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Ash closes his eyes and lets the silence hang in the room for an uncomfortable few minutes. “There’s not really anything to explain. Surely, you went through the medical exam the same way I did. Arthur brought me here after they confirmed I was Nova, and they forced me to use my abilities for Fernestia.” His voice shakes as he says the latter.
Rowan tousles his auburn hair in frustration and frowns. “Wait… you’ve been helping them? What exactly is your Shadow capable of?”
Aervin shifts beside me. His despair is palpable. It’s evident he really cares about Ash and now his view of his friend seems to be hanging in the balance. Ash doesn’t seem excited to see his friends or sad for the time apart. It’s odd. He’s cold, so unlike how they described him to me.
Ash’s eyes open and find Rowan’s. “Yes, I have. My Shadow can warp space.”
We’re all confused for a moment, but then it clicks in my head. My veins turn hot and I’m on my feet in a second, fists clenched at my sides. My emotions get the better of me. “Wait, you made the portals?” My tone is sharp and resentful.
To his credit, Ash doesn’t shy away from my lethal glare. His dull gray eyes linger on me with little interest. “I did.”
He made all of this possible for the Fernestians. Without the portals, they wouldn’t have been able to travel like they had. My gut sinks and twists painfully.
“It was to protect all of you,” he says softer, but my rage cannot be quelled.
“This—all of this—is your fault,” I say with venom. Aervin’s head snaps toward me; anguish and rage twist his features, but he remains silent as I continue, voice drawn low and deadly. “My parents are dead?—”
Ash takes four long strides toward me. My eyes widen with his icy confidence. His Shadow spills from the tips of his fingers in dark wisps, chilling my bones. “All of our parents are dead, dickhead. The only thing I did was speed up this shitty situation in order to save my friends.” His eyes flick to Lucina. “And it looks like you’ve already blighted one of them. As far as I’m concerned, you are the one killing the only people I care about left in the world.”
Vinnie and Alani share a concerned look before Tamaris glares at me and snaps, “What the fuck is he talking about?”
Blighted? What is he talking about? Lucina’s blue eyes have the fractures that my Nova Shadow imprinted on her—is that what he means?
I clear my throat. “I haven’t killed anyone.” It comes out more uncertain than I’d like.
Ash’s eyes remain cold and steadfast as he mutters, “She’ll die before the school year is done, and it’ll be your fault.”
My eyes widen and words escape me. No.
Vinnie pushes his glasses up and looks closely at Lucina’s eyes. “Is that what the fractures in her eyes are?” Ash nods and the rest of my friends look over at me slowly, judgment and disbelief replacing their former faith in me.
“How do we get rid of it?” Rowan asks in a voice that threatens to break my heart. I don’t want any of them to die, let alone Lucina.
“It can’t be removed,” Ash says plainly, looking at me with cold eyes.
The room quiets and Lucina just smiles bleakly at me. She must see the despair on my face, so why is she just sitting there looking at me like all of this is fine?
“It’s okay, Edgar,” she says softly and I know she means it. The dark circles beneath her eyes reveal her weary heart and it makes me sick.
“It’s not.” I shake my head.
A terrible pause follows until Aervin speaks up, his voice low in case anyone is nearby. “I don’t want to do things for Fernestia like you, Ash. I want to fight against them. Edgar and Lucina do too. That’s why I called all of us together.”
Rowan shifts uncomfortably in his seat but Tamaris and Alani look interested. Vinnie just stares at the coffee table, lost deep in thought.
Alani speaks up first. “I don’t want to help them either.” Tamaris nods beside her. Vinnie and Rowan seem on the fence about it.
“You’re just going to get yourselves killed,” Ash says vehemently.
“So you’re going to keep helping them?” Aervin says as his face twists in disgust. Ash nods, his face impassive. That seems to get the rest on board.
Vinnie clenches his teeth and mumbles, “It’s all the same either way. I’d rather die fighting for my country and what’s right.”
It’s difficult to watch them fall apart over this. I know Ash’s memory was something they all cherished, but now it seems like he was nothing more than a farce. So easily swayed by the illusion of safety, or perhaps it’s the power.
Ash takes notice of the shift in his friends and shakes his head. “You’ll all die. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He stands and heads up to his room, leaving the rest of us in silence with nothing more than the fire crackling.
10
