Jocelynn felt the heat first.
It pressed against her skin like the blaze of a furnace door thrown open in her face, and the instinct to flee and put as much distance as possible between herself and the descending inferno was so powerful that her legs nearly buckled beneath her.
"Ollie, keep her safe," Ashlynn said. She took half a step back from her sister, gently supporting her even as she turned to face the ball of flame. But, even though she helped Jocelynn to remain standing, the instant Ashlynn pulled back, Jocelynn felt like she'd stepped out from under the shade of a tree into the blistering summer sun.
Then Ollie's arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her close against his blood-stained gambeson, and his other hand dropped to the pale hilt of the knife at his hip.
