A rush of emotion built up in Nova’s throat, and she found herself struggling not to cry. She did not often think about those days, afraid if she allowed herself to go into those memories, she might never crawl back out. She cleared her throat and searched for a change of direction.

“Your name,” she finally said. “I don’t think I caught it before.”

The other witch smiled, and there was something about her presence that made the world feel more in balance. Nova found herself wishing she had been given the gift of earth rather than fire. Maybe then she would not swing between such wild extremes of emotion. Maybe then her parents would not have had to give up everything they had worked for to live a life as servants here in Pavan.

“I am called Jinx by my friends, which you officially are. When you have done battle and been captured with someone, you get to skip over the boring niceties, I think.”

Jinx held out her hand in offering, and Nova hesitated. Normally she avoided touch as much as possible, but this witch had touched her down in the tunnel when she freed Nova from her cell, and it had not called up her fire then. And now that she knew more about Aurora’s ability, she was beginning to wonder if her unique abilities had something to do with why Aurora’s touch had also never bothered her. Perhaps her magic did not react defensively when it recognized a similar ability in the other person. Or maybe she had been so caught up in everything else going on that her magic had been too overwhelmed to rise up. Aurora’s reappearance alone could have put her at ease enough to coax her magic into sedation.

There was only one way to be certain. Nova lifted her hand and fitted it against the one Jinx offered. The earth witch squeezed and gave a firm, authoritative shake. Nova waited for some reaction, for the flames to crowd under the surface of her skin, or for the restless energy to prick her anxiety. But nothing came. She smiled, so wide her cheeks pinched as if out of practice.

Jinx grinned in return, and the expression looked mischievous and wild when paired with the leather she wore, and the hair shorn short on one side and long and flowing on the other. Something flipped in Nova’s stomach, but it was not fire. It was almost like the way her stomach rumbled when she was hungry, except the day had been too chaotic for her to even think of food. Instead, she just felt a little wobbly on the inside as Jinx released her hand and that reckless smile faded away.