Nobody moved. Hailey had already tried a half-dozen times to grab the golem rod, but she'd found it somehow impossible to affect. Even on the ground, divorced from Brian's grasp, she couldn't touch it.

None of them knew what to do.

"Dad—" said Natalie, but her voice choked up, and it cut at Hailey's heart. She wanted so badly to help the girl, but she had no idea how to do it. Letting her leave with her dad seemed like a horrible idea, and killing him was obviously worse… but was arresting him really the right choice? Depriving Natalie again of her parents, when every other family had already failed her?

Jeremy took a step forward, but Natalie lifted a hand. Gwen growled, her yellow eyes glaring at the three of them. Hailey was pretty sure she could take on a wolf if she had to, but fighting it on top of the cougar, the hawk, and Natalie herself? No way.

"I surrender," said Brian again, and took a step forward himself. Natalie whipped around, and a wall of air pushed him against the wall, holding him back.

Jeremy took another step forward, but Gwen growled again. Percy screeched a warning. Jeremy fell back, uncertain. Cinza hadn't spoken in a while either, but her eyes were locked on Brian, full of more hatred than Hailey had ever seen in her life. She knew that feeling, and knew Cinza would never get past it—not here, not in this room. If something wasn't done soon, someone in the library was bound to die.

"Hey, Natalie," said Hailey, still feeling a little out of breath.

Natalie turned to her. She looked so upset, Hailey wanted to cry herself. There were tear streaks all down Natalie's face, and her eyes were puffy and red. Her voice sounded hoarse and pained, every syllable a struggle to voice. "Hi, Hailey."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything," said Hailey. "For all the people who ditched you. For everything you've had to go through. For not seeing your messages and not knowing you were hurting. I screwed up."

"That's… that's not…" Natalie seemed confused, and that was something. Hailey meant every word, of course, but she was trying to de-escalate the room as much as she could. Jeremy still had a gun in his hands, and Cinza certainly looked ready to kill someone herself. There was still the occasional gunshot outside too, reminding them all how hard it was just to get here.

Hailey shook her head. "We all screwed up. You shouldn't have had to take all of this on yourself."

"I did it though," said Natalie. "I survived."

To Hailey's relief, Cinza and Ruby were silent, letting her take the lead. Hailey wasn't sure exactly where she was going, but she knew she had to keep Natalie talking—anything to bring her back to them.

"Yeah. But now we gotta go back, okay? We gotta take him in." Hailey nodded, trying to smile, though her heart ached for Natalie and what she had to go through. "Just like me, right? I've gotta go to jail for all the stuff I did."

"But…" said Natalie slowly. "I came all this way. I found him. I can't just…"

"I know," said Hailey. "You'll still see him again."

"No," said Brian, and the whole room turned to ice. Natalie froze, as though someone had just struck her very hard. Hailey's eyes widened, shocked.

What? Did he just… what did he just say?

"Arrest me," said Brian, and held up his hands for Jeremy. "Take me as far as you can from this place. Do not let that person near me ever again."

Natalie trembled, silent. Her eyes were full of tears—but still she held her place between them.

"...the fuck…" muttered Jeremy.

"You…" said Hailey, stammering. "You… you asshole!"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand," snapped Brian. "You're all… like her."

"She's your daughter!" Hailey shouted. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"She's something else now. Something evil."

"I will kill you for that alone," snarled Cinza. She took a step forward—and Natalie reacted.

She screamed. Natalie had never made such a sound in her life, and doubted she ever could again. It was a heartrending, horrible sound born in her throat and tearing at her lungs. She threw out her arms along with a massive push of magic, shoving the air itself in every direction. In one motion, she'd slammed everyone in the room against the nearest wall.

They crumpled.

Only Hailey still stood, facing Natalie and her three friends, with her dad collapsed on the ground behind her. Natalie grabbed him, and he felt so light with her strengthened arms. She pulled him on top of Gwen. The wolf barely held at the weight, but she didn't protest.

Thank you, Gwen.

The rest of the room was struggling back to their feet. Natalie hit them again, and they fell to the ground. She could feel an attempt at a spell by Cinza, and she threw magic at it, a terrible spear just like the one Cinza had once thrown at her father.

Cinza's magic shattered. The girl let out a huge gasp, coughing as if Natalie had just kicked her in the stomach.

"Natalie," said Hailey, breathing hard. She'd stood against Natalie's onslaught, but only barely. Natalie knew she could beat Hailey if she needed to… but she didn't want to. "This won't end well."

"Please," she whispered. "Just let us go."

"...I'm so sorry," said Hailey—and she stepped aside.

Natalie didn't hesitate. Jeremy was already getting back up again, and he still had a gun.

she shouted.

Gwen bolted, with her dazed father only barely clinging to her back. Natalie followed her out. Ruby tried to reach for her, but she leapt past. Percy flew like a dart to her shoulder, easily clinging on as they sprinted away. As they left, Natalie pulled at the wooden boards surrounding the exit door. She walled it off, trapping them all in together.

Hailey can still open it.

I know… but it gives us a bit of time, and Hailey wanted me to leave. She won't let them follow.

They were in the main hall of the library now. Rain poured through holes in the shattered roof. Her father slid off of Gwen's back and tried to stand upright, though his legs shook. He opened his mouth to say something.

"I'm sorry," said Natalie, and she threw another burst of magic. He crumpled again, the wind completely knocked out of him. Natalie dragged him into Gwen's back again. She tied him on with a rope from her bag, then went back to searching frantically for another exit.

Did this place ever have another exit? I never went in here… why didn't I ever come in here?

We may need to leave by the front.

But that's where everybody else came from. There's no way they were alone… and there's still people shooting.

They are only guns. We can defeat guns.

Yeah… we can.

Natalie turned to her friends. She frowned. Where do I go?

Home.

My home burned down though.

We have another.

said Natalie, nodding.

Gwen roared and took off, Brian bouncing on her back. Natalie's knots held firm. She sprinted after the wolf, back to the entrance of the library, back out into the storm.

The lightning flashed as they emerged, and thunder shook every building left in Rallsburg. Natalie squinted through the curtains of rain and the huge cloud of fog that filled the town, obviously created by magic. In front of her, Sheriff Jackie was crouched by the fence, holding a pistol and aiming back down the street.

For a split-second, Natalie wanted to go to her. The sheriff had always been kind to her… but she'd also come here with a gun, with everybody else. Natalie couldn't trust her anymore. She couldn't trust anyone anymore, except for the three friends at her side.

Not even my dad… He said…

Do not think about it.

He called me…

Do not think about it.

I'm—

Run, Natalie!

Gwen took off toward the other side of the fence boundary, heading east out of the library. Jackie never turned around. She never saw Natalie and her friends, with her dad in tow, fleeing from the storm gathering upon the broken town of Rallsburg.