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“What did you feel?” Luther’s hands apply a little more pressure to my shoulders. They are hot, and their warmth spreads down my arms into my hands.

“Fear, humiliation, anger.” As the heat in my arms intensifies, images from my past move like a tsunami through my head. Johnny’s face, Johnny’s fists, Johnny’s flickering delight when he made me scream.

“Nova,” Luther whispers, “open your eyes, you’re doing it.”

I keep my eyes closed and hold my arms out to my sides. I can feel the fire coursing through me. I feel the energy building. “Turn around,” I say loudly. “Sam, turn around. If I see your face, I won’t be able to do this.”

I wait several beats, heat juddering in my chest, air pressing down on me.

“Open your eyes, Nova.” Luther squeezes my shoulder again, then steps away.

When I look up, I see Sam’s back. I narrow my eyes, encouraging my vision to blur until it could be anyone standing in front of me. It could be Johnny. It could be Ragnor. It could be Kayla.

I roar at the sky and splay out my fingers. Flames burst from the ground and encircle Sam, but he stands motionless.

The same energy I used to obliterate the wolves and Johnny is churning in my stomach. Petrified I might not be able to keep it at bay, I channel it into more flames and send them into the nearest tree. Its branches catch alight. Then I notice that Sam is moving.

“Don’t…” I tell him. “Don’t let me see your face.”

But he keeps turning. By the time he’s looking at me, his face is no longer his own. His eyes are black. His jaw stretches and clicks like a python trying to eat a fox. “Fire Bird,” he hisses, his voice dripping with venom. “Fire Bird, you are mine.”

He strides toward me, his skin moving like there are beetles living beneath it, his entire body jerking and jittering and clicking as he moves.

He walks right through the flames. When his arms catch fire, he doesn’t blink.

“Come to me, Phoenix. Let me taste you.” He flicks out his tongue, then lunges for me. He is almost on me when a rushing sound fills my ears.

A huge curl of water knocks Sam from his feet and sends him hurtling into the trunk of the tree I set on fire. He rises to his feet with ease and fixes his eyes on me again, but Tanner darts between us.

I hear Mack tell him to stop, but Tanner doesn’t listen. He closes the gap between him and Sam in seconds then slams his hands onto either side of Sam’s head.

“Tanner!” I yell. Looking desperately at the others, I cry, “Stop him! He’ll get himself killed!” But Luther grabs hold of me and pulls me back.

With a bone-rattling scream, Tanner’s arms start to shake. Black smoke curls around his hands like it’s leaving Sam’s body and entering Tanner’s. It winds around Tanner’s arms and his neck, then snakes into his mouth.

Watching it, a hot ball of nausea jumps into my throat.

But Tanner lets the smoke inside. He keeps taking it until Sam falls to the ground and the smoke disappears, then Tanner presses his fingertips to his own head, roars, and sends a plume of blackness up into the sky.

The black smoke hovers, swirls, and moves like it has a mind of its own. Instinctively, I jerk free from Luther, run to Tanner’s side, and unleash the swirling hot anger from my stomach.

I reach for the smoke, splay my fingers, and scream until it explodes.

* * *

As I drop to the floor, fighting to catch my breath, the sky brightens. The sun peaks out from behind a cloud and casts sparkling reflections on the lake’s surface. The falls seem louder, even the breeze feels warmer.

The tree I set on fire is now just smoking. As I watch, the smoke stops entirely. Its branches are blackened, and its needles crisp. Kole strides over to it, places his palm flat on the trunk, and chants until color returns to the tree’s limbs.

Luther helps Tanner to his feet. Mack helps Sam.

I watch the five of them while on my knees, chest trembling, struggling to understand what just happened.

When Sam staggers over to me and falls from Mack’s grasp, he pulls me to his chest and holds me so tight I can barely breathe. Shaking, I sit back and stare up into his face. His face. No demons. No monsters. “We did it,” I laugh, a smile stretching my lips. “We did it. We got you back.”

Sam turns and opens his arm to beckon Tanner into our embrace. He sinks down slowly, and we wrap him in our middle. Sam kisses my lips, then Tanner’s forehead. “You saved me,” he mutters. “For the second time. You risked everything for me.”

“We should go inside. You need to drink, eat, and rest.” Mack puts one hand on my shoulder and one on Tanner’s.