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THE SCREAM YANKED Essiefrom sleep. She bolted upright, heart racing, and peeled her gritty eyes open. After the train ride underground to Parliament and back, she’d expected nightmares tonight. Farrendel had paced long into the night, as if he’d hoped collapsing into bed from exhaustion would stave off the nightmares.

Farrendel curled in a tight ball beneath the blankets, shaking. He cried out again, his head sheltered beneath his arms.

“Farrendel. It’s all right. Wake up.” Essie touched his shoulder to shake him awake.

He whipped around, eyes wild. His forearm knocked her hand away. A crackle filled the air a moment before blue sparks exploded outward.

The prickle of magic raked across her skin, the hair on her arms standing on end. The lamp behind her shattered, glass pinging against the wall and oil spilling onto the nightstand. Thankfully the sparks of Farrendel’s magic didn’t ignite it.

“Farrendel?” Essie didn’t dare move. In the hall outside her room, there came the sounds of doors slamming open, people shouting.

His eyes cleared, then widened. “No...no...Essie...” He scrambled backwards from her, but he’d already been pressed to the edge of the bed. He tumbled off, the back of his head thunking against the nightstand.

“Farrendel.” Essie crawled across the bed and peered down at him. “Are you all right?”

He was sitting on the floor, a hand to the back of his head. He glanced up at her, his silver-blue eyes pained and still confused.

Her door banged open, and Julien burst inside, a knife in his hand, followed by Edmund and Averett. All three of them wore trousers and their night shirts.

Farrendel raised his free hand, a crackle filling the air again, expression wild.

“Essie, are you all right?” Averett stepped forward, fists clenched, as if he was convinced she wasn’t.

Essie rolled from the bed, planting herself between Farrendel and her brothers, shielding him and hopefully giving him time and space to claw the rest of the way out of the nightmare. “I’m fine, Avie. I wasn’t the one screaming.”

Julien and Edmund lowered their knife and fists. But none of her brothers moved, still tensed for trouble, as if they didn’t fully believe her. Behind them, Mother peered inside, tying the belt of her dressing gown around her waist.

Essie needed to get them out of the room. Farrendel needed space, not her brothers gawking at him. “Everyone, out. Get out.” When they didn’t move, she hurried forward and shoved Averett in the chest. “He needs space.”

She bodily herded her brothers out the door into the sitting room. The way they were crossing their arms, glaring, said they wanted an explanation. But Farrendel was still huddled on the floor, struggling with the aftereffects of his nightmare.

Essie hesitated in the door between the bedroom and sitting room. Would her brothers wait while she calmed Farrendel down? She couldn’t just leave Farrendel shaking and panicking as he was.

Mother touched Essie’s shoulder. “Sort out your brothers. I’ll sit with Farrendel.”

“Are you sure?” Essie couldn’t force herself to move, pulled in two directions.

“Yes. Go on.”

At least her mother understood the situation, far more than her brothers did. Essie stepped aside. “Thank you.”