Page 58 of Descent

“Please, please, for the love of god, tell me you are not sleeping with my niece.”

Ronan stands a little taller but doesn’t speak, causing Steph to shout once more.

“What the fuck, Skyla! Oh my god. It’s bad enough you’re cheating on Christopher’s son, but you’re doing so with his BROTHER! Let me guess, you both are legacies as well?” she asks Liam and Vincent.

They nod as she runs her hands through her hair.

“She’s not cheating on me,” Asher clarifies. “She’s in a relationship with all of us.”

“That doesn’t matter to the Brethren, and you know it! What happens when it’s time to produce your heir, hm? How will you know which one knocks her up?”

“It wouldn’t matter. Any child she has will be mine, biologically so or not, doesn’t matter to me,” Asher says confidently, crossing his arms across his chest.

My heart swells at his words, my dumb, lovestruck brain running wild with images of me having a baby, all these wonderful men by my side every step of the way and loving that baby unconditionally. Is that too much to ask? Probably, actually, definitely. Still, it’s one hell of a fantasy.

“You’ll all be married off. What, you’re gonna cheat on your wives? Get them on board with this? Put Skyla at even more risk?” Steph guffaws.

“We haven’t gotten that far,” Liam interjects. “We’re taking things step by step.”

“Oh,” she says sarcastically. “Well, when that goes to shit, what the fuck do you think is going to happen to my niece? If you truly cared about her, you’d stay the hell away from her, you especially,” she says, pointing to Ronan.

He doesn’t seem phased as he lets her rage and shout. When she has no choice but to take a breath, he speaks.

“Stephanie, I understand this is a shock to you and I know that you’re concerned for Skyla’s safety. We all are. It’s all any of us ever think about. She is our number one priority. You can trust us.”

“You and I both know trust is not something to be had in Salem,” she snaps back.

“How do you guys know each other exactly?” Liam asks.

Steph rolls her eyes at him.

“Before I moved to London with Skyla, I was just as a part of this world as you all are. Born and raised in Salem, graduated from Gallows Hill. Watched as my sister became a pawn in this fucked up quest for power before she was ripped away from us.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, noting that’s the third time she’s brought up my mom in some way. “What happened to Mom, Steph?”

She looks at me, shaking her head from side to side.

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. I’m right here. Please,” I beg.

She shakes her head faster, a choked sob ripping through her chest.

“I can’t, Sky. I can’t. If I tell, they kill me. If I tell, they kill you. I can’t, I’m sorry. I can’t, can’t,” she says, as she breaks off into a fit of sobs.

I move towards her, wrapping my arms around her as she cries into my neck. I hush her softly, sending worried eyes to the guys who all watch us with varying looks.

“C’mon. Let’s get you upstairs,” I say, as I begin walking her towards the staircase.

To my surprise, she doesn’t fight me and when I open one of the spare rooms, she lays down almost immediately. I lie beside her, running my hand in circles on her back like she always did for me as a child. Eventually, her sobs quiet, soon replaced with soft snores.

She clearly needs the rest. I’m sure jetlag alone has her turned around, then the emotional distress of finding out everything that she has in the last three hours. So many questions are fluttering through my mind, though. So many new puzzle pieces suddenly thrown onto the board, I don’t know what the fuck to do with them.

Chapter Twenty Four

Ronan

We decided to stay downstairs while Skyla consoled Stephanie. I haven’t seen her since I was probably fifteen. I remember her leaving Salem, vaguely. I was too caught up in my own shit to pay too much attention to it all, but I remember enough. I remember how hardened she became after Giselle’s death. She became the black sheep of the Brethren overnight, and she was fine with that. I’m sure Henry was glad to be rid of his daughter and his late wife’s sister all in one swoop.

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