Aurora woke with the faint light of dawn streaming through the curtains, warm against her face. For a moment, she simply lay there, staring up at the ceiling, feeling the soft thump of her heartbeat in her chest. Sleep had been short—haunted not by nightmares this time, but by him.
Her breath hitched as her mind replayed the memory from the night before. The way Damien had stood there, his gaze shadowed but soft. The way his hand had lingered near her cheek, close enough that she could feel the heat of his skin. The whisper of his breath when he’d said her name—Blue. The space between them had crackled with something fierce and alive, something she couldn’t name.
And then she’d done what she always did when she was afraid, she’d pulled away.
Now, as she sat up, her fingers brushed over
