"Did I do that?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"You did." Her smile was radiant. "Your magic responded to your pleasure. Creation and destruction, remember? You created this."
I looked around at the explosion of life I'd summoned—the flowers, the moss, the vibrant green of new growth everywhere I looked. It was beautiful. It was overwhelming. It wasme.
"I want to learn more," I said. "All of it. Everything you can teach me."
Selene pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I was hoping you'd say that."
We lay there in the transformed greenhouse, surrounded by the evidence of my power, and I felt something settle into place inside me. I wasn't just the human who'd stumbled into a supernatural world. I wasn't just the chaos agent who disrupted their carefully ordered lives. I wasmagic. I was fire and growth and possibility.
And I was only just beginning.
The paper butterfly found me again as I left the greenhouse, my legs still unsteady, my body still humming with residual pleasure. It landed on my shoulder and unfolded into a new message:
Same time tomorrow? — S
I smiled and whispered, "Yes."
The butterfly took flight, carrying my answer back to the witch who was teaching me to burn.
