~ Alaric's POV ~
The golden fire curled around her fingers like it had always belonged there.
I stood frozen, the world narrowing to the girl bathed in unnatural light. The flames didn’t burn her. They danced—gracefully—like she'd been born of them.
Amethyst eyes, glowing and wide, stared down at her hands. She didn’t scream. She didn’t panic. But her voice, soft and cracked like frost over glass, reached me.
"I didn’t mean to."
There was no fear in her voice. No terror at the fire licking her skin. What trembled beneath her words was worse.
She wasn’t afraid of the fire.
She was afraid of herself.
Nathan immediately whisked Aris away from her. The child clung to her, unwilling to let go, but we couldn’t afford to risk her safety. Thankfully, the training ground was nearly deserted
