She had half a mind to run. All of her senses pricked at the danger she was in. Caran would know straight away that something was wrong with her. She’d already been reprimanded for acting foolish when she was injured and jumped into the cold lake without thinking about her shoulder.

She knew better than this. If she continued acting this way then she’d have to leave. No. She was stronger now. She needed to start acting like it.

Juliana stood up and walked out of the tent searching for where Mac had gone. She saw him. Caran was beside him, bringing her medical kit with her. There were looks of concern on both of their faces and she was about to make that ten times worse.

“You should be resting,” said Caran when she approached. “Go back in.”

Juliana put her hand on Caran’s arm. “Listen to me.” She looked up, there were too many other people around. “Come inside. Just Caran. Please, Mac.”

He nodded and left. No argument. It wasn’t like him, but then again, she was pushing him away. She’d have to deal with that later. Now, she had to deal with her friend.

Juliana turned on her boot heel and walked into the tent, Caran following. Inside she didn’t sit down, she remained standing, her hands on her hips. If she was going to do this, she needed to do it now while she still had the courage to do so.

Caran stood near her. Their heads barely missing the roof of the small tent.

“I don’t have a fever.” She swallowed away any fear. “I have a curse.”

“What?”

“I don’t know how I got it, or why. All I know is that I, in a way, pick up other peoples emotional anguish and it amplifies in my body, heating in my blood.”

Caran didn’t budge.

“You don’t look surprised?” asked Juliana.

Caran let out a small laugh. “I’m not surprised by much these days. A few months ago I didn’t think a person could turn into a dragon, but now I’m in love with someone who can do just that.”

“I don’t want Mac to know.”

“Why? He’d understand.”

“He has his own problems, I don’t want to burden him with this.”

“Explain to me what happens to you. Perhaps I can help.”

Juliana slunk down onto the bed, letting her hopes rise a touch. “Yeah, yeah, maybe you could help.”

“I’m not saying I can though. Tell me what happens.”

Juliana described the process as best she could. About how her blood heated as if fuelled by tiny sparks of fire. About how she could mostly keep it under control, but because the tension was at an all time high in the house right now, that it was getting harder.

“Does it happen with any emotion?”

“As long as it’s strong. Anger, fear, lust, desire.”

“There’s been a lot of anger and fear lately.”

And a lot of desire too, Juliana thought. No wonder it was getting beyond her. “So is it something that you can stop happening?”

“Show me.”

“I can’t turn it on and off.”

“Try.”

Juliana closed her eyes. She thought about everything that was happening. How Tessa had shot Ash, how Mac blamed himself. She thought about why someone would hide a child away from his father. And she thought about the kiss with Mac and how she’d felt his desire and longing for her. And hers for him.

A small spark of fire pricked inside her like someone had flicked a match into flame. The heat traveled through her slowly at first and then faster, faster. She kept her thoughts on Mac, and how Tessa was destroying everything he cared about. She opened her eyes when it was as hot as she dared it to get.

Slow steam rose from her palms.

Caran watched her with a mixture of awe and interest. She took out an electric thermometer and began to place it on various places around her body. On her hands, under her tongue, her chest, the bottom of her soles. She wrote down the readings on a notepad.

“You could just about cook an egg on your hand,” noted Caran. “Not as bad on your feet, or anywhere else. It’s your hands mostly. And your vitals are fine too. No damage.”

“It doesn’t hurt me. Just other people.”

“Can you switch it off?”

“That’s not so easy.” She started to breath deeper, concentrating on calming all her thoughts. Nothing's wrong. Everything is as it should be. Her core temperature would eventually lower doing this, but not fast enough.

“Here, try this.” Before Juliana could protest, Caran was filling a syringe with something and pressing the needle into her arm.

A cooling sensation flooded her immediately. She paused and stared at her arm. It was working. Whatever Juliana had injected inside her, was turning off the heat. “What was that?”

“Iced water. I had a few bottles left frozen from the walk down.”

“You injected me with cold water?” No, that wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be that simple. She’d eaten ice before and it hadn’t worked this fast.

“I’m sure there are medications that work too, but I don’t have access to anything here. I took a risk to see if cooling your blood directly would change anything since that's where you said it originates. It’s quicker than place a cold pack on your head." She grinned. "I still wouldn’t mind treating you with aspirin though.”

“I’ve tried aspirin, it doesn’t work. That was really just cold water?”

“Interesting.” Caran looked thoughtful. “I’ll look into other medications, but yes, chilled icy water straight into your veins.”

Juliana choked out a cry mixed with a laugh. If all she had to do to live normally was have ice nearby so she could put it directly into her body she could stop half of all her problems. If she knew this, she could have stopped so much of her past from happening. She might have been able to prevent the child inside her from dying. Oh god. Why didn’t she know this earlier?

Tears formed in the corner of her eyes. She should have known this. It was such a simple solutions. Ice water to cool the heat.

“You’ll need to be careful with just water though,” said Caran. “You don’t want to dilute your electrolytes too much. I’ll bring over a saline solution that you can keep on ice. It’s a better ratio for your bloodstream and should work exactly the same way.”

Juliana could feel herself shaking with joy. Her typical calm demeanor ignored.

“You want me to leave you alone?” asked Caran. “Or I can stay.” Caran squeezed Juliana’s hand.

“This means I can be normal again. Thank you.”

Caran laughed. “Normal is overrated.” She winked and stood up. “You should tell him.”

Juliana frowned. “No. No, I couldn’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because . . .” The reason to keep it quiet was gone. It wasn’t a threat to her, to anyone, if she could maintain it. “Maybe.”

“Think about it.”

Juliana nodded as Caran left her alone. She was still having trouble getting her head around the fact that the solution was so simple. Pouring water on the fire to extinguish it. Not drinking it, which didn’t work, but getting it straight to the source. Why hadn’t she ever considered it?

It didn’t matter now. She knew. She knew what to do. And she could be who she always wanted to be without hiding.