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Josh glances back at me and a look of pure determination flashes across his face. “Come on, Stella,” he coaxes. “Show Amber what you can do. Just like we practiced.”

Stella flicks an ear and eyes him with royal disdain. Then—miracle of miracles—she lifts one hoof and taps the ground delicately.

Josh spins around, face lit up. And once again, I’m glad we brought him with us. He’s changed so much in just a few days, losing the guarded look that used to be etched into his face like it was a part of him. “Did you see that? She did it!”

“She did indeed,” I say, strolling over. “You’ve got her doing party tricks. Next thing you know, she’ll be rolling over and fetching Zayne’s slippers.”

“She’s a genius,” he says, beaming. Then he wrinkles his nose. He’s so damn cute. “You should teach her something too. Something magical.”

I freeze. “Define magical.”

“Like…a spell. Something cool.”

Yeah, right. “Let me get this straight. You want me to teach Stella to do magic.”

No freaking chance. I can barely do magic myself.

“Maybe not teach her,” he amends quickly. “But you could show us some. Just a little bit of magic.” He gives me the look—full-on puppy-dog eyes, head tilt, quivering lower lip.

I open my mouth to say ‘no way’ but then close it again. I have been playing around with the fire spell. I glance around. Dry straw. Wood beams. Literal fire hazard central. Maybe it’s not the best place to experiment with my unstable, semi-sentient power source.

“Please, Amber.”

I sigh. “Okay,” I say, because I’m a sucker with no self-preservation instincts. “But if the stables burn down, we’re blaming you.”

He bounces like it’s Christmas morning. Stella snorts.

I take a breath. We—Hecate and I—figured that starting with one of the spells my mother implanted might help trigger my own magic. So I’ve done this before—in training.

I can do this. Just a spark. Nothing dramatic. No fireballs. No spontaneous combustion.

I raise one hand, palm up. Focus. Feel that hum inside me. Not the darkness—that’s still locked down tight—but the other part. The lighter side. Khaosti was right about that. It’s not all doom and gloom in there.

A flicker of flame sparks to life and dances on my fingertips.

Josh gasps, eyes wide. “Yay.”

It wobbles—like a newborn foal learning to stand—but it holds. It’s actually kind of pretty.

Then it flares.

Too high. Too fast.

Agh!I panic and swat at it. It leaps sideways—straight toward the haystack.

“Shit!” I lunge after it, hands out.

Josh scrambles back. Stella lets out a horrified snort and stomps, tossing her head.

I slap the flame with my magic. It goes out. Just—poof. Gone.

Silence.

Josh is staring at me. Stella looks vaguely offended. I’m about two seconds from a full-blown meltdown.

“Okay,” I say, still panting. “Important note: we do not do magic in the stables.”

Josh bursts out laughing. Full-on giggles.