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Which brought both men even closer, face to face.

Riv stared into the silver eyes, the irises milky white as if he was -

‘Naam. I am blind. But my mind’s eye sees you.’

The voice, too, was uncanny. It was hoarse, deep, and rough, like coarse bark burning and booming thunder, yet contained and in control.

Riv raised a brow as the younger man righted him, and then he turned to Élisa for corroboration.

She nodded. ‘Killen’s vision failed over two years ago. Mine is also deteriorating. One eye is all blind.’

Which explained the eye patch.

Riv jolted from another lurch of emotion, this time, one rooted in empathy.

He stared at her and then back at the young man,his son. ‘Is this the charitable mission you spoke of?’ he rasped.

‘‘Tis.’ Élisa’s voice softened with a gentle nod.

Her manner had relaxed since her arrival at the hill house, and Riv sensed Killen had much to do with why her anxiety had dipped.

He, too, sensed a strange peace and calm emanating from the younger, taller man.

‘Come. You’re hungry and want to freshen up before you eat. Follow me.’

Killen spoke with such authority that Riv almost set after him, startled at how ready he was to obey.

He raised both brows at the strapping figure now climbing back the hill to the dust-colored home.

Élisa noted Riv’s lingering stupefaction. ‘Killen has a way of discerning intention and compelling action. His statements are absolute, and his words captivate. He is never wrong.’

‘I see that.’

Riv had no idea why she had kept herself and the child whose DNA he shared away from him.

An unholy misery rushed through him, and he clenched his fists.

She narrowed her eyes at him as she sensed his affliction. ‘You OK, Ribau?’

He wanted to tear into her.Would you be, Élisa, when you were kidnapped by your lover who disappeared over twenty-five years ago, and then met your adult son, all within a few days?

Instead, he ran a hand over his face and hair, clutching back despair and regret. ‘Just fighting off the tiredness,’ he growled.

‘I know I pushed you hard, but I was eager to return to Killen. Come. Let’s rest inside.’

She turned and started up the hill after her, scratch that,their son.

He narrowed his eyes at the pair and then strode after them with a quick intake of breath, keen beyond words for the answers he craved.

The house stood resolute and open to the outside world, allowing light to shift in continuous shards throughout the place all day.

It was an organic structure that was both sublime and dramatic. The carved overlapping rocks sat like ovular discs on each other, making up the roof, while others were propped against each other to form the walls.

It was surrounded by an ominous fence of numerous chrome blades that arched to the sky.

Its front door, carved from some leviathan’s bones, looks like a medieval outer shell of a giant egg.

Inside, the house lacked traditional windows; light seeped in through the gaps in the ribbed dome overhead.