Someone cries out.
No. Not cries—gasps. Multiple gasps of shock, and beneath them the crackle of defensive magic snapping into place.
Three women surround my bed. One has chestnut hair and storm-gray eyes—Selene, I remember her from the gate. The second is a redhead with sharp green eyes that widen as my fire blazes. The third has dark hair and mismatched eyes—one purple, one pale pink—and her hands are raised in a warding gesture that makes shadows dance at her fingertips.
Fire-Bringers. All three of them. I can sense their flames now, burning signatures beneath their skin that resonate with mine.
But my fire burns brighter. Hotter. White where theirs would be gold and orange and shadow-touched dark.
“Control it.” Selene’s voice cuts through my panic. “You need to pull it back.”
“I—” The word comes out cracked. I’m shaking. The fire responds to my fear, climbing higher, threatening to consume?—
Frost wraps around my wrists.
Not physical frost. Magical. It seeps into my skin, threads through my veins, meets my fire and doesn’t try to extinguish it—just contains it. Holds it. Creates a boundary that lets me remember how to breathe.
I look up.
Auren Valek stands at the foot of my bed. His hands are extended toward me, ice crackling across his palms, gold eyes fixed on mine with an intensity that steals what’s left of my breath.
“Control it,” he says. Not gentle. Not kind. A command, glacial and absolute. “Or I’ll control it for you.”
Something in his voice anchors me. The authority of it. The certainty. He’s not afraid of my fire—he’s already prepared to contain it if I can’t.
I grab onto that certainty like a lifeline and pull the flames back inside.
It hurts. My depleted reserves scream in protest as I wrestle the fire under control, forcing it back into the core where it lives. But I do it. Second by agonizing second, I pull the white flames back until they’re nothing but a flicker, nothing but an ember, nothing but the warmth in my chest that never fully goes away.
The frost withdraws from my wrists.
Auren lowers his hands, but he doesn’t look away from me. Doesn’t blink. Just watches with those calculating gold eyes, cataloguing everything he’s seen.
“That fire.” Selene’s voice is hushed. “The color—I’ve seen something about this. My grandmother’s journals mentioned...” She trails off, brow furrowing as she tries to recall.
“White flame.” The dark-haired woman—Nasyra—steps closer, her mismatched eyes intent on my face. Unlike the others, she doesn’t look shocked. She looks like she’s confirming something she already suspected. “Pure white. The mark of a royal line that carries both witch blood and Fire-Bringer heritage in equal measure.” Her head tilts. “I’ve only heard of it in the old stories. The ones from before the bloodlines began to dilute.”
Selene’s expression clears. “That’s it. Gran wrote about the Valdorian royals—how they bred specifically to maintain both gifts. She said if the bloodlines ever combined at full strength...”
“You’d get this.” Nasyra’s gaze hasn’t left mine. “Power that amplifies itself. Witch magic feeding Fire-Bringer flame, Fire-Bringer flame strengthening witch magic. A cycle without end.” Something flickers in those strange eyes—recognition, maybe. Understanding.
“What does that mean?” The redhead—Aisling—sounds clinical despite her obvious unease. “In practical terms?”
“It means she’s more powerful than all of us.” Nasyra’s voice is matter-of-fact. “Combined. Possibly more powerful than anyone alive.”
The words hang in the air, heavy as stones.
I should say something. Should explain, apologize, promise I’m not a threat. But weariness crashes over me in a wave, and all I can do is lie there, trembling, trying to remember how to exist in a body that’s running on nothing but desperation.
“Out.”
Auren’s voice cuts through the tension. The women turn to look at him, surprise flickering across their features.
“She needs rest, not an audience.” His tone brooks no argument. “I’ll stay and ensure she doesn’t burn the infirmary down. Go.”
Selene’s brow furrows. “Auren?—”
“That wasn’t a request.”
