The fire flares, hitting me like a slap across the face as I pull free of the vision to the sound of weeping. My mother's face is in her hands, her shoulders shaking. She looks so tiny, so vulnerable, I can't resist going to her, putting my arms around her, whispering to her soothing sounds until she stills.

"All this time," she chokes against my shoulder as she embraces me at last, "I believed you would be the end of all of us, Zoe. But I couldn't bear to harm you." She ...