Discover L (Book 2) | Complete |

~ Cold Hard Truth ~

"Those aren't real, are they?" Bryce inspected the rugs.

"No," the man answered firmly, walking to stand beside Bryce. "For two reasons, real animal fur would not have endured the time I have inhabited this place. And, it's not necessary to kill animals for warmth in this day and age, we have faux fur for that." He grinned again, gesturing for them to sit on the benches.

L peered up at Robbie, who just about fit into the room but definitely wouldn't have managed to sit on the benches. Robbie understood and transformed back to his human form, eyeing up the room on his way to sit down. L and Bryce sat on either side of him, while Sully sat opposite. The man didn't sit at first, choosing instead to bring something from a side table he already had set up. Four steaming cups of something were passed out, each one smelled of chocolate and a hint of something spicy.

"These beverages should keep you from contracting pneumonia while we converse." The man said, gesturing to their cups before sitting down next to Sully.

L, Robbie and Bryce eyed their cups with suspicion, it was good practice not to accept a drink from someone you don't know anything about.

"If I wanted to kill you, I could have done so a great many times over since your arrival. I could even resurrect you just to vanquish you again. It's hot chocolate, just drink it."

L found his blatant truth a little jarring, but in a way it was oddly comforting. It also helped that Sully was already drinking his. L stared down at her drink for a moment and took a sip, with Bryce and Robbie following her lead. The chocolate was delicious, the best L had ever had and she told the man so.

He laughed but L was sure she could see a tinge of pink in his blue cheeks. "I have one of the oldest hot chocolate recipes in the world, the trick is to add the tiniest bit of spice to it."

He sat up straighter, reveling in the attention his drink was getting and watched them expectantly; L got the feeling he was waiting for the questions she had been holding onto. She didn't keep him waiting, now was the time for her to get her answers.

"Okay so, who are you? Why did my parents come to you? Why can't I access any information on you and what just happened out there? And please, don't be cryptic."

The man didn't seem at all surprised by her list of questions, he seemed to know exactly what she would ask and had his answers ready.

"First of all, I have many names spanning many centuries. I am older than the Keepers themselves and some would say as old as the Earth itself. My name is not important to you because you will not remember it when you depart from here. I am a Jötnar, a giant of old, we like our privacy and as such don't allow even Keepers to retain memories of meeting us."

"Except Sully," Sully interjected, smirking over the rim of his cup.

The man tilted his head and smiled, "Yes, Sully would be a very rare exception. But, where was I? Hmm... oh yes, our introduction, what I first subjected you to was one of my many alternate forms. I'm guessing you didn't like it much."

He chuckled, as did Sully, but he continued his answers before anyone else could speak.

"As for your parents, they are a longer and more complicated story. I suppose I should start from where the story began when they recounted it to me, or perhaps you would like to see what transpired for yourself?"

L was about to ask what he meant when their surroundings suddenly disappeared. They were transported from the Jötnar's living room to the front door of an unfamiliar townhouse. It was daytime on what seemed to be a perfectly ordinary street, L couldn't tell where they were or why they'd appeared here. Had the Jötnar sent them somewhere? L turned to Bryce and Robbie, who were both staring around at their abrupt move in location.