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“As,” Lux said, his voice dropping into a soft, soothing tone she’d never heard before.

Managing her, she realized. “The first kill never stops haunting you. I know it well. But that man was seconds away from killing me to get to you. You felt it. He was Solarian, and he was bloodthirsty. You had no choice.”

“I saw it. His hatred for me.”

“There are more where he came from,” Lux sighed. “Ameera warned Archera. She’s agreed to keep it quiet for now. But whatever you did, we need to hone that. Sharpen it.”

“Not tonight,” Ameera added. “You really did hit your head on a boulder. Did you… did you set him on fire with your mind?”

“I think so,” she admitted.

“We’ve never really explored the talents you may or may not have,” Ameera mused. “I wonder… you can sense emotions, but do you think you can influence them?”

“Oh gods,” Luxuros chuckled. “Just what we need.”

“Next time I’ll let you die,” she said, wincing. It was so clearly a lie, it nearly hurt to say. Something in her back ached at the mere concept. She’d burn a thousand men alive before letting them hurt Ameera or Luxuros, and they knew it now.

He rested a searing hand on her arm. “It will get better. You just have to keep reminding yourself what was at stake.” His fingers tightened against her skin and she realized that there was really only one stake that had crossed her mind when she acted.

And it wasn’t her own interest in survival.

He rose, stopping in the doorway. “Get some rest, Fire Queen. We’ve got work to do tomorrow.”

* * *

“Again.”

Lux’s excitement was nearly visible to her, a misty green flickering beyond his closed-off chest. She sighed and did as requested, holding another rose from across the garden in her mind as she imagined it going up in flames.

When she turned to look, it was falling toward the cobblestones below in a plume of smoke and ash.

They’d learned through hours of trial and error that if Astra could visualize it, she could almost certainly bring it to pass in reality, though it cost her dearly.

Her head was foggy, and her eyes tired as she fought a wave of nausea.

It took two full days of incinerating roses for her to stop vomiting the moment she was alone again. Each cluster of petals took on the shape of the Solarian’s face.

She leaned back in the garden chair as Ameera’s eyes snapped to her, still watching for any signs of discomfort. Her headache had subsided quickly, but her bones still ached.

“I did want to try something else,” Luxuros said, taking a step toward Astra. “Ameera got me thinking the other night. You can see the colors of someone’s feelings in your mind… if you shift the hue, would it influence anything?”

Astra shrugged. “It’s never occurred to me to try, but if you’re volunteering, you’ll have to let down that iron wall of yours.”

He shook his head, dark curls bounding off his shoulders. “Not a godsdamned chance. Meer?”

Astra choked. “Meer? Since when are you ‘Meer?’”

Ameera rolled her eyes. “Lux and I trauma-bonded,” she said, shrugging. “There was a good hour where we thought you were dead. So shut up, okay?”

Astra let loose a clipped laugh, the navy concern in Ameera’s chest swelling.

She watched it ebb and flow around her ribs, washing them in a dark sea.

She held the image in her mind, cradling it as she tried to shift the oceanic blues into something brighter, lighter.

They slipped into a lively green, a gilded glimmer in the center as if a star was born in her heart.

“Mother smite me,” Ameera whispered.

“Not exactly what I was going for,” Astra laughed.

Lux stared at them, eyes wide. “Did it work?”

“I think so,” Ameera said. “Try something more extreme.”

Astra spun the glittering green into a deep violet she’d experienced many times over the years, usually as she slipped her dress over her hips and?—

“Astra Leona!” Ameera burst into a fit of giggles, the violet churning into a nervous petal pink, reflected across Ameera’s cheeks as the blush wrapped around her sloped neck.

“Well, that’s fun,” Astra mused.

“I hope you know you just created a monster. I’ll spend the rest of my life wondering how I actually feel,” Ameera sighed.

“I can teach you some tricks,” Lux chuckled.

“Trauma-bonded or not, Meer’s loyalties lie with me,” Astra grumbled.

“Maybe. Maybe you’ve been forcing her to like you all this time and we’ve caught on to your game,” Lux said.

“If I had that particular skill available to me when we met, I would have made sure you found me much more charming, Commander.”

Lux’s eyes glazed as he ran his fingers over his chest, his attention lost momentarily.

“Actually, I should teach you both how to shield yourselves,” he finally said, his serious tone such a stark contrast to the girls’ lighthearted rousing. “Especially you,” he glared at Astra. “You’re ripe for the taking if you run into someone else with your proclivities or worse.”

“Worse?”

“I believe I told you that Lunarians did not have the sole claim to magic.” Lux looked over her head, into the gardens, recalling what he had said to her in her dream when she asked about his own abilities.

A rush of heat blossomed in Astra’s cheeks, but she quickly imagined herself as calm and stoic as he always seemed to be, the flush retreating.

“You are a powerhouse,” Lux murmured. “But you are far from the only one with considerable power in the courts. You need to protect yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually. In war, it’s all on the table.”