Jack awoke to find his bed empty. Sensing Mira still in the room, he turned over, glancing around for her. She stood in her nightgown at the window looking out at the morning-draped front lawn.

"Mira? What are you doing? Come back to bed.”

She turned. The look on her face chilled him. She'd gone pale and her expression seemed perfectly stark. Her eyes seemed to hold nothing.

He got out of bed and went to her. Her arms were cold to his touch. "Baby, what's wrong?”

She stared for a long moment before finally blinking. "Nightmare.”

Jack pulled her against him, but she felt like a board. He rubbed her arms, trying to get her warmed up. "Must have been a bad one," he murmured with his cheek pressed against her hair. "It's still early. Come back to bed." He wanted to hold her, chase that haunted look out of her eyes.

She pulled away from him, blinking twice rapidly. A smile flickered over her mouth. "Sorry. It really freaked me out.”

His heart started beating again. "Sometimes training magick can produce nightmares. It's not uncommon.”

"Really?”

"When the magick is first disturbed, the mind can sometimes be disturbed too. Nightmares are a problem for adolescent witches because of that. Since you're only now being trained, seems likely you'd have them.”

She shuddered. "It was very vivid, like I was there in reality.”

"Witches dream vividly. They're prone to spontaneous lucid dreams too. I don't think I have to tell you how much being lucid in a nightmare can suck.”

"I think I just found out.”

"Come on." He led her back to bed. Once they were both under the heavy blankets, he pulled her against him and spooned her, nestling his hand between her breasts to cover the seat of her magick. "You can tell me about it, if you think it would help.”

"No," she answered quickly. "I just want to forget it." She pulled his hand to her mouth and gave the back of it a kiss. "But thanks.”

"Okay." He glanced at the clock. Tucked against his body, she was finally starting to warm up. It was 8 a.m. They had another half hour before they had to get up and begin training for the day.

They'd spend it just like this.

MIRA HELD OUT HER HAND AND HELPED JACK TO his feet. Grimacing, Jack stood and stretched his back and neck. She was kicking his ass today, and she felt guilty about it.

He'd taken her training over from Serena, figuring it was time to start concentrating more on defensive magick, which was his specialty. They'd gone back to the storage room, where he'd instructed mats be placed on the floor. She was making progress, although it was hard for her to concentrate with the remnants of the dream clinging to her. Still, she managed to best Jack every time he came at her.