I dragged myself up the three flights of stairs to my dorm room, my limbs heavy with an overwhelming fatigue, yet my blood still singing with electric heat. Chloe was already passed out across her bed, snoring softly, half her body draped over her duvet. I didn't even bother changing into pajamas; I stripped off my boots and collapsed onto my twin mattress, my phone clutched tight in my hand. The moment my head hit the pillow, the lingering pine-and-frost scent of Ryder pulled me straight under into a thick, suffocating darkness.
Except it wasn't a peaceful sleep. It was an absolute inferno.
In the dream, the dark room was choked with the heavy scent of turpentine, charcoal, and cold mountain air. I was pinned against the smooth, polished wood of the lecture podium in Room 204, my chest
