"Given that I'm sure the overwhelming advantage in confrontations with humans usually lies with you, I find myself less than moved," Emma replied coolly, but then she sighed and leaned forward in her seat, resting her elbows on her knees and recalling just how it felt to have her mind shattered.

"I understand more than you realize, and not from being a mind-reader," she said, and if the faint, echoed ghosts of remembered Phoenix-fire licked around them both for a moment, well, no one's control was perfect, "but you still almost brought a building down on me."