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“So, what? I meditate, and then boom, I stop spitting fire when you piss me off?”

“That’s another thing entirely, I’m afraid.” His eyes dropped to her fingers. “I’ve known many people with intuitive abilities similar to yours, but I’ve never seen that.”

Astra frowned. “My mother was pregnant with me during The Flare. We think it’s a weird side effect.”

The commander’s eyes widened. “She was there?”

“If the rumors are to be believed,” Astra said. “She doesn’t speak of it.”

“I can understand that,” Luxuros said, his lips twisted into a pained knot. He paused for a moment to resettle himself. “Sit on the ground. Really root yourself to it and try to clear your mind. The goal isn’t to think nothing ; it’s acknowledging what you do think without dwelling on it.”

“Got it,” she said, sinking to the ground and arranging her linen skirts over her knees. She laid her hands over her thighs, straightening her back. The warmth of him stung her lungs as he brushed by, walking around her in a circle.

“Still your thoughts. Breathe in deeply, hold it for a few seconds, and then out again.” He swirled around her like smoke, her eyes squinting at the burn.

“Anything you see in your mind you can manipulate, Astra. You’re unbound within yourself, but the physics are totally different.

You need to think symbolically. Picture me, how do I appear? ”

“Scowling,” Astra quipped. Luxuros snorted but did not engage further, determined to keep her on track.

The commander in her mind was entirely different from the Luxuros she saw in the real world, or even the one she dreamed of. Flames rolled off his limbs in wicked oranges and reds. Tendrils of yellow licked at the fountain behind him.

“Oh,” she breathed.

Luxuros stopped before her, smoldering her in the fire in his veins. “It doesn’t matter how you do it, but you need to extinguish me in your mind.”

“How—”

“Don’t question it. Whatever comes to you is what your mind needs to feel safe in my presence.”

Astra watched him burning in the garden, searching for an answer.

It bubbled up quickly, moving over her shoulders and into her mind in a swift force.

She ran at him, leaning into the momentum until she caught his torso in her arms, pushing him backward and into the bubbling fountain.

He landed with a splash and she crashed into the water with him, a shocked expression on his face.

A giggle escaped her lips, the flames of Inner Luxuros fading quickly.

Outer Luxuros sighed, “You shoved me into the fountain, didn’t you?”

She shrugged. “You said whatever came to mind.”

“Did it work?”

Her eyes fluttered open, the commander’s warm gaze hovering unbearably close to hers.

The surprise drew a gasp from her, no heat radiating against her skin.

For the first time since meeting him, she could think clearly—she could observe him without feeling like she was staring into the soul of a fire.

She could smell the real scent of him, not just burning embers, but a warm blend of leather and spices.

She cleared her throat. “Seems like it.”

He stood, his hands tucked behind his back. “Can’t promise it will last. You may have to do something of that nature daily for all I know, but it should make being around me less painful.”

“So which fountain do I need to push you in to drown your shitty attitude?”

“Another cyclical problem,” Luxuros explained. “You fix yours, I’ll fix mine.”

She left him with a glare and a gesture her mother would have slapped her for.

* * *

The Empyrean Sea glowed an iridescent purple within her dream, sparkling under a full Moon. Her cool waves were lighter here, less like vials of ink swirling against Lunaria’s cliffs, more like a reflection of the Rift above.

“Does your fire work in water?”

Astra twirled against the waves, enjoying the cold rush over her shoulders as she swam. The edges of the beach rippled, the sand glittered as the edges stretched and bent to fit this plane.

“I’ve never tried,” she laughed, spinning as Luxuros submerged himself under the water. He broke the surface, flinging his dark hair over his shoulders.

“What’s stopping you?”

Astra considered his question as she let a wave roll over her head, sending her scarlet hair flying in all directions. She pushed herself below the surface, outstretching her pale fingers into the black currents, cold against her rapidly warming fingertips.

She didn’t expect it to work, but a flash of light from beneath illuminated the surrounding water. She pushed herself upward, through the surf.

“Huh,” Luxuros breathed, his brows arching. “What else have you never tried?”

The chill of the water couldn’t stop the blush that ran over her skin.

“I’ve tried plenty, thank you,” she argued. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

The commander splashed her playfully, a smirk playing at his lips. “I meant with your magic, Astra.”

His grin only broke wider as she groaned, falling back beneath the waves, desperate for something to wash the heat clinging to her skin away.