Robert left them as they reached the southern square just before the park. Natalie pulled out some jerky from her bag and held it out to Gwen, who gently gobbled it from her hand.

  "What kind of meat is that?" Rachel asked.

  "It's for dogs. I thought that'd be okay for a wolf. I looked it up online, and Gwen thinks it's okay too."

  "I haven't really done much reading on wolves," she mused. "Maybe later I can help you find a real diet for her?"

  "Okay. She really just likes to hunt though. I'm only feeding her myself because we haven't had time." Natalie let Gwen gobble up a few more pieces. "Gwen likes hunting out here. She gets to own the forest 'cause there aren't any other wolf packs around. Just me and her."

  "How do you know what she's thinking, Natalie?"

  "Magic," Natalie replied, smiling innocently.

  "But what kind of spell do you—"

  "Rachel!" Josh called. He jogged over from the first bank of trees lining the park. He was holding his phone with a grim expression on his face.

  Rachel's heart sank lower, if that were even possible. "What happened?"

  "Oscar McKinney's dead," Josh reported in a hard voice.

  "...How? When?"

  Josh pocketed his phone while they walked across the empty ground. "Just now apparently. That mob's reformed from last night, and it's bigger. They're going after anyone they can think of, and Oscar was first on the list."

  "Why Oscar? He's never done anything!"

  "It's my fault," said Cinza, emerging from the trees. "His son fought for us. I should have forced him to run, but I didn't."

  "So they went after him for being what—a collaborator?"

  "Guess so," said Josh. "I'm already making calls to lay low. Lily's got the Market open while Kendra's out here. She says she can keep it stable as long as she needs to, and she's good enough to close the doors before anyone bad can get in. Can't open any new doors though, just whatever Kendra already made. They said they closed whatever loophole let Omega get in too."

  "Get all our people inside," Rachel ordered. "They only have to stay in there until we finish this."

  "Right." Josh nodded, lifting his phone again.

  Rachel turned to Cinza. "Are your people all safe?"

  Cinza shrugged. "My people are here, excepting Ruby and Makoto. We weren't about to shy away from such a fight. Ruby would be here too, except that she is still recovering at our home. Makoto watches over her safe back at our home."

  "Okay." Rachel gestured at Natalie. She settled back on Gwen and followed them through the trees into the park.

  Half of the place was a curated forest, a sort of miniature woods that still felt relatively enclosed despite being so small. The other half was open, full of walkways and flowerbeds, where only a couple days prior they'd gathered for the funeral of Jenny Wilson.

  Today, they gathered for the murder of Jackson Smith.

  Most of the Summit was present, with the notable exceptions of the mundane members, Julian Black, and Mason Rhistler. Natalie went to talk with Hector, her old friend, while Rachel immediately walked around the group to the cluster of greycloaks.

  Joe McKinney was hunched over on a bench with a haunted expression. Aaron was trying to console him, while Yusuf and Rufus stood nearby. To Rachel's surprise, Joe had already accepted a fresh grey cloak of his own, which stood out as clean and bright compared to the dirt and blood-spattered cloth surrounding him. Nate Price was nowhere to be seen, which accounted for everyone as far as Rachel was aware.

  "Joe," said Rachel, interrupting Aaron.

  He looked up, meeting her gaze with empty eyes. "Huh?"

  "I'm so sorry."

  "You didn't do anything."

  Rachel couldn't tell if it was an apology or an accusation. His tone was too flat. Rachel wished she could say more, but everyone was waiting on her to start—and they only had so much time before Robert was due to meet with Brian.

  She turned around to face her gathered forces. "The meeting's set. Omega should come to right where we want him. If you can fire the ritual off and Rika can hold him in place, this should work."

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  "That's a scary fucking if," Rika commented.

  "How is the magic sharing working out?" Rachel asked Cinza.

  She nodded. "I wasn't sure at first, but we're building compatibility faster than I expected. Jessica and Hailey in particular are proficient."

  "So if this backfires, does that mean someone's gonna be supermagnetic?" Ryan asked.

  "Not the time," muttered Alden.

  "Why do we need to do a ritual anyway?" asked Spencer Ancell, one of Julian's two cronies. He was an Elemental magic affinity with wide eyes and a horrible moustache he was far too proud of. "Thought they did it in the middle of the riot. That's not a ritual."

  "We were also within twenty feet of the target, had no chance of missing, and Ruby is far more skilled at sharing magic with me than anyone else could possibly be," Cinza replied. "We don't have any of those luxuries today. A ritual will refine and amplify the spell considerably."

  "I thought rituals were for permanent things," said Hailey. "What if we make, like, a permanent magnetic field there that just kills anyone who walks into it?"

  "There is no requirement for ritual effects to be permanent," said Kendra. "It does tend to be the desired result of ritual magic though."

  "How much time do we have?" Cinza asked Rachel.

  "An hour at least. You'll get my signal when it's time."

  She nodded. "I'd like to practice at least one run before then. We can take the ritual up to the point of drawing out the elements and stop there without committing any energy."

  "Is that safe?" asked Alden.

  "Perfectly safe," Kendra replied. "If no energy is committed, magic has no real effect. It's quite recommended to practice the movements and feeling of a ritual before attempting to complete it. You can get a rough idea of how it might play out, though it's rarely conclusive and often produces nothing whatsoever. Still, every precaution counts."

  "I'm working with four complete novices to both halves of this ritual," said Cinza. "I want every advantage I can get." She looked around the assembled group. "That said, I only need these four."

  Rachel took the hint. "If you're coming to the front, follow Ryan. He knows where to go."

  Ryan nodded. "All right, suicidal idiots with me. Let's go." Julian's two men trooped out, followed by Alden. Cinza spoke a few brief words to Rufus before he lead their people out of the clearing.

  Natalie started to leave, but Rachel tapped her on the hand. "Wait for me just outside the trees, okay?"

  "Okay."

  Rachel walked over to Rika, who was watching Cinza sprinkle out powdered chalk on the grass. Hector looked queasy, while Hailey and Jessica sat together off on their own, refusing to look at the circle. Kendra simply leaned up against a tree, too tired to be concerned with the proceedings.

  "What's up?" asked Rika.

  "You're up for this, right?" Rachel asked quietly.

  "Do I have a choice?" Rachel didn't answer, so Rika went on. "Look, I'm gonna be honest. I think a lot of what you've done is pretty shitty. Not just to me. Don't think I didn't notice your little impromptu surveillance state here. But I also think you're probably right. You're still a good person, Rachel, and you're gonna save the world someday. Just keep the little people in mind while you do."

  "What do you mean?"

  "When you came in here, what was the first thing you did? You didn't start barking orders or planning out strategy. You went right to Joe and tried to make him feel better, even though it absolutely wasn't your fault. Don't forget that." Rika smirked. "Don't let your head get too up in the clouds."

  "...A tall joke? Really?"

  "Come on, it's been years. You needed one."

  Rachel cracked a small smile, the first bit of mirth she'd felt in ages. "Thanks."

  "We're ready," Cinza announced, standing up and brushing off her robes.

  A twin set of intersecting astroids sat at odd angles circling the grass. Each point ended in an open circle of chalk wide enough for a person. Inside the circles at the diagonals sat collections of magnetite, obsidian and agate, separated into small metal bowls in perfect triangles. The cardinal circles were obviously meant for the four who would be assisting.

  "Where did you get all those on short notice?" Rachel asked, nodding at the bowls.

  "Compliments of Jessica," Cinza replied. "They had a shockingly large collection of gemstones available to choose from."

  Hailey shrugged. "We spent a whole year never going out for anything. She wanted stuff to experiment with." She stood up, tapping Jessica on the shoulder to get her attention. "I explained this was just a practice run. We've done them before, so she understands what's up."

  "Good. If we're all ready, then please step into the circles. It doesn't matter who goes where."

  "Right." Hailey took a deep breath, then shrugged off her jacket. She took off her shirt next, and was halfway to the clasp on her bra when she stopped, finally noticing the dumbstruck stares of everyone around her. "What? We need to avoid interference, right?"

  Hector and Kendra had turned away the moment they'd realized Hailey was disrobing, while Cinza just looked utterly confused. Rika was the first to find her voice. "Uhh, you know clothes don't affect it, right?"

  "Huh?"

  "I mean, you don't have to put them back on," Rika added suggestively, her eyes flicking across Hailey's chest. Hailey's eyebrows narrowed.

  Rachel interrupted before Rika could say anything worse. "Clothing is protected under Mason's Law, though we're not entirely sure why. It's the same reason you can't just move or choke someone by grabbing the clothes they're wearing. It won't affect the ritual at all. We tested it thoroughly."

  "Oh," Hailey said. She grabbed up her clothes hurriedly and put everything back on. Jessica—who had just started, hesitantly, to mirror Hailey's action—stopped and chirped oddly. Hailey turned to her and began to sign something. Rachel had memorized every common sign in American Sign Language, as well as most in British and French, but she didn't recognize anything. Jessica's barrier to language extended far beyond what she'd expected.

  "Time to go, Rika," Rachel said firmly, pushing Rika gently. Rika shot Hailey another amused glance before turning and disappearing through the trees. Rachel turned back to the group. "Are you sure you don't want more than Josh as a guard?"

  Cinza shook her head. "You need people more than we do. This is the most powerful assembly of magic in the world, and we're about to combine that power even further. If he comes for us, we can launch it at him point-blank and hope for the best. Josh is more than sufficient to keep an eye out for other interruptions."

  "We'll be fine, dear," Kendra added, vaguely irritated. Rachel was really beginning to see the slight differences between her and Lily. They were so similar it was almost unbelievable, even closer than the usual identical twins—but they were distinct individuals. "We'll see you when you return."

  "This is getting scary close to a last goodbye," said Hailey. "Just go already."

  Hector opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He looked down at the ground, shaking slightly.

  Rachel nodded. "See you later."