The sound echoed, almost peaceful.
For the first time all day, my chest loosened just a little.
I pointed at a line on the screen, the corner of my mouth twitching slightly.That’s where you went wrong.
Suliaman laughed under his breath. “Knew it. You really are my brain’s missing half, huh?”
I slightly smiled but didn’t look up.
It wasn’t much, but for a moment, sitting by the pool with research talk and quiet ripples around me, the world didn’t feel so heavy.
Chapter Thirty-One
Joshua
It was late.
The kind of late where the halls go silent, and every sound echoes too loudly.
Almost seven. Everyone was gone, the lights half-dimmed, that faint hum of the heating system filling the empty space.
I was heading to the field, boots in hand, ball under my arm. I wasn’t planning to practise, not really. Just needed something to do after skipping today. The quiet was starting to rot my head, and the walls of my apartment were getting smaller by the hour.
But halfway down the corridor, I stopped.
A sound.
Faint, soft, like a whisper against water.
Splash.
Pause.
Splash.
Slow. Unsteady. Not the kind of rhythm that came from someone swimming.
More like… drifting. Existing.
My chest tightened before my mind even caught up. No one should be here this late. The pool closes at six. And still, my feet turned on their own.
Toward the noise.
The locker room was half-lit, one light flickering at the far end. The smell of chlorine hung heavy in the air, sharp and cold.
The splashing was louder now.
My pulse thudded in my throat.
I reached the door to the pool; the glass fogged with humidity. My hand hovered over the handle, just for a second. Then I pushed it open an inch, peeking through.
And froze.
Aurora.
Sitting at the edge of the pool, her legs dipped into the water, hair falling loose over her shoulders.
The lights from the water shimmered across her face, soft and broken all at once.
