Chapter 85

Aurora woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in cold sweat, her eyes fixed, haunted by the same dream that had been haunting her for years. In it, she was on the ground, facing Magnus, who was pointing a gun at her head. It took a moment for her to regain her composure and realize that she was in her own room.

"Another nightmare?" Tristan's voice came through her phone, which was next to her on the mattress, its screen glowing with his call. She rubbed her eyes as she realized she had fallen asleep while talking to him.

And he had been there all along, listening to her breathing and the subtle creaks of the mattress as she moved.

"How long have you been here?" she asked, curious.

"About twenty minutes," came the response. She pictured him lying in his own bed, possibly with a laptop on his lap. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Aurora shook her head, even though he couldn't see her. "There's nothing to talk about. It's always the same, the same dream, the same ending."

Although t