‘I know, I know. It will get easier, I promise. I’m here, all right, I’m here.’

Alice drew back from Grace’s arms and gulped in air, trying to stop herself sobbing. Her throat was scratchy and her eyes were dry and sore. She still felt like she was burning from the inside out.

Grace reached out and held Alice’s face in her hands, a gesture that comforted Alice more than she could ever explain. They looked into each other’s eyes, unblinking.

‘I promise you, Alice Blackwell, that I won’t ever leave you. They’ll have to kill me first.’

A sob broke free from Alice’s mouth. ‘I can’t stand it. It hurts…’

Grace shushed Alice, wiping her brow. ‘I’ve got you… It’s all right.’ She pulled Alice back into a tight hug, rocking her gently from side to side. ‘There is nothing on this earth that can make me leave you now.’

Alice felt her heart stop at those final words. It stopped for several beats, and then when it started up again, it was beating so fast, she felt like her chest couldn’t contain it any longer. A tear ran down her flushed cheek, as the magic burned in her veins.

‘Ali, I’ve realised something, while you were in the hall with Hecate…’

Alice sniffled and pulled out of Grace’s arms to look her in the face. She couldn’t read her companion’s expression. ‘What is it?’ She wiped the tears from her cheek with the corner of Grace’s soul cape that still sat crookedly around her shoulders.

‘Have you heard the others talking about bonding?’

Alice shook her head, a single tear running down her face. The burning in her body was almost unbearable and it took all her strength to sit calmly when what she wanted to do was writhe and cry.

‘It happens – not often, but sometimes – between a witch and a Protector. It starts when there is a match between the soul cape and the colour of the magic wielded by the witch. Yours was red, wasn’t it?’

Alice frowned, sniffling. ‘How do you know that?’

‘It had to be, for my theory to work. Witches and Protectors with aligned sympathies towards a certain element can “bond”. Your red magic, my cape, it means we align with the fire element. It also means we align with each other.

‘In normal circumstances, I can protect any witch that needs it. However, I’m stronger when protecting a fire witch than I would be protecting an earth witch, for example. I can still protect her, but it’s not as easy. However, when a witch and Protector are bonded, all of my energy as Protector flows towards you, the witch. I can still physically defend other witches, but I can’t work anyone else’s magic except yours.

‘It sounds a bit rubbish, until you realise that when I can channel your magic, and when you and I are working alongside each other, we are both infinitely more powerful. Everything is heightened. Everything is strengthened. As a team, we are almost undefeatable.’