t she found it difficult to completely believe in him. Zane, I'm not a charity case, she said, her voice strained as she turned back to look at him. "You're just doing

Zane's voice dropped and his eyes softened. "You can, but only if you cease fleeing from it. Deanna, you can manage it. Otherwise, it will run you. Deanna's heart raced upon their meeting. His statements were harsh and weighty. He was correct; her lack of power management would destroy her. The woodland around them seemed alive. In the wind, the trees cracked and groaned, their shadows reaching like fingers across the woodland floor. Deanna's thoughts were still a tangle, but the more they went into the woods, the more she could feel it, her strength, thrumming under her skin. She could not disregard it. It felt like wildfire, like electricity, coiling around her insides, begging release. At her sides, her hands shook with the usual tug of her strength almost consuming her. "Zane..." she said softly, her voice strained. I feel it. It's... it's in me. Zane turned to look at her, his eyes piercing. Deanna, let it out. Let it up. "No," she said, backing back. I cannot; I have no idea. But her dread was of little concern to the power. It shot to the surface, and before she could stop it, her hand ignited. The ground under her feet burnt as the flames danced in the air, throwing strange shadows over the trees. Deanna! Rushing forward and seizing her arm, Zane's voice was tight. Take it easy. Concentrate. She was unaware of what was going on or how to regulate it. The flames in her palm twisted, burning the earth under her feet. I cannot! Desperate, she shouted, her voice rising and the heat in her hand growing. His touch anchoring her, Zane squeezed her wrist tighter. He spoke with consistent, strong voice. You are able. You can. But you must believe in yourself. Deanna gasped as the fire started to fade, but the energy inside her was still pulsing, anxious, waiting. The forest's quiet came back, but everything was different. Deanna's heart raced in her chest as the awareness struck her hard. She was no longer the same. The world around her wasn't either. In the dense stillness separating Deanna and Zane, the only sound was the crackling of dry leaves underfoot. Above, the full moon created long, dark shadows on the ground and bathed the forest in an unsettling glow. Every breath Deanna took seemed weighted with the burden of the choices bearing on her. She had no notion who she could trust, no idea where her life was going. "Your powers," Zane started, his voice calm yet insistent, "they're linked to your bloodline. The bloodline of the Moon Queen. It's both a blessing and a curse. Deanna tensed, her throat closing at the reference to her ancestry. It seemed like a curse all by itself. She had never requested any of this. Someone else's plan, her father's aspirations, Tyler's control had shaped her whole life. Now the burden of ancient power was on her. Her voice almost a whisper, she said, "I don't know who I am anymore." The treachery still stung and it seemed as though she had nothing left of herself to offer. Zane turned to face her and stopped walking. Though his stormy gray eyes were sharp, there was something more in them: comprehension, perhaps even compassion. He was sile