Riley POV
The nightmares came every night now.
Riley would be at her father's funeral and then suddenly she was drowning. Or she was in the pack house and it was on fire. Or she was standing in the cemetery and all the graves were opening up. Her mind wouldn't stop torturing her even when she was trying to sleep.
By the third week, she'd stopped fighting it.
The clock on her bedroom wall showed three in the morning when she gave up and got out of bed. She pulled on a robe and walked into the hallway. The fortress was different at night. Quieter. Less hostile. Like it was showing her a version of itself that only existed in darkness.
She didn't know where she was going until she found herself standing outside Magnus's office door.
Light spilled from the gap beneath it. He was awake. Working. Doing whatever it was that kept him occupied when normal people were sleeping.
Riley almost turned around. But something made her knock instead.
The door opened immediately. Like he'd been waiting for her. Magnus stood in the doorway with maps in his hands and surprise written across his features. His entire body went rigid when he saw her.
"I couldn't sleep," Riley said quietly. "I have nightmares. I thought maybe if I walked around... I didn't mean to bother you."
She turned to leave.
"Wait," Magnus said, and the word came out rough. Like it cost him something to speak. "You can stay if you want. There are books. It's quiet. You won't be disturbed."
Riley turned back to look at him.
His face was carefully blank but his eyes were different. There was something in them that hadn't been there before. Something that looked like he was drowning and she was the only thing keeping him afloat.
"Really?" she asked.
"Really," he confirmed. He stepped aside to let her in.
The office was exactly as it had been the day they met. Massive desk. Windows overlooking the territory. Maps everywhere. But tonight it felt different. Tonight it felt like sanctuary.
Riley walked to the chair across from his desk and sat down. Magnus returned to his own chair. He didn't try to talk to her. Didn't ask about the nightmares or offer false comfort. He just handed her a book from a stack on the floor and returned to whatever he was studying.
They sat in silence.
It was the most honest moment they'd shared since she arrived.
The next night, the nightmare came worse. Riley's father was calling her name and she couldn't reach him. She woke up gasping and couldn't fall back asleep no matter how hard she tried. Her feet carried her to the office again without her having to think about where she was going.
Magnus looked up when she entered. This time he didn't seem surprised. Like he'd been expecting her. He gestured to the chair and she sat. They read in silence until sunrise painted the sky orange through the windows.
Night after night, the pattern developed.
Riley would wake from nightmares and walk to the office. Magnus would be there, waiting or working or sometimes just sitting like he knew she was coming. She would take her chair. He would work at his desk. They wouldn't exchange more than a few words. But something about being in the same space felt like everything.
It was like they were communicating without language. Like her presence was asking him something and his presence was answering. Like sitting together in the dark was the only real conversation they could have.
Two weeks into this routine, Riley realized something had shifted inside her. She wasn't scared of Magnus anymore. Not because he'd shown her kindness. But because she'd seen him vulnerable in the only way he knew how. Alone with his work. Alone with his thoughts. Not performing. Not leading. Just existing.
And somehow that made him less terrifying.
One night, Riley came to the office and Magnus was on the phone.
She started to leave when she heard voices but he gestured for her to stay. She sat quietly and tried not to listen but his voice was sharp and angry and she couldn't help but hear.
"The situation is escalating," Magnus was saying to whoever was on the other end. "We need to handle the Valdez situation before it creates new problems. Before it reaches the Council."
Riley's body went completely still.
Valdez. She knew that name. Her father's final report had mentioned it. Criminal shifters operating near the border. She thought it was isolated. Something small.
But the way Magnus was speaking about it said it was anything but small.
"I don't care what it costs," Magnus continued, and there was fury in his voice now. "They're still out there and they're still hunting. We end this. Completely. Or we have a much bigger problem on our hands."
He listened to whoever was responding.
"No," he said firmly. "I'm not telling anyone about the full scope of this. Not yet. When the time is right, I'll explain. But if the Council finds out before we contain it, everything falls apart. So we handle it quietly. We handle it now. And we handle it completely."
Riley's mind was racing.
What situation? What was Magnus hiding? What was so big he couldn't tell the Council about it? What was he protecting?
"Fine," Magnus said into the phone. "Tomorrow night. Bring everything. And James, not a word to anyone else. Not even Riley."
He hung up.
Riley realized she'd been holding her breath the entire time.
Magnus turned around and saw her sitting there. For a moment, his expression went blank. Then something like resignation crossed his face.
"How much did you hear?" he asked quietly.
"Enough," Riley whispered.
"Enough to know I'm keeping secrets."
"Enough to know it's important," Riley corrected. She stood up slowly. "Enough to know it's why you're always working. Why there's extra security on the east border. Why the warriors go quiet when certain topics come up."
Magnus stood too. He looked like he was fighting something inside himself. Like telling her the truth would cost him everything.
"You need to stop asking questions about things you're not ready to understand," he said finally. His voice was cold again. The wall was going back up. "And you need to stop coming to my office at night. It's not safe. For either of us."
"Safe from what?" Riley demanded.
"Safe from the truth about who I really am," Magnus replied. He turned away from her. "Go back to your room, Riley. Forget you heard anything. And forget about these nights we've been spending together. They were a mistake."
But even as he said it, she could see his hands shaking. Could see the war happening inside him between what he wanted to say and what he was forcing himself not to say.
"What is the Valdez situation?" Riley asked directly.
Magnus's shoulders tensed.
"Something that's none of your concern," he said without turning around.
"It killed my father," Riley said quietly. "Didn't it? That's what started the war. Not you being aggressive. Not territorial ambition. Something called the Valdez situation."
Magnus turned back to face her. His eyes were burning with something that looked like rage and pain and desperation all mixed together.
"Go," he commanded.
But his voice cracked on the word.
And Riley understood that beneath the coldness and the walls and the carefully constructed distance, Magnus was falling apart. Over whatever secret he was carrying. Over whatever he'd done to protect his pack. Over whatever truth was eating him alive from the inside out.
She left the office because he'd commanded it.
But as she walked back to her room through the dark hallways, only one thing repeated in her mind.
Whatever the Valdez situation was, it had changed everything. And now that Riley knew it existed, she was going to find out what it meant.
Even if discovering the truth destroyed them both.