Her own selfish fears disappeared and were replaced with strong resolve. If Alice was going to make it through this, she would need Grace to be unwavering in her care. There was no time for whimpering.

She dashed from her room to the nearest washroom, filled a large bowl with cool water and grabbed a cloth, before returning as fast as she could back to Alice without spilling a drop. She sat herself next to Alice on the bed, lifted her head so it rested on a soft pillow, and dabbed the cold water onto her forehead and temple.

Although Alice was asleep, Grace knew her magic would be strong; there was no harm in borrowing a little of her power to heal the wounds; if Alice had been conscious, she could have done it for herself. She placed a hand on Alice’s arm and felt the magic channel through her own body, making her fingertips tingle with flames. She placed a careful finger on the gruesome gash on Alice’s temple. The skin covered over the wound and the redness faded almost instantly.

Grace soaked the cloth once more in the cool water, ignoring the throbbing in her own knuckles. She stroked Alice’s head with the damp material in an attempt to lower the girl’s raging temperature. She knew she had to break the fever soon, and she wanted to make sure Alice felt comfortable and safe when she woke up.

Footsteps echoed outside her room, hurrying past in quick succession. There was whispering, too. Suspicious whispering. Grace climbed off the bed and locked the door. She didn’t want any uninvited visitors watching as Alice regained consciousness. She would be uncontrollable, reckless even. Waking up and seeing someone threatening would surely release more of her untapped magic. Who knew what damage that could cause?

As she turned back to Alice, Grace heard her mumble. She was waking. The mumbling evolved to whimpering, and that evolved to screams. Grace rushed over to the bed and knelt over the writhing Alice, holding her head in her hands, gently but firmly.

‘Alice. Alice!’ She shook her, trying to bring her back to consciousness with as little pain and trauma as possible. Alice began to thrash around and fought against the strength of Grace’s hold. Alice’s eyes flashed open. They were watery, blood-shot, and the pupils were dilated. Combined with the growls that were rattling in her throat and her wild, black hair that was strewn around her pillow, Alice looked fearsome, terrifying, powerful.

Grace winced. Every fibre of her body wanted to run out of the room as fast as she could.

She wanted to be both far away from Alice and also never, ever apart.

Just as Grace was about to leap off the bed, Alice’s fierce expression crumpled and she started to cry. What began as soft little sobs grew to a crescendo of full-volume weeping.

Grace pulled Alice to sit up and wrapped her arms around her, allowing her to cry into her shoulder. She rubbed her back, whispering to her that it was all going to be all right as she rocked the girl back and forth, lulling her into a quiet calm.