Mika laughed, which did her sore ribs no good. “Well, whatever my faults, letting a small child get hurt when I’m perfectly capable of preventing it is not one of them.”

“I know. And I appreciate it.”

A troubling possibility struck her. “Did anyone’s power spiral out of control while I was asleep? Is everyone okay?”

He shook his head at once. “Everyone’s fine, I promise. Nothing’s happened at all.”

Mika cocked her head, searching for the music of the magic around her. As she listened to it, she let out another small laugh. “The magic’s feeling very guilty, so it’s behaving itself. For now.”

“Much like Terracotta, then,” Jamie said, cracking a smile. “Can I get you anything?”

“I think I just need to rest,” Mika said. Then she reconsidered. “Actually, could you ask Lucie to come help me into the bath?”

“Yeah, of course.”

But before he could take so much as a step in the direction of the door, there was a loud bark and Circe ran in joyfully, wasting no time whatsoever before licking Mika’s face from top to bottom. Before Mika could protest this assault, the rest of the household had flooded into the attic, too.

“You’re awake!” Altamira cried. “I told you she was, Rosetta, I told you!”

“Someone’s been listening at doors again,” Ken said ruefully. His warm, kind eyes smiled down at Mika. “Oh, my dear. You gave us quite a scare. We’re so happy to see you awake.”

Ian was trying to envelope Mika in the most vigorous of hugs, and Jamie was trying to stop him, when Lucie pushed past both of them and bent at once to press the back of her hand against Mika’s forehead like a mother checking a child’s temperature. “I don’t like it,” she said, tutting. “You’re too warm. You need a good, hearty lunch and a nice cup of tea.”

“Can I have a bath first?” Mika asked meekly.

“Absolutely not,” said Lucie. “So you can keel over the moment you try to stand up? Tea and lunch first, then we can talk about a bath.”

“What an excellent idea,” said Jamie, gripping Ian firmly by the elbow. “Why don’t we go get that sorted?”

“I hardly think we need all go.”

“We do,” said Jamie, in a tone that left no room for negotiation. “Because Terracotta would like a minute alone with Mika.”

Ian escaped Jamie long enough to plant a smacker of a kiss on Mika’s forehead, Altamira followed suit with equal vigour, and then they were all gone and Mika found herself left with a dog wedged up against her side and a small, pink-cheeked girl perched in the chair beside the bed.