After they left, later that night, I found myself unable to settle. The confrontation had left me wired, the Phoenix fire still simmering just beneath my skin.
I ended up in the training room, barefoot and still in my red dress, staring at the padded walls like they held answers.
"You couldn't sleep either?"
I turned to find Osilus in the doorway, wearing only sleep pants, his chest bare and his expression concerned.
"Every time I close my eyes, I see them," I admitted. "And I want to burn them alive."
"That's the Phoenix speaking," he said, crossing to me. "She wants justice. Vengeance."
"So do I," I said. "Is that wrong?"
"No." He stopped in front of me, close enough that I could feel his warmth. "They hurt you. Killed you. You're allowed to want them to pay."
"Avalon thinks they
