Visions of Fire

My name is Gracie Usuriel and fire is in my blood.

According to my dead sister Ariel, it's in my very DNA.

She thinks I'm the strongest pyrokinetic ever born on Cybele-so strong my flames actually burn holes in the fabric of reality that allow me to peer into other times and places. Hence why my best friend happens to be the ghost of my (much) older sister.

So what exactly am I supposed to do with all this firepower?

At eighteen, I had no idea; I just knew I didn't want to spend the rest of my life twiddling my thumbs on my father's farm.

Dad might choose to spend his whole life hiding out in Angelus Quietum, but I was ready to go have some adventures! Not to mention a whole bunch of long-overdue research into a particularly mysterious immortal parent.

And if I happened to be taking off to the same university as a pretty, blond diplomat-in-training, well, that was just a bonus, right?

Dad, on the other hand, didn't see it my way. He pulled every guilt protocol in his coding. Once he saw I'd made up my mind, though, he relented with a stern warning about the Overwatch.

"They're our police," he said, "the ones who make sure individuals of Awareness stay in line. With your head blindness, the telepaths will be very nervous around you and I won't be there to make sure everyone remains... civilized."

"I'll be fine, Dad," I reassured him. "After all, how much trouble can I get into at school?"