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Mirrors start to fall.

I look around the corner and realize the entire room is on fire. The ceiling, the floor, and Nova is standing completely naked, engulfed in flame, right in the center.

Evan starts to scream. The black lines on his face have deepened and are now running down his throat, multiplying, growing, covering every inch of visible skin.

He lunges for her, but this time she steps to the side effortlessly.

She screams. She whirls around.

Her flames are out of control.

“Help me!” she screams. “Take the cuff off! I can’t stop it!”

But no one comes.

And then… Evan explodes.

20

NOVA

The entire room starts to swim. I expect pieces of Evan to land on me – the way pieces of Johnny covered my hair and face and clothes when I unalived him. But Evan is… was… a vampire. So, he doesn’t explode into pieces. He disintegrates into dust.

There isn’t a shred of him left.

Even if there was, it would be eaten up by the flames that are now licking the walls and ceiling and floor.

Pieces of mirror crack and melt. They fall to the ground, but their shattering is muffled by the crackle and pop of the flames.

I hear Kim shout for me. He tells me to stop.

I could stop.

I know I could.

I can feel the difference. The cuff that Zephyra thought would tame me has actually given me the one thing she didn’t want me to have… control.

But I need her to think the opposite. I need her to think I got so fucking mad that I exploded and almost killed myself and Kim in the process.

So, I start screaming.

“I can’t stop… help… please…”

I whirl around, fire and sparks flying from my fingers. A shard of mirror drops beside me and slashes my upper arm.

There is a clattering sound above the flames.

Then water.

All over me.

Freezing cold, drenching me from head to foot. Putting out the flames. Except, I can’t let it look that easy. I heat the water. It stings, but I know it won’t burn me.

A phoenix cannot be harmed by her own flames.

Kim cries out, and I’m sorry I’m hurting him, but this has to look real if I have a chance of using it to get us out of here.

He crawls along the floor and, through the fire, grabs hold of my leg. “Nova, please.” He looks up at me.