Chapter 72

• Aurora POV
• Sleep doesn’t come. My body might be worn down and trembling from the hours of relentless heat, but my mind won’t quiet. It’s too full of the image of his hands, blistered and red from my magic, and the way he looked at me as though none of it mattered. I can still feel the imprint of his grip, the strength of him holding on to me even when it must’ve burned like fire. How can he brush it off so easily?
• I turn my face against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. It’s calm, unbothered, as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. But for me, everything has shifted. The relief of the heat breaking is overshadowed by fear of what it will mean next time, and the time after that. If my magic lashes out every time, if it burns him again and again, how long before it scars him? How long before it takes too much from him?