details.

  He'd gotten a better read on his new compatriots now, after a couple days cooped up planning with them. Every so often when they took a break, Jonathan managed to get one of them on their own and have a personal conversation. Once he was sworn in, they both warmed up to him.

  Corbin's full name was Corbin Ancell, son of Spencer Ancell. He said it like the name would mean something to Jonathan—which it didn't.

  "Who's that?" asked Jonathan.

  Corbin winced. "...He died fighting Brian. In Rallsburg."

  "...Oh." Jonathan's memory flashed back to a brief snippet from Cinza's journal. He'd only read the whole thing once, but he did remember a Spencer Ancell now. "And your dad knew Julian, I guess?"

  "Yeah. Julian was his boss. When… when it happened, Julian came out to tell me." Corbin took a deep breath. "He said my dad wanted me to have magic someday, and just hadn't figured out when to tell me yet. Then… then he never got the chance."

  Jonathan didn't know what to say, and to his relief, he was saved by Julian calling them back to continue planning. He'd meant to go back to Corbin, but the guy vanished as soon as they were done for the night, following Julian straight out of the building to who-knew-where.

  Instead, he ended up talking to Nina, who was a mystery and a half to him. It didn't help that she barely wanted to talk, no matter how much she said otherwise.

  "Keep talking," Nina muttered, her voice low and slow. "I need this."

  "Because of your—"

  "Yes," she sighed. "I can't be on a depressive episode right now though. I need to talk to my people."

  Nina was their contact for getting resources they might need—gemstones, cars, blueprints, guns, whatever. She had friends in some kind of places. Jonathan couldn't say if they were high or low, but they were definitely places. Beyond that, she also had an incredibly strong essence, in the few times she actually did cast a spell. Most of the time, though, Nina just stayed on the couch, often with a blanket pulled over her face.

  However, any time Jonathan asked about her, she pushed back immediately.

  "I'm not telling you where I'm from, or anything else about me," said Nina tersely.

  "...How about this, then," said Jonathan. "Why are you here?"

  "...Why wouldn't I be?"

  "We've all got a pretty specific reason," said Jonathan, gesturing around. "Drew's been a victim of anti-awakened discrimination. Corbin lost his dad to these people. I was in the camp when it got attacked. Julian's whole hometown was blown up." He hesitated. "I dunno why Kyle's here, but I'm sure he's got a reason."

  "Money," said Nina with a shrug.

  "...That's your reason?"

  "No. Kyle's." Nina shook her head. "You aren't allowed to know my reason yet."

  "I did the pledge," said Jonathan irritably.

  "Not good enough for me." Nina pulled the blanket back over her face. "...I need to sleep now…"

  Thus did all three of his attempts at conversation with Nina end. She'd inevitably withdraw into her blanket, blocking out the world. Jonathan couldn't deny why she was there—the blueprints for the condo block, the guns, the gemstones, the car he was driving right now, even the timetable for their target's day and transport was all through her.

  Jonathan shook it off. They were almost there. The four of them were meeting up—two per car—two blocks away from the target. As Jonathan pulled in, he saw another nondescript four-door sedan, very similar to their own, parked and waiting. They'd arrived much earlier, and would also depart much later, just in case of security cameras—which Nina insisted weren't present, but Julian decided was "better safe 'n sorry".

  "All good?" asked Corbin as they got out.

  Jonathan nodded. "...So you guys've done this before, yeah?"

  Kyle nodded. "First time the target's ever been home at the time, but he's just a mundy. No big deal, right?"

  "Yeah." Jonathan rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Let's do this."

  Corbin raised an eyebrow. Beside him, Drew winced.

  Kyle snorted. "Are you serious, man?"

  Jonathan's face lit up red. "Just… just go already."

  "Uh-huh. See you there."

  Kyle headed off. He'd be in position to cover their retreat, whether that was by invisibility, misdirection illusions, or another spell out of his own bag of tricks. Kyle learned a lot running Julian's secret marketplace, and Jonathan was seriously jealous.

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

  He had always taken a point of pride in being one of the most frequent posters on Cinza's website in the spell theorycrafting area. More than a few awakened had taken his advice on their own spells, or left him thanks for the ones he shared freely. Jonathan really missed that instant feedback when the site vanished. He'd loved getting each and every single thank you message, and hadn't realized how much he missed them til they were gone.

  Now, Jonathan had met someone who seemed to far outstrip him in creativity and spellcrafting. Kyle was almost single handedly responsible for the second-generation Scrap copies, by all accounts, and he'd reverse-engineered Cinza's original Greywood spells to protect a location from unwanted entry.

  My turn for something big.

  As they approached the condo, Jonathan threw caution to the winds and voiced his idea aloud.

  "Let's do more."

  The other two looked at him—Corbin with his usual silent raise-of-the-eyebrow, Drew with a bit more concern as his friend.

  "...What does that mean?" asked Drew.

  "Just stealing from him isn't enough," said Jonathan. "We need to send a message."

  "We're using magic to do it," said Corbin. "That's a message."

  "No, we need to make it more… personal," said Jonathan. "This isn't just another lackey. This is Felix Wieczorek. He was Brian's number two. We need to make this more important. Get the message out, make sure everybody sees it."

  "Lackey?" repeated Drew, smirking slightly.

  "You know what I mean."

  "I do," he said quickly, nodding. "And I agree with you. We should do more."

  "...Like what?" asked Corbin, now sounding more interested.

  "I'll think of something," said Jonathan confidently. "I've improvised shows in less time than this."

  Corbin looked doubtful, but Drew clapped him on the back. "You got this, man."

  Jonathan smiled, though truthfully, his heart was pounding in his chest. The pistol at the small of his back felt suddenly far more prominent. If he messed anything up… if he overstepped or revealed himself or anything… he might need to use it.

  "Phones off," said Corbin as they started to get close. Jonathan and Drew both double-checked theirs. Jonathan saw a text from his mother right as he turned it off, but he didn't catch the contents. It'll be fine, whatever it is. I'll see her tonight.

  They crept forward amid the sound of crickets everywhere. The whole block was relatively dark—only one street lamp stood near the particular condo they wanted. As they moved in, Drew cast a spell to make it flicker out. It wasn't a sudden black, so it would seem to anyone watching as if it were just an electrical fault. Gotta ask him how to do electricity spells at some point…

  There was a light on in one window. A faint glow of colors told them the TV was probably on. Perfect.

  Jonathan walked forward, the other two right at his heels. As they walked past the condo, a wave of magic overtook them—Kyle had just laid down the invisibility. Immediately, all three of them turned and headed straight for the building. For the next few minutes, they couldn't be seen. The condo wouldn't visibly change to the outside.

  Inside… anything could happen.

  He felt inside the door lock, found the tumblers, and gently clicked them into place. Next, the deadbolt above, and finally, the kill-switch on the alarm panel down the hall. As soon as he'd got everything, Jonathan nodded to Corbin.

  A hissing sound began to fill the whole house as Corbin cast his spell. Likewise, Jonathan and Drew filled the space with a white fog. It was thickest in the area around Felix, but they left everywhere else thin enough to see clearly. As long as Drew held it steady on Felix, the whole place might as well be blanketed.

  Not like the hissing is actually doing anything either… but I'm sure it scares the hell out of him.

  None of them dared to get near Felix—a good move, as he almost immediately went for a knife and began swiping at random. Instead, they moved for where the valuables were—Jonathan to the safe in Felix's bedroom, Corbin everywhere else, while Drew kept Felix too scared to move.

  Jonathan knelt in front of the safe and pulled the small blueprint out of his pocket. It wasn't an uncommon safe, and after only a few minutes work, he managed to get it open. He gathered up all the valuables inside… and saw something else.

  Felix's degree in journalism from Columbia University.

  He doesn't deserve that. He's not a journalist—he's lying to the whole country about us.

  Jonathan pulled it out, and before he could stop himself, ripped it in half. As the scraps of the diploma floated to the carpet, he noticed the awards pinned up on the wall, articles Felix had written, covers he'd been on. His successes.

  Doesn't deserve those, either. Doesn't deserve any of this.

  He began to tear them apart, one by one. Jonathan summoned fire to melt down the trophies, being careful to contain the heat and smoke so the fire alarm wouldn't go off. Piece by piece, he destroyed all of Felix's pride, the record of his life's work, everything. He took the Pulitzer and shattered it with his mind, throwing the pieces to the floor.

  Finally, Jonathan grabbed a piece of paper from Felix's desk, along with a silver marker, and scrawled out a message. Just two words, but it said everything he wanted to say. Sometimes, brevity made more impact than all the longest and most impressive speeches.

  When he was done, Jonathan gathered up the valuables and left. He found Corbin and Drew waiting in the hall, confused he'd taken so long. Jonathan gestured out, and they left. Kyle covered their escape all the way down the block, while the fog slowly dissipated behind them, leaving a confused and terrified Felix alone in his condo, totally unharmed.

  As they walked down the street, backpacks slung over their shoulders like totally innocent college students, Jonathan burst into laughter. He was just so… elated.

  "What?" asked Corbin.

  "We did it," said Jonathan, grinning stupidly.

  Drew tapped him on the back. "Yeah, we did. Nice job in there."

  "Way easier with four of us," said Corbin, nodding.

  "We got what we wanted. We sent a message. We struck back," said Jonathan excitedly. "It's about time."

  Kyle jogged up to join them as they arrived at the cars. The crickets still chirped, the city still hummed all around them, and for all intents and purposes… nobody seemed to have noticed a thing.

  "All good?" he asked.

  Jonathan nodded, still grinning from ear to ear.

  "He didn't see a thing," added Drew.

  Kyle held out his hand expectantly. "I'll get it back to Julian."

  Jonathan hesitated, only for a moment. I mean… we were the ones in there. Kyle just hid outside. But… without Kyle and Julian and Nina, they never would have had all the information and cover they needed to pull it off anyway. His resentment faded away, overwhelmed by the rush of success. Drew looked just as excited, while even the stone-faced Corbin was grinning.

  He handed over the loot. Kyle nodded, got in the other car and drove off. They watched and waited as the engine hum died away, melting into the greater noise of the city. Soon, the area was quiet again, only the crickets filling their ears.

  Jonathan glanced at the other two. "Don't you just feel like…"

  "Like what?" asked Drew.

  "Like we should do something," said Jonathan excitedly.

  "We just did," said Corbin.

  Jonathan shook his head. "I mean for us. Let's celebrate! Toast the start of something bigger than us!"

  "I'm down," said Drew.

  Corbin shrugged. "Sure."

  Slightly disappointed in the underwhelming response, Jonathan nonetheless turned and got into the car. The other two piled in, and soon enough, they were off—back to the club, at Corbin's suggestion. Jonathan had to remind himself more than once to drive at a normal speed. Even if they'd gotten out clean, and Kyle had all the guns, it still wasn't worth risking getting pulled over.

  The whole way back, he and Drew chatted excitedly about what they'd just done. Drew bragged, Jonathan boasted in return—good-natured ribbing about who'd done more for the cause that night. Somewhere in the back of Jonathan's mind, he knew this was just the start, a tiny piece which could quickly cascade into a huge movement, just like Brian's had. All it took was a spark.

  Tonight, he might have provided that spark.

  To his relief, they got back to the club in one piece, without a single sign of danger. Jonathan pulled into the back, they got out and headed straight inside. As soon as they passed through the magic field, the pulsing thump of the club reached their ears—and for the first time in his life, Jonathan wanted to join in.

  If only I wasn't eighteen. Julian said he couldn't risk anyone finding underage kids in there.

  Instead, he was determined to explore the space behind the club. Julian had given them free reign over the space, besides his personal office. If Jonathan or Drew ever needed to get away, it was an open space for the group.

  Given his life lately, Jonathan really appreciated the generosity.

  "We're gonna change everything," said Jonathan excitedly as he walked in, the others at his heels. Nina looked up from her book, way back in the corner chair. "They won't hunt us anymore, now that they know we're ready to strike back."

  "Optimism," she muttered, looking down at her book again.

  "You really think so?" asked Drew. "I mean, that won't stop people from just being assholes, like with my boss."

  Jonathan shook his head. "People are assholes because they know they can get away with it. That part ends now."

  "Sounds like a plan," said Corbin. "I'm gonna get some sleep… Night."

  "Get some sleep?" asked Jonathan, looking around. "Here?"

  "...Yeah. I… live here." He shrugged. "For now, until we got enough that I can buy my dad's old place back."

  "Well, there's no way you're sleeping through that," said Jonathan, nodding toward the club. "Besides, it's time to celebrate! Pull out some drinks, or let's play some games, or do something!"

  Nina groaned and turned even further toward the wall, but Jonathan ignored her. He knew it wasn't her choice—or maybe it was, but either way, he wasn't going to let her drag him down.

  Tonight was their night.