”Stop,” I said. My heart pounded, each beat like thunder inside my skull.
“They enjoyed it,” he continued, leaning in. “Hurting you.Breaking you. You saw it in their eyes. You still see it, don’t you?”
I shook my head, but the memories were already there.
“You survived,” he said. “But they never left.”
My hands were shaking now, the crystal at my throat warming against my skin. The air shimmered, thick with heat.
“They’re not even here anymore,” he breathed, still so quiet, still too close. “But they still have their hands around your throat, don’t they?”
My chest rose and fell faster. I could feel it—fire, rising.
“They still haunt you,” he said, like he was praying. “Still choke you. You breathe like they’re still watching.”
The image hit me like a wave.
Their faces.
My mother’s scream. I didn’t want to remember.
But I did.
The water popped—once, then again, louder.
I opened my eyes. It was boiling. Violently. Bubbles surged to the surface in waves, the liquid flashing silver-gold under the moon. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The grass beneath the bowl had caught fire. And it wasspreading.
Fast.
Flames raced outward in all directions, devouring the dry grass like it had been waiting for an excuse.
I scrambled back, heart slamming against my ribs.
“How long does it need to boil?” I gasped.
Aran flipped through the book with shaking fingers. “One minute. Count to sixty.”
The fire reached a nearby log and caught, flaring high. I yanked off my cloak, ready to throw it over the flames.
“Wait!” Aran snapped. “Just wait. Let it finish.”
We didn’t have sixty seconds. We didn’t even have ten.
So I grabbed the bowl. Lifted it off the ground with both hands, the metal fizzling as it scorched my palms. Pain ripped through me.
Sharp. Immediate. Blinding.
“PUT IT OUT!” I screamed, choking back the sob that climbed up my throat.
Aran lunged for my cloak and his, throwing them down over the flames and beating them into the dirt. Will came sprinting from the tents, a metal pail in his hands. He didn’t stop—just dumped it over everything. Steam exploded into the air, curling white and furious.
“YOU GODSDAMN IDIOTS!” Will barked, hair dripping, face flushed with panic. “What thehelwere you thinking?!”
I stumbled to the fire pit and dropped the bowl inside, collapsed beside it, my whole body trembling.
My hands—Raw. Red. Blistered and shaking.
I sucked in a sharp breath, ready to cry, scream,anything—
