RILEY’S POV
I jolted awake, a sudden burst of noise cutting through the silence of the night. My heart pounded in my chest as I strained to listen. Someone was talking. Low murmurs, the kind that sounded like they belonged to a conversation… but there was no one in my room. My gaze darted toward the door, my breath coming a little faster than I wanted it to.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Was Kael talking to one of his guards this late? I frowned, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and swinging my legs out of bed.
Quietly, I padded down the hallway, my bare feet making almost no sound on the cold wooden floor. As I neared the living room, the murmur of voices grew clearer, but the voice… it wasn’t quite right.
I peeked around the corner, my breath catching as I saw Ka
