Aurora stood under the warm stream of water, but nothing about it felt warm. Her arms felt heavy, her chest too and the water mixed with the blood still clinging to her skin, sliding down her legs like thick red paint.

She didn’t bother using soap, not right away. She just stood there under the showers, her mind registering the moment Rowan told her to call for back up up till the moment he was stabbed.

Hot tears slowly ran down her cheeks and mixed with the water. Her entire body trembled as she covered her face crying harder as she internally blamed herself. She was not even sure if...