Riley’s POV

“Dead.”

That was all he said.

No pause, no softening, no emotion in his tone, just that one word delivered in a way that sounded final, like it had been locked away for a long time and he had already decided it was not something he was going to feel again.

But I didn’t believe that. Because I could see it.

It was small, almost unnoticeable if you weren’t paying attention, but I was, and I saw the way his jaw tightened just a little after he said it, like something in him reacted before he shut it down again.

“How?” I asked, my voice quieter now but...