Emrys looks nonplussed. “A human girl?”
“She’s not human,” Sindri whispers. “The Seelie Court fey look more human than the Unseelie, and she…” His voice fades and he shivers.
“You should leave my room,” Ashton says after a long beat of silence, his voice oddly subdued. “All this drama of fae politics has nothing to do with me.”
That seems to snap Sindri out of his trance.
“I’ll kill him,” he snarls, and where he was tired and slow, suddenly he launches himself on Ashton like a lightning bolt, hair flying, nails turning into claws, knocking him down and wrapping his hands around Ashton’s neck. “I’ll kill you.”
“Sin—” Ashton starts but Sindri doesn’t let up.
Instead, he snarls, “What did you do to my mother?”
23
MIA
Pulling Sindri off Ashton takes all three of us. All right, so the boys are the ones who make the difference, my strength but a fraction of theirs, but at last we have the two of them apart. They’re panting and Ashton has a red mark on his jaw where Sindri probably punched him.
“Cool your guns, guys,” Jason mutters.
“Easy for you to say,” Ashton says quietly, letting Jason haul him back.
“Fuck you,” Sindri spits at him. “You murderer.”
“I didn’t kill her.”
“Then who did?” Sindri yells, struggling against Emrys’ hold. “Who?”
Ashton winces. “My family.”
“And why do you keep her photo in a locked drawer?” I whisper.
Ashton shakes Jason’s hands off him and rakes his fingers through his dark hair. “I do feel guilt. I feel guilt for the things my family has done.”
“That’s not a believable excuse,Ashton. It’s not an acceptable one.” Jason shoves Ashton in the chest, throwing him back a few steps.
What’s with all the shoving today?
“What do you mean?” Ashton mutters.
“Your family killed Sindri’s mother,” Jason says, his voice grim. “And they kidnapped me, kept me a prisoner for years. But you deny any responsibility. Tell me, Ashton, weren’t you there when all this happened? Because you’re my age. In fact, I think I remember you.”
Ashton’s eyes widen. “But—”
“Your family kidnapped Jason?” I’m shaking my head over and over, unable to believe what I’m hearing. “That’s why he wanted a stake? To kill your family?”
“Yes, I want to kill his family,” Jason snapped. “And yeah, at first, I considered killing him, too. Because he was right there. So tell me again, Ash, how this is none of your fault.”
“Because I tried to stop it!” Ashton says, jaw clenching. “All of it. My father is the kingpin of vampires, the king of the undead. He does whatever he wants, he and the other ancients. I tried—”
“Not hard enough!”
“Whoa, boys.” I step between Jason and Ashton. My head hurts trying to process all of this. “If his family are assholes, why do you want to killhim? Did he keep you on a leash, Jax? Did he kill Sindri’s mother?”
“He was there! Watching, laughing along.” Jason’s eyes have gone yellow and wolf-like. “He’s guilty, too!”
“Jax.” I try for reason. “How old were you then?”