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“Nyah,” Torvo said with a smile.

“Hello,” she said, hand on hip. It looked as though she was annoyed with his presence. “I need to have a private conversation with my sister. So if you don’t mind⁠—”

“I’ve missed you so much.” Dream Torvo pulled Nye into his arms as though I didn’t exist and pressed his mouth to hers, lifting her from the ground.

My vision blanked for a heartbeat as my worst fear came to life before me. A scream scraped my throat as Nyah shoved him away so hard he stumbled. He was so much bigger, but that had been the magic she’d had access to from the beginning.

“What the fuck!” Nyah yelled, head swiveling between Torvo and myself.

Torvo recovered, and his face morphed into another familiar one. One that verified this was a nightmare. Soon Serano loomed over Nyah, larger than life. She squared her shoulders, but with one backhanded swipe, he sent her flying to the floor.

“What is happening?” Nyah scooted backward away from the giant sorcerer stalking toward her.

“It’s my dream,” I cried. “I want the nightmare to stop, but these are all my fears coming to life.”

Nyah drew a sword out of nowhere, but dream Serano kicked it from her hand, and I yelped as it hit the post of the bed near my head. He reached down and lifted her right off the ground.

“Then change the dream!” she yelled over her shoulder.

“I don’t know how.” Desperation bloomed in my chest as I watched my dream monster attack my sister. The helplessness that gripped me felt a thousand times worse than when I was the one being assaulted—no matter if it was by my father or Serano.

Long ago, I’d learned I couldn’t control what they were going to do, so I started withdrawing from the present. I let my consciousness flow to wherever Nyah was. But I’d never had to watch her receive the brunt.

“Fuck you,” Nyah spit, ramming Serano in the stomach with her head. She succeeded in knocking him back a few steps, then swept out a leg to take him down. But dream Serano grew tentacles instead of legs, and she ended up the one swept off her feet.

“You are the one we should have been siphoning,” my father’s voice emerged from the monster’s mouth, echoing like there were twenty of him. He lifted her in the air before him, limbs wrapped in his writhing appendages. His eyes grew wider, larger, darker until they were black holes, and fangs extended from his upper lip, poison dripping from their tips.

“Stop!” I yelled, though it came out far meeker than I’d intended. “Let her go!”

But the monster’s laughs bounced from the walls and made me throw my hands over my ears. “I will devour you and take your power for myself.”

Nyah struggled as he dragged her toward his expanding mouth. I froze in fear as she stopped suddenly and closed her eyes.

Don’t give up, I willed. You’re the strong one.

Nyah’s body burst into flames so bright I was forced to squint. The monster screeched as the heat flared so high that I felt the sting on my bare arms.

“Bitchhh,” he hissed, dropping her.

Behind a protective wall of fire, Nyah lifted her head and threw out her hand where a sword of flames emerged. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time, and though you aren’t real, you’ll have to do for now.”

She swung, and the warped head of what used to look like Serano flew across the room, landing near the hearth. The body continued writhing for a few moments as she waited, looking for all the world like a goddess, fire sword raised until the thing fell in a lifeless heap, black blood spurting out onto the floor.

“You killed him,” I said in awe, finding my legs. I rose from the bed, still clutching the post. The carnage faded from view, and Nyah melted back into her normal self, a bit flushed but otherwise as beautiful as always.

“It was self-defense,” she said with a shrug.

I smiled as tears fell from my eyes. “You were always the brave one.”

Sighing deeply, Nyah dropped down on the rug before the fireplace and patted the spot beside her. “You told him to let me go.”

“I did,” I agreed, curling up on the soft spot beside her and resting my head on her shoulder like I used to. “I miss you,” I admitted.

“I miss us,” she answered, stiffening. “I also miss having an actual life.”

“I’m sorry.” The tears fell faster as I spoke. “I am so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. I didn’t…I didn’t know what to do. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

“You can’t control what other people do,” she said, putting an arm around my waist. “You can’t keep everyone from being hurt. It’s not possible. You have to let others do the right thing, even if it’s dangerous. You have to do the right thing, even if it’s dangerous.”