Page 442 of Axis of Fire

"...What?"

"I had another vision." Her voice remained calm. "And I think if we remove one important detail, we might be able to change the outcome."

"And that detail is my dress?"

She nodded.

"All right." I rubbed my eyes. "What exactly happened?"

Silence.

"You are not asking me to break rules with you while refusing to tell me why."

"What rules?" she asked. "Curfew doesn't start until after the Selection."

"So we do have a curfew."

She nodded.

I immediately returned to my previous question.

"Nice try. What happened?"

"In my vision, your dress was trapped beneath the paw of some creature I'd never seen before."

My stomach tightened.

"So... you think I—"

"I don't know," she cut in before I could finish.

"I just want to get rid of the dress and hope it changes something."

She paused.

"Or at least helps."

I studied her profile.

"Are you absolutely sure it wasn't just a nightmare?"

Ahead of us, the academy building came into view.

Its main entrance.

Oddly enough, we'd never actually gone inside through those doors before.

"I'm sure," she answered quietly.

"But I'd be more than happy if it turned out to be nothing more than my imagination."

I fell silent.

Or at least I tried to think.

Sleep still clung stubbornly to my mind.

Getting rid of one of the vision's key details...