The horror movie played for another twenty minutes while Addison sat in my lap under Aurora's blanket and Aurora drank wine and provided commentary on the fictional teenagers' survival decisions with the clinical authority of someone who had cleared actual gates full of things that would make these movie monsters file for disability.
"She's going into the basement alone," Aurora said. "Alone. Without a weapon. After hearing screaming."
"Natural selection," Addison murmured against my collarbone.
"In a real gate, she'd be dead before the first step. The mana density alone would—"
"Babe. It's a movie."
"It's an insult to my profession."
