Jack had told her it was just a nightmare, and she desperately wanted to believe him. The alternative was too gruesome to consider.

"I'm going to add in my fire now." Jack had been serious all day about her training, driving her to try new things, tweak her magick this way and that way. He was intent that she learn new defensive techniques. She was grateful for his focus because she shared it. Something was building. She could feel it. And it was something bad.

"How does air have any defense against fire, Jack? Air only makes a fire burn hotter and brighter.”

“Think for a moment. What it is that fire needs to burn in the first place?”

It hit her instantly. "Oh.”

Jack nodded. "Defensive magick is a lot like a game of paper-rock-scissors, although that's a deceptively simple description. A lot of it depends on an individual witch's abilities, how creative and quick they are, and their level of power.”

He extended his hand and a fireball formed. It grew larger rapidly, forcing Mira to draw a strand of magick and use it to encase it in a bubble and draw all the air out. It took a lot of concentration, but she finally got the fireball to extinguish.

"Good. Very good, Mira.”

She smiled, proud of herself.

"Now let's try it when I'm not standing still and waiting for you.”

Her smile faded.

Again and again they practiced. Jack made the fire bigger, smaller, threw it across the room, and tossed it directly at her. Finally, Mira could sense and extinguish fire with her eyes closed. By the time she'd mastered the ability she felt exhausted and had a splitting headache, but the hard magickal workout had blessedly wiped away the last vestiges of the nightmare from her mind.

Jack watched her across the room with unmistakable heat in his eyes as she leaned over and braced her hands on her knees, breathing heavy from chasing fire around the room. He stalked toward her and bustled her back against the wall behind her. Jack pinned her there with his hands on either side of her head and stared intently at her.

She blinked. "Er. Is there something you want to say to me, Jack?”

"Just that I think you're incredible, beautiful, smart, and sexy.”

She felt herself flush under the praise. "Got anymore adjectives you want to throw in there?”

"I've watched you meet every challenge that's been thrown at you over these past few weeks. You've never once whimpered, never once whined. In that time period you've gathered as much magickal knowledge as it takes some witches years to learn.”

"Um, thank you." She never knew what to do with praise. "I'm kind of motivated, you know?”