Chapter 12

I’m standing alone on a beach at night.

A cold winds blows around me, whipping the dark ocean into a roaring maelstrom. My whole world is sand and sea and the freezing air, but my mind is lost in the distant patterns high above me.

I lift one hand to point at the black sky, tracing a curved line between five glimmering stars to form a perfect ring.

Silver flame snakes through the distant spaces where my finger passes.

The heavens are burning.

The stars are screaming.

“Silver circle,” I whisper.

I wake with a start, bolting upright in my bed. I’m having a panic attack. My heart is racing; my skin is cold and clammy. I must have been crying in my sleep, because my cheeks are wet with tears.

Struggling for breath, I try to remember what happened and how I got here.

A hand touches my shoulder,