Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 4 - Comes the Hero - III

  Hailey and Jessica rode together in the back while Alden drove. If they got pulled over, Jessica could hide them in an instant.

  "Not that we will," Hailey added reassuringly. "You're a good driver."

  "Thanks." Alden pulled them smoothly out onto the highway, with all the confidence of someone who'd been driving for years—not three months.

  "This is your mom's car?"

  "Nah, it's the spare. Getting to use it whenever I want was the incentive for getting my license."

  "You guys have a spare car?"

  "Yeah. I think it was my grandma's. I don't remember exactly."

  "Your grandma had a nice car," Hailey said, glancing around. It wasn't brand new, but it was fairly recent and in great condition. A nice four-door sedan. "You'll be pulling off at the Redmond exit, okay?"

  "Got it." He frowned. "So how'd we find this person, anyway? I thought everyone who knew how to locate magic was gone."

  "Still gone. Cinza and Nikki have been trying to figure out how to cast that one again. I think Jess might be able to do it, since she's got the right affinity, but the original spell vanished with Rachel and Will." Hailey gazed out the window, watching cars flash by on the opposite side. "I'm pretty sure I can fly faster than this."

  "You can't carry us both," Alden pointed out. "Besides, taking the car out will make my parents happy. Win-win."

  "Anyway, we found them the old fashioned way. Facebook posts about someone doing impossible magic tricks out of the blue nearby."

  "That's old fashioned?"

  Hailey laughed. "Old fashioned for me. I got in touch with them through Rupert and got them to cool it for now, and we're heading out to meet them in person."

  "Rupert, king of social media?"

  "No kidding. He's got literally thousands of friends in the area. Something about being a British guy on the west coast..."

  "How did you two meet again?"

  "Seated together at a coffee shop," Hailey deadpanned.

  "Nope, still wrong. Try again."

  "State fair in July. He won me a giant teddy bear."

  "Nice try. The fair was in August."

  She laughed. "Thanks for not telling anyone else about him yet."

  Alden shrugged. "He sounds like a good guy from the way you talk. If you trust him, then it's not my business."

  "Thanks. How's my biggest fan doing?"

  He grinned. "Meg hasn't said a word to me all week that wasn't about magic. She really wants your autograph. Like, so much that it's kind of creepy."

  "I guess I should start practicing it."

  "D'you think famous people practice their autograph?"

  "Sure, why not? It gets put up online just like everything else. It's all part of their image, right?"

  "I think you've spent too much time on it already."

  Hailey smiled. "It's nice to feel like someone out there thinks you're doing something right."

  "You think you aren't?" Alden asked, as they merged off the highway. The trip had taken less time than she'd expected.