After Aurora walked into the kitchen this morning with messy hair and light eyes, adorably holding Vitaly in her arms, I'd made it a mission to stay out of the house. I had been driving all day, relentlessly trying not to think about the intriguing younger girl with no success. It was a futile effort.

Putting my Escalade in park in the driveway, I turn off the engine and slam the door shut when I step out. Entering the house, I look around warily as if I expect Aurora to pop around a corner and shout "Boo!". Since it's a Saturday and there isn't a party at the house tonight, nobody is around and the large house feels cold and empty. It reminds me of home.

I climb the stairs, but when I get to my door, I pause, looking to the side at Aurora's door which is slightly cracked open. Fully aware that I shouldn't go into her room, I do it anyway. Laying on her bed, fast asleep with long, thin limbs stretched out, is Aurora. She's wearing nothing on her body but what looks like a white one-piece swimsuit and she's shivering in her sleep.

My eyebrows furrow together and I take the pink blanket from the foot of her bed, pulling it out from beneath her outstretched leg and I drape it over her body. Aurora doesn't move a muscle after a minute, everything still but her back as she takes silent shallow breaths.