Hell joke?!
Riley’s POV
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting that question.
Not from him and definitely not like that.
And I definitely didn’t expect the answer that started forming in my head the mont he asked it.
For a second, I just stood there, staring at him, feeling like sothing had been pushed open inside my mind without warning, like a door I didn’t even realize was there.
mories.
Not clear ones.
Not complete ones.
Just small pieces. Faint. Blurry But there.
"I..." I started, but my voice ca out quieter than I expected, like I wasn’t even sure how to explain it myself.
I swallowed and tried again, forcing myself to focus.
"I don’t rember them that much," I said slowly, my brows pulling together as I tried to make sense of it. "I have faint mories of what they looked like now, but it’s been over twenty years."
Even as I said it, it felt strange.
Because I had never really questioned it before.
All I ever told myself was that I had a past, and then it was gone, and I moved on.
That was it.
That was how I survived.
But now...
Now that I was actually thinking about it, it didn’t feel that simple anymore.
I rembered being raised by two couples.
That alone felt strange when I really thought about it.
Then I rembered the day they died.
That part wasn’t clear either, just flashes of fear, confusion, people talking around , not to .
And then the orphanage.
I rembered that more.
The walls, the routine, the sister who took care of till I grew up before she said my parents betrothed to soone..
But then , the sister died too. Not long after I got married to Ethan, but I’m very sure I ca from an affluent family for Ethan to have married .
Which normal girl doesn’t know about their past? It just feels like a chunk of my mories was wiped off and dumped in crescent hollow.
People die.
That’s what I told myself.
That’s what everyone said.
But now...
Thinking about it now I was standing here, in front of Gunnar, with everything I had seen and everything I had been through recently...
It didn’t feel normal anymore.
It felt like a pattern.
And suddenly, sothing else hit hard.
Everyone around ...
They died.
One by one.
Except Ethan?
My stomach tightened at the thought, and I didn’t even realize how quiet I had gone until Gunnar leaned back slightly and a smirk touched his lips.
"You’ve definitely been through a whole lot for a human woman," he said, his voice calm but carrying sothing I couldn’t fully read.
My eyes snapped back to his.
"I wonder why they didn’t attack or find you all these years," he continued, tilting his head slightly as he looked at more closely. "Perhaps they don’t know it’s you yet."
My heart skipped.
"What?" I asked imdiately, confusion taking over everything else. "Who is ’they’?"
He didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he just looked at . And then he smiled.
And sothing about it sent a chill through that I couldn’t ignore.
"You should consider staying here for a while," he said simply, like he had already made up his mind about it.
Then he turned, just like that, like the conversation was over, like he wasn’t going to explain anything else.
And started walking back toward where he had been standing before.
My chest tightened.
Because no.
He wasn’t just going to say sothing like that and walk away.
"Wait," I said quickly, my voice stopping him.
He paused but didn’t turn yet.
That gave just enough ti to say the question that had been stuck in my head for a while now.
"How are you a hybrid?"
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
And the second they did, he froze completely.
Like his entire body had gone rigid in an instant.
The air in the room felt different again and slowly, he turned.
And I swear, for a second, his eyes looked different.
Not just darker but bloody red.
A deep, pure red that made my breath catch and my body tense without aning to.
I took a small step back this ti. I couldn’t help it.
"I didn’t an to—" I started quickly, my words stumbling over each other as I tried to fix whatever I had just done. "I was just curious about how you might be different from your brothers."
My voice wasn’t as steady anymore. And I hated that.
But the way he was looking at right now... It wasn’t the sa as before.
For a few seconds, he didn’t say anything. He just stood there, staring at .
Then slowly, the tension in his body eased. The red in his eyes faded and his shoulders relaxed just a little.
And then he turned again, walking back to the bed like nothing had happened.
Like I hadn’t just touched sothing dangerous.
He sat down, calm again, reaching for the cigarette, taking one last drag before putting it out and tossing it aside.
"You’re really one curious woman, Riley," he said, calmly again."Do you really want to know the details?"
The way he asked that made my stomach twist.
For a second, I hesitated.
But then I nodded."Yes."
My voice was quieter this ti, but clear.
I wanted to know.
He looked at for a mont longer.
Then he chuckled which caught off guard. Because I had never seen him do that before
He leaned back slightly, resting his arms casually, like he was getting comfortable now.
"You might not believe it," he said slowly.
"Try ," I replied, my voice a little stronger now.
His eyes held mine for a second longer. Then he spoke.
"I’m actually the youngest amongst my brothers."
I blinked. What?!
That wasn’t what I expected at all.
I had always assud he was one of the older one, or at least sowhere in the middle.
"You don’t act like it," I said before I could stop myself.
One corner of his lips lifted slightly."I know."
There was a short pause and then he said the next part.
And everything inside went completely still.
"And I’m not Sebastian’s son."
My breath caught."WHAT...IN....THE...HELL...?" I whispered, my mind struggling to process it.
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