“I didn’t mean to!”
But even as I said it, I wasn’t sure it was true.
I had burned him.
It was my hands. My rage. I didn’t remember starting a new fire—but it felt the same. Wild. Consuming.
Had I done it again? In my sleep? Why was I setting everything ablaze? How was I setting everything ablaze?
“Out the window!” Will choked behind me. “Now!”
I didn’t argue. I swung a leg over the window frame, heart slamming against my ribs. It was the only way out. I’d never liked heights, but I gritted my teeth and shoved myself out. The soles of my boots hit the tiles, and they gave way instantly, sliding under me like loose sand. My knees buckled, and I dropped low, my hands scrambling for anything to hold onto. The roof tilted hard beneath me, every instinct screamingdon’t fall don’t fall don’t fall.Smoke poured from the window. Villagers ran with buckets, shouting below me. Aran scrambled through the window, he didn’t hesitate. His body hit the roof with a thud and slid the same way I had, off balance, barely catching himself. Then Will came next, still coughing, dazed, but alive.
I grabbed the edge of the roof and lowered myself until I was hanging by my hands, boots kicking the air.
I let go.
The fall wasn’t far, but it felt like I was dropping into a void. For one terrible second, I was weightless. Then the ground slammed into me.
I hit feet first, too hard, my knees buckled, dropping me straight onto my ass with a thud that rattled up my spine. Pain shot through my tailbone and gravel scraped my palms.
That was… so undignified. I sat there for a moment, legs folded awkwardly under me, staring down at my scraped palms. Dirt clung to the cuts. My skin was raw. I wondered how long it would take them to heal.
For some reason, theywould. Whether I deserved it or not.
A soft thud behind me. Then another. Aran and Will landed far more gracefully than I had. Even Will, still coughing and dazed from the smoke, managed to stay on his feet.
“What the fuck did you do?” Aran growled. He didn’t yell it. He didn’t have to. The cracks in his voice were louder than any scream. “What did you do to me?”
I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t even lift my eyes to meet his.
Just behind him people were running. Crying. Screaming. Their lives, their things, theirnormalslipping through their fingers because of something I couldn’t even explain. I couldn’t look at that. I couldn’t look athim.
“I didn’t do anything!” I cried, my voice shattering on the last word as I turned to Will. Expecting him to reach for me, to ground me, tobelieveme.
But that’s not what I saw.
I sawfear.
“Please…” My voice cracked.
It wasn’t just his eyes. It was the way he held himself, rigid, pulled back, like I was something dangerous. Like standing too close to me might get him burned too. Like he didn’t know who I was anymore.
And I couldn’t blame him.
Because I didn’t either.
I had burned Aran. I’d set the inn on fire. And maybe the dream hadn’t ended. Maybe it had never been a dream at all.
People were whispering, and I could feel their eyes all over me.
Like they weren’t just afraid of the fire.
They were afraid ofme.
I got up, legs shaking, heart still somewhere in my throat, and I ran.
Not from the smoke. Not from the fire. Fromthem.
