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I snort. “Fuck him.”
“Toby will be all right.” She reaches for me and I let her touch my arm briefly before I step back. “I’m here every day, reading to him. He moved his hand this morning. He’ll wake up, Ash.”
My knees feel weak. I turn blindly toward the wall, to stop myself from falling—wouldn’t that be fucking embarrassing?
Strong hands grab me, guide me to a plastic chair set against the wall. “Easy,” Jason says. “Take it easy, Ash.”
“Ronan.Ash.” Aggie is there, kneeling beside me, and I jerk. “Don’t… Don’t shy away from me. I know things haven’t been so good between us. I’ve failed you many times.”
“It’s all right,” I manage, my lips numb.
“I’m your older sister. I was supposed to take care of you when they hurt you, when they forced you to do bad things. Things that shouldn’t be on your conscience, Ash.”
I shake my head. The words won’t come. Can I forgive her? Forgive any of them?
“I didn’t realize you care so much about Toby,” she says. “I’m sorry.”
“He thinks I failed him, too,” I whisper.
“He misses you.”
“I miss him, too. I’d hoped for a better fate for him, but I guess a male heir can’t hope for much, can he? I thought Father would stop using us to get his dirty work done.”
“He won’t stop,” she says quietly. “But I promise I’m doing all I can to protect Toby.”
“By reading him stories?” I ask, the bitterness pouring out of me when I don’t want it to. “Dammit, Aggie. Sorry.” I sigh. “I’m grateful you’re here for him. I’m grateful someone is, not like…”
“Not like when you were in here.” She nods. “I know.”
“I don’t blame you, Aggie.”
“I blame myself. I was old enough to understand lots of things by then. Listen to me, Ash.Papadidn’t want you here. He doesn’t want you around Toby.”
“Fuck him,” I breathe again.
“Go back to the Academy.”
“To hide again?”
She rolls her eyes. “To protect yourself. Until we find a solution. He can’t rule forever.”
“We vampires live for a long time, if it escaped your attention. Unless an accident kills us.”
She gazes steadily at me and I don’t know if I’m reading her right, and how I feel about it. “Go, Ash.”
“Aggie, don’t do anything stupid.”
“I’ll protect Toby, whatever it takes. And you, too.”
“Aggie.”
“I won’t let him use Toby the way he used you. I won’t let him keep using people.” She leans in and kisses my cheek and I don’t even flinch this time. “Now go, Brother. Let me make it up to you in some small way. It will help me sleep better at night.”
7
MIA
Emrys stops me from going to Ashton while he talks with his sister. He’s right, I guess. Ashton needs time with his family. But the conversation is clearly upsetting him, and God, his sister is a bitch.
