The blaze swells in my grip, my face burning in its heat. Jhamal shouts but I tune him out, focusing on holding the flames there, best I can. But it’s like trying to grasp a cyclone. Whistling somewhere behind me makes me whip around. A flaming arrow tip sails past the car with Bri and Zora in it, pummeling straight toward me. It’s working. I plant my feet. Wait for it. Its blinding glow is all I see. The arrow grows larger, and larger, sensing the incendiary vortex in my hands.

One…

I force my eyes to stay open.

Two…

I’m blinded. Everything’s orange, glowing.

Three…

I heave my ball of fire at the building nearby and throw myself down, my head banging the pavement. Intense heat brushes my back as the arrow zips past, slamming into the building.

Boom.

I curl in a ball, my head throbbing. Boom boom! Someone’s yelling when something heavy sets on my back.

“Not yet, Jelani,” Zora says, on top of me, arms barred around me so I can’t get up. “Stay down.”

The building is up in flames, black billowing above us like clouds. I try to move under Zora’s weight. “If… you’d…” I grunt, “let me up, I could…” I manage to rotate and raise my hands. “Poi y’ska,” A transparent barrier hardens between us and the burning building.

I exhale.

Zora exhales, too, releasing me.

“You okay?” I ask.

“I’m good.” She stands, dusting herself off.

The flames recede and I break the spell. “You sure? You could have been killed putting yourself over me like that.”

“I am here to see this mission all the way through. Whatever it takes.” She tugs at her sleeves.

I sigh. “No one’s dying for me.”

“Kai told me to look out for you. And I intend to.”

She said that? I guess knowing we share blood did matter to her after all. Despite her sourness.

“Jelani, you hold the only remnants of our Ancestors’ power in your arms,” Jhamal says. “That matters. It matters to all of us.”

I don’t deserve special treatment. Me, who almost got them killed more than once. I should be the one sacrificing to protect them.

“If there’s any way we can truly restore the Ancestors’ magic,” Zora goes on. “That’s something we all want. But we need your magic to do it. So of course we’re going to protect it—you—at all costs.”

I don’t like it, but I get it.

Bri climbs out the car window, comes over to us, and offers a hand to Zora to help her up. But she doesn’t take it. Bri apologizes again, but I assure her we’ve all frozen before.

“That trap was set for someone with magic,” I say.