"Beverly," the girl answered, still not meeting Rachel's eyes. "But please, don't tell anyone."

  "You fancy going by 'Grey-eyes' instead?" Lily asked, propped up against a few pillows. Her leg was in a makeshift splint, and she winced every so often as she tried to get more comfortable.

  They were in the room above Boris' shop, with the window covered up by thick curtains. Boris was busy attending to Rika, Hailey and Alden (as Rachel had learned was his real name—a common obsession with secrecy in his family, apparently), and Natalie was resting downstairs. She'd refused to leave her wolf, but it couldn't possibly fit up the stairs, so she'd volunteered to stand watch. Given that she outstripped the rest of them in power by a mile, Rachel didn't feel a need to protest.

  "I never liked my name much anyway. None of us did, actually," she added. "Our parents picked really old-fashioned names that sound pretty dumb at school. I mean, 'Alden Bensen the third'? Zack was Zack the second he realized he could be, same with Meg."

  "So did you use another name?"

  "I think we have more important things to talk about," Rachel interrupted. "Where does magic come from?"

  "We don't know," Beverly answered simply.

  "What?"

  "We found the book in the boarded-up library one night. I was the first one to read from it, and I was the first one to cast a spell. We were experimenting with it more and more, but then we started disagreeing on what to do next."

  "What happened to the book?"

  "Jackson tried to destroy it," Beverly said, shuddering. "We tried to stop him, but it just ended up scattering. All the pieces flew out everywhere. We weren't able to save a single page."

  "So that's where the Scraps came from."

  She nodded. "And because they're broken and destroyed, you can't actually awaken from them. I have to read you the rest or you'd be stuck in limbo and your body would die."

  "But you didn't. Is that why you're so much more powerful than us?"

  "I guess? I don't know how everything works exactly. I'm making a lot up as I go too." She looked around nervously, and Rachel noticed the pictures on above the desk, showing Hailey Winscombe and her together.

  "Hailey doesn't remember anything about you, and neither does your brother. How?"

  "I… I had to protect them," she said, and tears sprung to her eyes. "Jackson and… Alpha—" she paused. "I hate to use that name, but it's his business if he wants to tell you who he is."

  "Fine." Rachel was frustrated that Beverly was already holding back information, but the girl was still leagues more powerful than them. A few concessions could be made if it made her more comfortable answering their other, more important questions.

  "When they started getting really bad. They started threatening each other with real violence. I just wanted to protect magic, and Alpha wanted to let it grow and spread. Jackson thinks that'll be the end of the world. He wants to stop it before it spreads, but he knows he can't take us both on. So he threatened our families. Our loved ones. It scared us so much that Alpha went berserk, and I think you know the rest of that story."

  "Yes. But still, how did this happen?" Rachel asked, gesturing at the photos.

  "I… do you know about relationship and emotional magic?"

  "You mean the connections between people?"

  "Yes. If you put a lot of energy into it, you can do more than just see them. You can affect them. I don't mean like, change them or force one into existence, but you can block them. Break them, even."

  "And you… oh," Rachel trailed off, the horror of what Beverly had done hitting her tenfold.

  "What did you do?" Lily asked, not keeping up. She had no knowledge of the type of magic they were referring to.

  "I moved all of my things out, everything I could find. I teleported it all here, to the only friend I had who was totally separated from my life. I spent so much time reading here before I met Hailey. Boris was nice enough to let me stay. Then I broke all the connections, so that Jackson couldn't follow them. If he ever looked at me, he'd never know who was close to me. I couldn't break his knowledge of me, or Alpha's, but I could stop them from ever finding my family."

  "But when you broke them…" Rachel prompted.

  "It's like I was never born. Zack has no idea who I am, Meg never had an older sister, and my parents think they only have one daughter." Beverly's eyes welled up, but she dabbed them quickly and moved on. "They're safe now. Alpha and Jackson can never find them."

  "Alpha too?" Rachel asked, feeling another chill on her spine.

  "He threatened me too, when I wouldn't take his side either. I don't want magic to die, but I don't think we can just let it run wild either. But Alpha can never do anything to me personally, because if I don't teleport to people trying to awaken, no one else can do it."

  "So you're stuck between both of them."

  "You're lucky enough to actually have a family," Lily said, and Rachel was surprised to hear the level of cold hostility in her voice. It was so unusual to see any significant emotion from Kendra, and Rachel had to remind herself yet again that it wasn't the same person. "How could you?"

  "I didn't want to do it," Beverly said, looking away in shame.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  "It's done," Rachel interjected. "What matters is what we do next." She was as appalled as Lily about the whole situation, particularly given her own spotty history with memory, but they had bigger priorities. "Will you help us?"

  "I don't really fight. I mean, I can, but I just—"

  "So tell us. How can we beat him?"

  She shook her head. "I can't tell you how."

  Rachel was immediately suspicious. She'd gotten pretty good at reading people over the past year, particularly with her enhanced attention to detail, and she could tell Beverly was holding back something significant. "You mean you won't tell us."

  "Sure, I guess. I won't get in your way, but I won't help you hurt him."

  "After everything he's done?" Lily asked in exasperation. "He's murdered people!"

  "He had his reasons!" Beverly cried. "They weren't good ones, but he's a good person."

  "There's no good excuse for murder!"

  "Self-defense," Rachel said calmly. "We want to kill him, after all." The room was deadly silent at her words. Rachel had spoken perhaps a bit too coldly, with how Lily refused to look her in the eye and Beverly was on the defensive. It was the truth, there's no use beating around the bush anymore. People are dying. The poor reverend Smith's face flashed in her mind once again, steeling her resolve.

  Rachel needed an advantage over the god currently sitting a few feet from her. Magically, even physically, Rachel was powerless against her. Rachel had to resort to other means, as much as it tore at her soul. She felt physically sick as she began speaking again. She had to force the words through her teeth though she hated every syllable. "Beverly, I understand what you've done, and I'm sorry for doing this, but I can't just let you leave without helping us."

  "You can't stop me," Beverly replied, but she looked nervous. The feeling was mutual. Rachel was about to make a wager that could cost her everything—but she knew Grey-eyes by now. The girl wouldn't lift a finger to stop her. She played her card.

  "I can't, but I can tell Alden who you are, and who he really is."

  Beverly's eyes narrowed into needlepoints. A fire blazed into life behind the soft grey orbs that Rachel had once followed out of the deep black limbo of awakening. She'd once saved Rachel's life, freely and without asking anything in return. Rachel hated what she was doing to the girl.

  "You're sick," Beverly murmured. Even Lily looked shocked, but she held her tongue. Rachel silently thanked her for her trust in that critical moment.

  "Even if we defeat Omega, with or without your help, there will be others. The ability to trace connections isn't limited to those of you with real power. I'm practically worthless with magic, and even I can do it. If he ever learns who you are, and who he is, that connection will start to grow again. It's family. Even if Alden never sees you again, he'll still feel it." Rachel paused. "If I tell him, he'll be in danger forever, unless you decide to break him again. Break everything again. And I'm guessing that can't be done so easily, or you'd have done it to the rest of us to keep all this secret."

  Beverly's face contorted into new expressions of loathing and hatred. "You're a disgusting human being, Rachel."

  I am. But I'm doing what's best for all of us. "You're going to help us figure out how to kill Omega. After that, I don't care what you do, so long as you continue to help people awaken. I won't even force you to only awaken people we approve."

  "You're so generous," she spat. Every syllable was soaked in contempt.

  "You sent me after him."

  She looked away. "I hoped you'd come up with a real solution."

  Rachel felt a deep disappointment threaten to overwhelm her. She turned away, refocusing her mind. "Lily, you have the same contact lists as Kendra, right?"

  "Yes," Lily answered, refusing to meet Rachel's gaze.

  "I need you to call everyone together. The Summit and the important Council members. We've got some time while Omega's still in retreat. It's time for a war room."

  Lily nodded and pulled out her phone from her bag. Her eyes widened at the screen.

  "What?"

  "Oh God," she murmured. "Rachel, you have to get out there." She turned the phone around and showed a video.

  It was dark and indistinct, taken by hand from someone in the midst of a crowd. There was a lot of shouting and running, while the vague shapes of trees passed by overhead. After a few moments, brilliant light suddenly burst into the frame, and the clearing was visible.

  Rachel saw Robert Harrison putting his fist into the face of Morton Pollock and sending him crashing to the ground. A second later, a jet of water flooded into the frame and sent him sprawling. The camera turned to catch a robed Cinza, her arms outstretched and balls of fire licking from her palms. She began hurling them into the crowd with fury and abandon. Whomever was filming beat a hasty retreat, but still managed to catch Cinza ducking behind a tree.

  A gunshot rang out, blotting out the tiny phone speakers for a moment. Splinters burst off the trunk, but Cinza seemed to be okay. Another ball of fire was hurled out indiscriminately, and the cameraman turned and fled once more.

  "Where did you find this?" Rachel asked.

  "It's streaming live online. Kenni sent it to me and Will. I don't think it has any viewers, but—"

  "—but that's the end of things either way." Rachel let out a deep breath. It was only a matter of time before the hordes descended on Rallsburg. They needed to stop Omega now if they were to have any hope of dealing with the world at large. The rioters attacking Cinza were the first of many, if Rachel's fears proved true.

  "I'm going out there," Rachel announced, heading for the door. She stopped and shot Beverly a dark look. "Those people believe in you as a god. They trust you more than anyone else. Are you going to let them hang out to dry?"

  She didn't wait for a response. She'd already been so disappointed by the girl with the grey eyes that she didn't expect one. Rachel would have to take care of it. She was going to save the world herself, because the gods of their world clearly couldn't handle it.

  Natalie hopped up on Gwen's back as Rachel approached the door. "Are you going out to find him again?" she asked. She still looked exhausted, but determined to power through nonetheless.

  "No, Natalie. I have to go stop people fighting before they tear the town apart."

  "Oh." She looked confused. "I don't know how to do that."

  Rachel sighed. "I don't really know either, but I'm willing to try. Are you coming with me?"

  She nodded. "You're gonna help me find the bad guy and my dad, right?"

  "If I can."

  "Thanks for not lying to me this time."

  Rachel shrugged. "I never lied to you."

  "That's what all grown-ups say when they pretend they aren't lying. They act like they know everything but they're just making it up as they go, aren't they?"

  "Yes."

  Natalie frowned. "Don't lie to me and I'll help you. Okay?"

  Rachel skimmed through all the lies she was currently maintaining in her head. She'd lied to the council about the Creation scrap, she'd lied to the Summit about awakenings and about how powerful Omega really was. She'd lied to Will about working with Cinza, and she'd lied to Cinza about supporting her when the town came for her. She was promising to lie to Alden in exchange for keeping Beverly in check and under her thumb. Rachel had built up so many lies she was beginning to lose track of them.

  This was just another lie. Natalie couldn't know what her father had done. It would break her at a time Rachel needed her most. Rachel would keep her in the dark along with all the others. Rachel would hold onto the secret so that Natalie wouldn't have to, so that she could be spared the horrors of her father's deeds a little bit longer. It was for her own good, and for the good of the town and their entire world.

  "Okay," she answered, without a moment's hesitation. Rachel strode out of the building and onto the street. Behind her, a low, nearly imperceptible thumping of paws on pavement told her Natalie was with her.

  In the distance, the forest was lit up with an angry pulsing glow. Smoke and fire were spreading out into the hills, flames threatening to surround and consume them all.