Nova was kicking and screaming, but her limbs were tied down to the posts and the linens were blazing, her clothes right along with them. The entire mattress below her was an eruption of flame, but she could not get away. Nor was she burning. And beyond her watering eyes and the billowing clouds of smoke filling the room, she could see the face of Prince Cassius, cast in an eerie glow by the yellow-orange blaze.

He was smiling.

He knew.

He knew.

“Nova. Nova.” She came awake gasping, and bolted upright on the bed, surprised when her limbs came up easily at the slightest jerk. Only Jinx’s quick reflexes kept their heads from colliding.

“You are safe,” Jinx assured her over Nova’s fast, gulping breaths. “You were beginning to make noise. I did not want to bring in the guards.”

Nor did Nova. She was grateful that they had largely been left alone the last few days. She had even managed to relax some in the daytime. But she had little control over where her mind wandered during the night, and it never failed to venture toward the worst of scenarios.

Jinx reached out, and Nova jerked backward before the other witch’s hand could land on her arm where it had been heading. “Don’t,” she said. “I am not under control.”

Jinx tilted her head, those large eyes of hers seeing too much. “Is that a common occurrence for you?”

Nova closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, on the in-and-out, the way her body moved and expanded. Each time she released a breath and her chest lowered, she imagined the fire being pushed deeper and deeper from the surface of her skin. When it was buried enough that she felt safe, she opened her eyes and looked at Jinx again.

“All is well.”

The earth witch maneuvered her way onto the foot of the bed, and Nova pulled up her legs to make room. Jinx sat with her legs crossed, her hands hooked around her knees. She looked less ferocious this way, with her feet bare and the entirety of her body folded up into a surprisingly small knot.

“Can you explain to me what happened there?” Jinx asked.

“It was nothing. I had a nightmare. Sometimes my nerves get the best of me, and when they do, the fire inside rises up. It does not know how to tell the difference between true danger, and the dangers of my unsettled mind.”

“So if I had touched you…”

“I might have burned you. I am not sure. Better not to take the chance.”

“I imagine that is how you have had to live much of your life here. Not taking any chances.”