It took them a day and a half of hard flying.

Hailey wondered if there was a way she could keep going while sleeping, but she didn't want to risk it, so they spent a night in a small forest somewhere halfway across the country. She wasn't even sure which state they were in, and her phone was too low on battery to check. She had to save it for their destination. They huddled together in a small tent on a sleeping bag, Jessica keeping the area warm while Hailey had exhaustion-fueled visions of bears suddenly ripping apart the nylon walls.

When morning came, she remembered her promise and explained to Jessica exactly what had happened at Ian's. They had a good, briefly cathartic moment getting angry at Hugo together before setting off for the day. The landscape became much more boring, full of cornfields and farms instead of the sweeping vistas or towering Rockies in their first day of flight. Hailey tried to speed up, but wind resistance was simply too much, and she could tell that trying to force even more out of her already tired wings would only just force them down to the ground sooner.

Still, they made good time. They'd set out from Kent on Monday, made it to Norwalk in the evening on Tuesday, and were now cruising over Ohio on Thursday morning. They ate breakfast in midair, as Hailey pulled out a few wrapped up pastries from her bag and Jessica heated them. She wished they had something nicer to drink than water, but it was better than nothing. They flew into Galloway without growling stomachs, at least.

Weston's house was easier to find, since Hailey had actually been there before. She'd visited during their first summer break after freshman year, the year before the Gods found the Grimoire in the library. Everything past that year, she couldn't quite trust, since Beverly had wiped out so many memories.

Beverly… She knew that at some point, they'd become close friends and roommates, maybe even as close as she had been with Jessica, but it was all gone. The only remnant were photos Beverly had kept in her room, before it had all burned down.

Hailey told Beverly she was forgiven, but she hadn't really decided that. She wanted to forgive her. Beverly seemed like exactly the sort of friend she used to make all the time, the quiet and reserved type that balanced her out. Not totally unlike Jessica, in many ways. Jess wouldn't ever do something like that though… Not even if she was desperate. So maybe they aren't really alike at all.

More than anything, Hailey valued friendship and loyalty, and Beverly's actions betrayed them both. They hadn't spoken in weeks now. Hailey wouldn't be quick to forgive that, just as she couldn't easily forgive the man she blamed for last summer's events just as much as she did herself.

Spotting Weston wasn't hard. This early on a Thursday, he was just getting up and making breakfast. His parents were in the room, but from the last time she was there, she knew they'd be heading out soon. She wondered what he'd been up to since she left. Ian looked like he'd been attending a community college from the papers and textbooks scattered around his room, and she could assume Hugo was doing the same.

Weston, though? After his chosen school had vanished off the map? What would he be up to?

His parents were both driving away. Time to find out, I guess.

Hailey tugged on Jessica's arm to warn her, and they broke into a dive. Just as Weston was getting up to put away his cereal bowl, they landed on the back porch. Hailey didn't waste any time with him, knocking on the back door immediately.

His reaction was so… Weston.

"Hm," he murmured, as soon as he'd opened the door. "You changed your hair."

"...Nice to see you too," she finally spluttered. Jessica gave him a little wave, just as she had Ian. He waved back, with the faintest hint of a smile.

There was no need to explain her condition again. Weston was all too aware.

"We need your help," Hailey started without preamble.

"Well, that seemed obvious." He sighed, and stepped out of the way to let them in. "I saw you on the news."

"Which time?" she muttered.

"All of them." He shrugged. "I've been keeping an eye out." He walked back into the kitchen, waving his hand over his shoulder as he went. The back door swung shut behind them. Another wave, and his phone leapt off the table and into his hand.

"Nice."

"I get a lot of practice." He leaned against the wall, tapping away at his phone. "I'm guessing you already went to see Ian."

"...Yeah."

"And?"

"He's not coming."

Weston nodded. "He wouldn't."

"Screw you," she snapped. Jessica looked up at the sudden shift in tone. She'd been walking around the room to stretch her legs, investigating the paintings hanging throughout the living room. Weston raised an eyebrow, starting to respond, but Hailey kept going. "Ian's not coming to protect us. He's helping the group, like he always is. What are you doing?"

He shook his head. "I'm—"

"God, this was a waste. I flew two thousand miles to get here, Wes, and this is all you've got?"

"I'm sorry!" he shouted.

She stopped dead. Weston had never apologized about anything. Not for anything to do with magic, and definitely not anything in their personal relationship. Seeing actual remorse in his expression was… uncomfortable. She didn't know how to react to it.

"I was an asshole. I wish I could take it back every single day, but I can't. I wanted to apologize so many times but I wasn't brave enough. I screwed up." Weston stared down at the ground. Jessica hurried over to give him a hug, but he shook his head. She faltered, uncertain. "When I heard what happened… I knew."

"...Knew what?" she asked suspiciously.

"That you'd need our help someday. I knew you weren't dead," he added, smiling slightly. "I'd never believe something like a town blowing up could slow you down. I tried to call you, but your line was disconnected… so I waited." He finally glanced back up at her. "Whatever you need, just say the word. Anything."

Hailey opened and closed her mouth several times, totally at a loss for words. She'd come ready for a drawn-out fight. Not… this.

Weston glanced over at Jessica, smiling. He gestured back at Hailey, miming a mouth with his hand. Jessica giggled.

"Hey," Hailey started, but she was still unsure what to say next.

He shrugged. "I've had a lot of time to think about it."

"...And I've had a really long flight," Hailey mumbled. "Give me a minute, okay?"

"Sure." He nodded to the living room. "Go take a load off. No one's gonna be home til late tonight. Want something to eat?"

Hailey hesitated. Their impromptu mid-flight breakfast really hadn't been much. "...Yes," she said in a small voice. Weston turned to Jessica and mimed a knife and fork, pointing at her, and Jessica nodded.

Ten minutes later, they were both on the couch wolfing down fresh pancakes, while Weston sipped from a fresh mug of coffee. "...Just off a diet?" he asked mildly.

"No," she snapped, still feeling a little hostile toward him. "Flying is kind of exhausting."

He nodded. "I can imagine."

"...These are really good," she added begrudgingly, finishing off the pancakes.

"Thanks." He took the plate she set down and walked away to clean it off. Jessica was still eating hers, shooting a bewildered glance at Hailey. The last time they'd eaten together had been… explosive, to say the least. This new Weston confused them both.

"We need your help," she repeated, trying to get back on track as he sat down again.

His living room was exactly like she remembered it, with a wide comfortable couch and large armchairs surrounding a huge TV mounted on the wall. The Davis family was very proud their home theater setup. Speakers were placed discreetly around the room to provide a full surround system, and blackout curtains would sweep out to cover the windows with the press of a button, or even automatically when starting a movie. The TV was currently tuned to the news, though, chirping away quietly underneath their conversation.

"What can I do?" he asked calmly, sipping at his coffee again.

"Did you see the story about the hostage crisis in Tacoma? The bar that was taken over?"

"...You were there?"

"Yeah… and so was our enemy."

"Who is…?"

"Well, it's not exactly clear," she muttered. "But we know who's got the big guns. He can make those golems, like the ones we saw in Rallsburg."

He nodded glumly. "I'd hoped we'd never have to see those two again."

Hailey shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Well… he's actually dead."

"What?"

"We uhh… well, not me, but… someone killed him."

Weston hesitated, his face hard to read. "Okay."

"But his follower figured out how to make something that other people can use. To find people with magic, and another thing to make those golems. They've been hunting us ever since."

"If if wasn't you, and it wasn't Jessica…" Weston prompted.

"There's other people with magic," she confirmed. "Lots more."

"...But you came to me."

"Yeah." She hesitated. He'll figure it out eventually, he's not stupid. I have to head it off now. "Look, there's a whole lot you don't know yet, but this is important. The way we awakened — err, the way we got magic — isn't normal. We're special."

He raised an eyebrow, sipping his coffee again, but didn't say anything.

"We're way more powerful than most people. They're calling us 'natural' awakened, or other fancy names sometimes too. There's a few more besides who you know, and all of us are way more powerful than the rest. Because we got to read from a full page."

"Hm." He nodded. "I remember."

"Right. Most people just awaken from bits and pieces."

Weston took another sip of his coffee, which irritated her immensely. It felt so casual, even though his expression and tone were quite serious. "I assume you still have it. Keep it secret, wherever it is. Don't tell me, so I can't ever give it away. Even by accident."

She felt an immeasurable wave of gratitude that he understood the potential danger immediately. "Yeah."

"So… you want my help in stopping the people hunting you."

"...Yes."

He glanced at the TV. "And we need to do it as quietly as we can."

"Pretty much." She looked over too. It was tuned to national news, like every TV she seemed to run across lately. Today, thankfully, it wasn't a story about her. Just typical mundane national crises, ones she could pretend didn't really affect her. Plus a running tag about a mysteriously vanished asteroid, which she did know something about. "There's a lot of people in hiding right now, and a lot of people hunting them. All we've done so far is run away. I think it's time to fight back."

Weston set his coffee aside, leaning forward slightly. "How?"

"We find him and we stop him."

"Okay, but how?"

"Well…" Hailey paused. "We know he's somewhere in Washington, probably still pretty close to Olympia. Between the attack at the bar, Jerry Hauserman's murder, and what a couple of awakened posted about later, everything's centered around that region. It's a huge area to search, and we know he's in hiding, because he's supposed to be dead too."

"Is he?"

"His name's Brian Hendricks. You remember my landlord?"

"Vaguely." He shrugged. "I never really bothered looking into getting an apartment there."

"Freeloader," she smirked. "But yeah, he's the one. He can make those golems, and he has something that lets him tell who's awakened just by looking at them. Something he can lend out to people too, apparently."

"But we have no idea where he is."

"We've got an advantage though." Hailey smiled. "His trick doesn't work on us. They tried it on me and got nothing."

"This is sounding impossible."

"So what's your amazing plan?"

He shrugged. "It's not amazing, but there's always the idea of bait."

"...With what he's got on his side? I can hold those things back, but I don't think I can win."

"But with Jess and me behind you? And any other allies you can pull together?"

"...Maybe?" Hailey grimaced. "I dunno. I don't know if he'd fall for it. And I don't want to risk anyone's life just to try it."

"No, definitely not."

Hailey realized how comfortable she'd gotten. At some point, she'd lost all the hostility she felt toward Weston, replaced with an easy familiarity she hadn't known in ages. It wasn't the tight bond she felt with Jessica, nor the bantering friendship with Ian or the passionate romance with Rupert. This was someone who'd known her better than she knew herself half the time, whom she'd shared everything with for a very long time. It was intimate.

She actually felt… relaxed.

"What?" Weston asked, noticing her expression change.

Hailey gave him a weak smile. "You ever realize this is all totally your fault?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I only went to Rallsburg because you did." She grinned. "We could have avoided this whole mess."

"Hm. I'm pretty sure it was your idea. Something about showing off to your mom." He grinned back.

Jessica glanced between the two of them, clearly confused. Hailey hugged her, letting her know everything was fine. "You haven't just been sitting around at home all year waiting for me to show up, right?"

He chuckled. "No. I'm taking online classes and working. Four days a week."

"And the personal life?"

"Moved on."

To her slight surprise, it didn't bother her at all. She'd moved on too, and they were both better off for it. Still, Hailey couldn't help it. She mock-gasped. "Moved on from me? As if!"

This time, Weston let out a real laugh, and she was reminded how much she used to love it. "Sorry, Hales. You could never match up to Chelsea."

She sighed dramatically. "I'll just have to settle for my impossibly handsome British nurse with a heart of gold." She glanced at him sideways. "Did you tell her your deep dark secret?"

"She'll never find my collection of eighties memorabilia, don't worry."

Hailey laughed. "The other one."

"Yes."

"Really?"

"You didn't tell him?"

"Well, he was already awakened, so I didn't have to choose." She frowned. "How'd she take it?"

"Didn't believe me at first, obviously, but now it's just our secret." He shrugged. "I trust her with my life. She doesn't know about the rest of you," he added. "And she never will unless you want her to."

"And she's cool?"

Weston smiled. "Yeah, she's cool."

"Good. I was way too hot-headed for you."

"Oh, we had some fun."

Hailey cackled. "Speaking of which, did you start casting that spell yet?"

Weston grimaced. "I'm not talking about this."

"Oh, come on. Who else could you ever talk to about this?" She grinned. "Just saying, that was a real game-changer in the bedroom."

"Seriously. Stop."

"Mmm!"

For a split-second, Hailey thought Jessica had somehow understood what they were saying, and just wanted them to shut up like usual. But it wasn't that.

It was far, far worse.

She was pointing at the TV screen, which they'd both totally forgotten. The headline alone was enough to feel like the world was ending, but the still photo above it had her boiling with unbridled rage. She stood up from the couch, fists clenched, her nails digging into her skin.

"Is that…" Weston started, gazing at the TV.

STARTLING EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT: SURVIVOR TELLS ALL IN CHILLING NEW BOOK: THE RALLSBURG DIARIES

"It is," Hailey growled.

She flipped to another news channel. The photo of the town was plastered on the screen again. Anchors and commentators were debating at length already, but no one seemed to actually have him on, or even a copy of the book they were discussing. Still, she knew exactly who had to be responsible for this. Only one person would both have access to those diaries, and be stupid enough to try and make money off of them.

CONFIRMED SURVIVOR OF RALLSBURG INCIDENT, CLAIMS 'MAGIC' WAS RESPONSIBLE, WITH PROOF

Again, while fear mixed with the rage.

THRILLING FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS CURATED BY RALLSBURG SURVIVOR DETAIL SUPERNATURAL CAUSE TO DESTRUCTION

"This is really bad," she murmured, barely controlling the anger in her voice. Jessica clutched her hand, trembling, watching the TV flip through channels. Every single news channel seemed to be on the story already.

IS MAGIC REAL? EXPERTS TO DISCUSS UPCOMING BOOK FROM RALLSBURG SURVIVOR

Hailey's phone started buzzing. She already knew who it was going to be, and she didn't answer. Cinza wouldn't have anything to say she didn't already know herself. She was still shell-shocked. After all this time, after all their precautions and all the effort they'd spent trying to keep things quiet… this was it?

FBI: "NO COMMENT" IN RESPONSE TO INQUIRY ABOUT 'THE RALLSBURG DIARIES'. RUMORS PERSIST OF SECRET GOVT 'MAGIC' BRANCH.

THE 'AWAKENED' AMONG US: NEW EXPERT COMES FORWARD TO EXPLAIN SHOCKING DETAILS FROM RALLSBURG BOOK

WHITE HOUSE: "WE ARE INVESTIGATING ALL CLAIMS" FROM RALLSBURG DIARIES, NO COMMENT FROM POTUS

She gave up on the news channels, pulling out her phone and scrolling through headlines instead. They were no better, and many were even worse as conspiracy theorists and supernatural nutjobs piled in.

HORRIFYING MURDERS FROM RALLSBURG WERE RITUALISTIC SACRIFICES, 'AWAKENED' PLANNING FOR MORE TOWNS

There. One headline from a paparazzi site, giving her the information she really needed.

UPCOMING 'RALLSBURG DIARIES' AUTHOR HOLED UP AT SAFE HOUSE, ALL CONTACT THROUGH PRIVATE LAW FIRM

Hailey took down the name of the firm: Luther, Renalds and Portman. He wasn't an idiot—at least, not about hiding. She'd never find him, but she sure as hell was going to find the people representing him. They'd get all the first-hand accounts of magic they could ever want. She snapped her phone back onto its snug belt clip, then held out a hand to Jessica.

"Let's go."