After they left, later that night, I found myself unable to settle. The confrontation had left me restless, 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 he wore a worried look.

"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...