POV: Dante
As soon as Aurora closes the car door, the smell changes.
Outside, it was mixed with smoke, bread, and old streets. Not here. Here, it's her, pure and simple. Heat, fear, and that sweet note that tells me the clock is ticking faster than I wanted it to.
I start the engine.
"Fasten your seatbelt," I tell her.
She does so without looking at me. She stays glued to the window, breathing a little faster than normal.
I take the short route to Noir. No highway with traffic jams. Side streets, minimal traffic lights. The less time she's exposed like this, the better.
"Are we going to the tower?" she asks after a while, still looking outside.
"To a floor that almost no one uses," I reply. "The medical wing. It's a room, not a cell. Bed, bathroom, climate control. But it's Noir territory."
She clenches her hands on her legs.
"Sounds like an expensive hospital," she murmurs.
"Sounds like a place where I can close doors," I correct her.
