For the next two days, Hailey followed her mother around the city, watching everything she did, listening to every conversation she could. She couldn't hear her in her office, too deep into the building even from a ledge outside, but whenever she stepped out for lunch (as Stephanie Winscombe would never bring her own lunch, or deign to eat in a corporate office in any regard if she could help it), Hailey was only a couple dozen steps behind.

An utterly bewildered Jessica had long-since caught on to the woman Hailey was following, but if she had any idea of their relationship, she made no sign. They kept up the rest of their routine, leaving Stephanie in her condo at night and going out to patrol the alleys and streets of Seattle. Hailey threw herself into it wholesale, trying to cover as much ground as possible even with just the two of them. She sped along the streets like a crazed eagle, swooping and diving around corners, always on the hunt.

She wondered if she was putting her mother in danger somehow. Nonsense, she decided. She was far more likely to protect her from something than actually cause her harm in some way. Besides, Hailey needed to keep hearing her voice. It was the only thing keeping her sane.

At one point, she heard her father as well, briefly and through a tinny phone speaker. He'd called to check in, asking if she needed anything, and then asking when they needed to meet for the divorce proceedings. All polite and cordial, but every word grated on Hailey's ears. If they had such a polite and friendly relationship, why did it have to end? She didn't understand, and she couldn't just come out and ask her mother about it.

After all, Hailey was still supposed to be dead.

On the third day, early in the morning, they arrived at her condo. Jessica was lounging back on a window ledge, watching a cloud float by, while Hailey dangled her legs off the side and watched the glass doors at the front lobby, waiting for her to come out. They were one block down and three stories up on the corner of the next building, with only a small alley between them and her mother's home.

Jessica tapped her on the shoulder, and Hailey looked around. She pointed at the door, then drew a circle around them, tilting her head slightly to indicate a question.

Hailey shook her head.

Jessica frowned, then pointed at the door again. She made a flat palm, and walked her fingers across, then indicated them both again and made a floating person following the walking one, before asking the question again.

Hailey sighed. It's about time I was embarrassed in front of her. She shook her head again, unwilling to explain why it was so important they follow this woman around Seattle. Not that Hailey had any sort of endgame in mind here.

Stephanie walked out onto the street, bag over her shoulder, sunglasses on and phone pressed to her ear. She was headed to her morning workout. Hailey and Jessica glanced around, and there wasn't anyone in sight of them. They could drop to the street and start following her again without much effort. As Hailey reached out to hold her so they could start flying, Jessica shook her head.

Letting out a sudden whooping noise that could be heard halfway down the street, Jessica turned and leapt off the building into the alley below, forty feet down.

Without thinking, Hailey dove off the building after her. She caught up quickly, wrapping her arms around her best friend and flaring out her wings at the same time. Even so, it was only barely enough room until the ground to slow down. She sent a burst of wind out to slow them even faster, sending bits of paper and old coffee cups spinning out into the street.

They collapsed in a heap on the ground. Hailey groaned and rolled off of Jessica, who was grinning mischievously. She giggled, a bit winded from the excitement. As Hailey picked herself up, she heard a slight cough from behind her.

Very slowly, Hailey turned around to face the entrance to the alleyway. Stephanie was standing there, holding the phone to her ear with her mouth slightly open. Her eyes were hidden by her sunglasses.

"...Hi," Hailey said finally.

Stephanie slowly reached up and tapped the phone, hanging up on whoever she was talking to.

A second later, her phone clattered to the street.

"What on earth have you done to your hair?"

Hailey gaped at her. Of all the things she'd imagined her mom might say first, that wasn't one of them.

"It looks atrocious."

"Nice to see you too," Hailey mumbled, looking down at the street.

"Hailey Aurora Elizabeth Winscombe, look at me when you're speaking," she snapped, purely out of instinct. Hailey's eyes instantly jumped back up to hers.

A second later, Stephanie was sprinting at her. Hailey had a split-second of madness where she thought her mother was about to attack her. Instead, she found herself choked in a tight bear-hug. Out of the corner of her eye, Hailey saw Jessica smiling broadly at the pair of them, thoroughly pleased with herself.

"Mom, I can't breathe," she gasped after a full minute.

"Good," said Stephanie, her voice thick.

"Good?"

"I'm making sure you're still alive. If you know you can't breathe, that means you still need to."

"What?"

Stephanie finally loosened her grip, though she still held Hailey tight. "I assume there's a reasonable explanation for all of this?"

"...Kinda?"

She let go in a huff. "Well, come on then. Let's get inside."

Hailey glanced at the building uneasily. "Does this place have security? Cameras and such?"

"Only in the lobby. Why?"

"Let's… uhh," Hailey glanced around. "Oh, to hell with it. Can you go back and open your office window? The one that goes over the alley."

"What, are you going to climb in?"

She shrugged. "Sure, let's go with that."

"Oh, Hailey, this is ridiculous."

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Mom, you don't know the half of it."

Stephanie glanced over at Jessica, who was leaning against the wall watching them both with a far-too-satisfied smirk. "Who's this, then?"

"Can we save it for when we're inside? If one of those guys with the cameras comes around…"

Stephanie's eyes narrowed. "...Hailey, what are you caught up in?"

"Just go open your window? Please?"

Her mom hugged her again, squeezing just as tight as the first time. "You promise you won't leave?"

"—promise—"

With a half-laugh, half-sob, Stephanie let go. Straightening her jacket and picking up her phone, she headed back inside.

Hailey glared at Jessica. "Happy now?" she muttered, not bothering to sign it. Jessica would know what she meant.

Jessica just beamed at her. Hailey wasn't sure if she was mad or relieved at her friend. For the moment, she left it undecided. As the window above them slid open, Hailey gathered Jessica up, against the girl's protesting hands, and leapt into the air, spreading her wings wide.

To say Stephanie was shocked upon seeing her daughter fly in through the office window was an dramatic understatement. Her mother didn't speak for a solid five minutes, during which Hailey and Jessica set about cleaning up the mess they'd made blowing papers and small objects around the room. Once they'd finished, Hailey finally sat down in one of the guest chairs. Jessica, not knowing the rules of the house, crossed the line and sat down in Stephanie's expensive office chair on the other side of the desk.

This, finally, prompted Stephanie to open her mouth—but only a second later, she'd closed it again, as Jessica floated a glass ornament off of a side table through the air and into her hands, examining it with interest.

Hailey looked up at her mother sheepishly. "So… yeah."

Stephanie fell back against the windowsill and nearly fell out of the open window. With a wince, Jessica murmured and flicked her finger up, sliding the window shut. Stephanie watched it close, her mouth opening and closing several more times in shock, before she finally croaked out a sentence.

"Hailey, who is that?"

Something about the uncertainty and fear in her voice made Hailey feel awful. Her mom was always the smartest and most confident person in any given room, but for once, she was speechless and hopelessly outclassed.

"This is Jess."

"Just Jess?"

"Jessica Silverdale. She's my… well she was my best friend until a few minutes ago," she added, shooting a dark look at Jessica, who was now examining the nameplate on her mother's desk, trying desperately to read the name Stephanie Claire Beatrice Winscombe engraved in shiny gold letters on black. She'd never manage it, of course, but she never stopped trying.

"How can she do those things?"

"Huh?"

"She can fly, Hailey!"

"Oh… that was me, actually."

Stephanie was struck dumb again for a full minute. Hailey wasn't sure what to say, since her mother usually dominated conversations. Hailey's job was to respond, not to drive the topic. If it had been her dad, maybe she'd be having an easier time, but this was awkward on too many levels.

"...You can fly?" Stephanie whispered.

"Yes. I can do a lot of other things too." Hailey summoned up a flicker of candlelight in her palm with a word, letting it dance for a few seconds before snuffing it out. "It's been a really long year."

"What… How…"

"I missed you, Mom," she whispered.

This, finally, prompted Stephanie to cry, which was a sight Hailey had never witnessed and never expected. Her mom rushed to hug her once again, while Jessica watched with a vague interest. As Hailey glanced over, Jessica pointed at Hailey, then pointed at her mother with her other hand. She kept pointing at Hailey, while her other hand drew a line horizontally, waited, then drew a line vertically from Hailey. She tilted her head questioningly.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "My mother, thanks," she replied, drawing a vertical line. Jessica smirked.

"What?"

"Oh, sorry." Hailey broke the hug. "Jess thought you might be my older sister."

Stephanie choked out a laugh. She looked over her shoulder at Jessica. "That's very sweet of you. I had her young, but I'm definitely her mother."

"She…" Hailey paused. No matter how many times she had to explain it, it never got easier. "Jessica can't understand anything we're saying. Or anything written down. Ever."

"She… what?"

"Mom, you might want to sit down. Or have a drink. Or both. Want me to get you something?"

Stephanie sighed. "Well, I wasn't getting into the office today anyway. It's a bit early for anything heavy though."

"Okay." Hailey took a deep breath while Stephanie took a seat in the other guest chair—yet another way the entire scene felt wrong. She never sat in the guest chairs.

Stephanie shivered. "Where's that breeze coming from?" she asked, glancing over at the closed window.

"That's… that's me, actually. Sorry."

"What?"

"Everywhere I go, I kinda mess with the air currents without meaning to. 'Cause of my wings."

"You have wings?" She leaned forward, craning her neck to look behind Hailey.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Not real ones."

Stephanie fell back into her chair, rubbing her temples. "Would you just start at the beginning? I'm starting to feel like this is going to take days to explain, and I have meetings tomorrow."

"You believe me though, right?"

"Well, my supposedly dead daughter just flew in through my office window. I'm willing to bet there's things I don't know about the world."

"I didn't die," Hailey said, almost indignantly.

"I think we established that," her mom said, rolling her eyes in the same way Hailey always did.

Jessica chirped, drawing their attention. She gestured toward the kitchen, then at her own stomach. Hailey shrugged, glancing at her mother.

"What?"

"She wants to know if she can have some breakfast."

"Oh!" Stephanie nodded, gesturing emphatically toward the kitchen with wildly exaggerated movements. Jessica rolled her eyes, but walked out all the same.

"She can see just fine, Mom."

"But she really can't understand a word?"

Hailey winced. "…No."

"Has she always been—"

"Since last September," Hailey murmured, looking down at the floor. "And it's my fault."

"How so?"

"It's… kind of hard to explain."

Stephanie huffed again, a derisive noise of dismissal. "So get to it!"

"Well, we can do magic."

"Magic?" Her mom looked skeptical, despite everything she'd just seen.

"Yeah. Real magic. All sorts of things. I can fly, Jessica can make things invisible, we can both make fire and move things with our heads, change things about ourselves—"

"Is that what you did to your hair?"

"It's not that bad, Mom!"

Stephanie reached out and brushed back a few strands. "It's just so plain. You were born lucky enough to have perfect natural hair. It runs in our family. Why on earth did you change it to this?"

"We're in hiding."

"Well, stop that. Hiding never did anyone any good."

"Showing ourselves hasn't done much good either…"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you hear about that standoff in Tacoma? The bar where they took people hostage?"

Stephanie shrugged. "Bunch of political crazies, I heard."

"They weren't crazy, and it wasn't politics. They were looking for us."

"Who's us?"

"People with magic."

"So there's more of you?"

"Of course there are, Mom."

"I'm catching up as fast as I can, Hailey." Stephanie frowned. The concern on her face was so unlike the mother Hailey was used to. Her mom didn't get nervous or worried. "Some people died in that bar…"

"No one I know. I managed to get us out."

"You were there?"

Maybe I shouldn't have told her that… "Yes."

"And… all those people in Rallsburg… oh my god," she murmured. "This… all of this was because of magic? Because of you?"

"Not because of me!"

"I didn't mean you specifically. But…" She still looked worried beyond her years. "You're in danger."

"I know that," Hailey said dismissively. "I can handle it."

"But people are trying to kill you! We should go to the police. Or that FBI agent. Jeremy-something."

"Ashe."

"Yeah, him! Wait, you aren't already working with them, are you?"

"No."

"Well, why not? He seems on top of things. He knows how to handle the press, at least."

Hailey shook her head. "Mom, we can't answer their questions."

"Just tell them someone's trying to kill you, that's simple enough."

"But what about when they ask why? Or what happened to Rallsburg? Or where I've been for the last six months?"

"Well…" She frowned. "No, you can't tell them, I suppose. Unless you're willing to show magic to the whole world."

"Which we aren't."

She paused to consider, while Hailey waited in uncomfortable silence. Finally, Stephanie walked around and sat behind her desk, opening her laptop. "If you're in hiding, and you have to stay in hiding, how are you getting by?"

"We have… a friend, who gave us some money."

"A friend? And does that friend have a limitless pool to draw from?"

"Probably not. No such thing as a free lunch, right?"

"Exactly. You could always do with more liquid assets."

Her mother sounded much more in her element, back to her usual confident—and impatient—self. She started typing, and Hailey walked around the desk for the first time in her life to join her. Stephanie paid her no mind, pulling up accounts and emails in a flurry.

"They've been asking me what to do about your trust fund, since you aren't around to cash it anymore. Between that and quite a few accounts I can draw from, I believe I could scrape together a respectable budget. How many people are you?" Before Hailey could answer, Stephanie shook her head. "If you think it's important, of course. Plausible deniability. Only tell me what I need to know."

"...Four in my house, four up north, ten… somewhere else." Hailey didn't bother to count the Laushires, since they were the original source of funding, and Rachel was totally incommunicado so she had no idea how to get money to her anyway.

"...So few," Stephanie murmured. "Well, I can make your lives a bit easier. It'll be virtually untraceable, off the books."

"Isn't that risky?"

"Off the books doesn't actually mean off the books anymore. It's still accounted for, but just labeled as a consumable budget item that no one will ever look into. Even if they do, it's already been consumed." Stephanie shrugged. "It's way smaller than our slush fund."

Hailey hugged her. It wasn't anywhere near the top of her list of problems, but even something as simple as a bit more money would ease a lot of tensions. Cinza's group could order more gemstones and tools, and Jessica's parents wouldn't worry quite so much. Hailey didn't know how the B.C. group was doing, but she assumed that the Bowmans, Hector, and Julian would all appreciate the extra allowance.

"Thanks, Mom."

"Thank me by keeping your end of the deal."

"Huh?"

"Stay out of trouble." Stephanie closed the laptop and gave her a stern look. "You were in that bar, weren't you?"

"...Yes."

"Those men had guns. They shot people. They would have shot you!"

"Yes."

Her eyes widened, and her voice trembled. "How can you be so calm about that?"

"Because I beat them, Mom."

"I thought they ran away after the gas explosion."

"There wasn't a gas explosion. I made all the smoke, then something else tore the front of the building off." She decided it wasn't the right time to explain to her mom about Brian Hendricks and the monsters that had tried to rip her head off. "They ran because I beat them."

"You—"

"I've kept two different known muggers away from you on the streets too. Jess and I patrol the whole city at night and keep people safe. This is what we do."

"Hailey, you make it sound like you're some kind of superhero."

Hailey shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"You aren't though!"

"Why not?" Hailey repeated. "I can do it. They need help. Why not step in?"

"Because it's illegal, it's crazy, and you're putting yourself in an insane amount of danger."

"Someone has to do it."

"No, someone does not have to do it. You're choosing to do it. If you aren't going to listen to me, at least remember that." Stephanie shook her head. "You're an adult. I can't stop you. But I'm begging you. Stay safe."

"...I will, Mom."

It wasn't going to stop her from fighting Brian's men if they came, or continuing to patrol the city, or any of the other things she'd been doing, but she'd try to be more cautious. For her mother's sake.