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Juniper had never been more grateful to have a blocked nose, but the sight of it still made her gag.

Luc shrugged and threw it into the pit. ‘Manure is great for controlling heat.’

‘Where did you even get it?’ Aiden’s lips trembled like he was trying hard not to laugh.

‘Horse.’

‘Aye,obviously!’ Tilly shouted.

‘It is cheaper than buying saw dust!’ Luc defended quickly.

Speaking of, Juniper had plenty of that to spare from Cerberus’s supply, and she sprinkled it into the pit as she listened to the others joke about Luc and their manure. She wanted to join in, but felt like she was underwater, everything too far away to focus on. Finally, she placed her teapot in the pit and Christopher came around to light their materials. As they waited for the fire to smother the clay, RACA’s kiln woman, a tall redhead named Annie, arrived bearing hot chocolate and marshmallows in polystyrene cups.

Aiden brought Juniper a drink over. She was too groggy to tell him that she could have gotten it herself, accepting it quietly. He sat on the ground beside her, closer than he needed to. With the fire burning behind, she watched the marshmallows and cream melt, feeling sick at the thought of drinking it.

‘I think maybe you should go home, sweetheart,’ he whispered.

Sweetheart. He’d only used to call her that during sex, and she didn’t know what it meant that he was bringing it out in the open, away from their intimate corners.

‘I’m fine.’ She wiped her nose with a scrunched tissue that had been falling apart inside her pocket all day. The skin around her nostrils stung enough to make her wince.

He shook his head with a tut. ‘Do you always have to be so bloody stubborn?’

‘Yes.’ She took a sip of hot chocolate just to spite him, but the sweetness left nausea swirling through her, so she was quick to pour it over her fire.

The flames sputtered in time with Aiden. ‘Juni, you’re not supposed to do that!’

She blinked. ‘Why? It’s already got a tonne of other crap in it. Coffee beans and hot chocolate basically make mocha.’

‘Were the coffee beans at least dry?’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. They were old.’

Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose, and then, patiently uttered, ‘Juniper. Moisture will make the clay crack.’

Shit. She hadn’t even given it a thought, but she could hear the fire fizzing in anger now. Even her panic felt far away as she shot up to her feet, Aiden there to catch her when her jelly-like legs stumbled too close to the pit. Her poor, wonky teapot. It might have been terrible, but she’d been excited to see the results of the firing.

And… oh, god, Tilly’s plates. They were in there, too. She’d ruined both of their projects.

‘I need a fire extinguisher!’ she declared.

‘And this is why I oversee the fires,’ Christopher said, and then sauntered over to her with his hot chocolate in hand. ‘Whatever’s the matter, Juniper?’

‘I poured –dropped– my drink into the pit, completely by accident!’

‘You didwhat?’ Tilly broke away from the group to rush over, her eyes wide in alarm. ‘My plates! My beautiful, beautiful plates!’

‘I’m so sorry.’ Juniper swallowed the lump of guilt in her throat. How had she been so careless? Why was it always her who made these silly, thoughtless mistakes? ‘Can we save them? Please?’

‘Dear me, this isn’t an episode ofClay’s Anatomy,’ Chris said. ‘No, we can’t save them. We’ll just have to see if they make it through the night.’

Tilly’s face dropped. Crestfallen. Because of Juniper.

She sank back on weak knees, finding that Aiden’s support was the only thing holding her up. His arms locked around her hips as he said, ‘Chris, do I have permission to take a very ill Juniper home before she damages herself as well as the pots?’

Christopher squinted. ‘I sensed you had the lurgy. Yes, go, before we all get it.’ He waved her away.

‘But my teapot—’