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“What for?” He shakes Emrys’ arm off him. “What good will it do?”
Emrys shoots us a glance and I carefully lower myself to the floor beside Ashton.
“Ash,” I say. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“This isn’t on you, Ash,” Emrys says.
“You don’t fucking get it,” Ashton says. “I failed them once.” The look he shoots me and Jason is haunted. He turns his face away. “And now again.”
Us? He thinks he failed us?
“This isn’t any of your fault,” I say. “And in fact… In fact, I don’t think my mom’s passing was your fault, either.”
His head snaps up. “But you said—”
“Yeah, I said loads of stupid things. I was angry. I was shocked. You have to understand, Ash, I’d been looking for her for a decade. I was…sad.”
“Yeah, man.” Jason groans a little, straightening in the chair. “I don’t believe it was your fault, either. Let’s focus on the current predicament, shall we?”
I expect Ashton to tease him for using long words. Hell, I expect myself to tease him, but we just sit in silence, and I find myself resting a hand on Jason’s leg as if to reassure him.
“Let’s get out of here,” Emrys says. Getting to his feet, he walks to the door and rattles the handle, only to hiss and shake out his hand. “Demonblood spell.”
Of course they wouldn’t simply let us walk out.
“The Headmaster is in cahoots with Ophelia,” Jason mutters. “Locking us up like this.”
“Serves me right, I guess,” Emrys breathes, his back to us, facing the closed door. “All of this. I deserve punishment.”
“Because you were told that you killed people?” Jason mutters. “Come on.”
Emrys bangs a fist on the door. “I hurt them, Jax. Helped torment them. If in consequence they died, it’s on me.”
“Only, you didn’t want to torment them, did you?” Jason goes on, shoving his fingers through his hair. “Those fucking courts, the ascension trials, the parents and elders pushing and pushing for you to prove yourself.”
“What would you know about it?” Emrys growls, turning to face him. “You were the wronged one, the one tormented.”
“I came back to the werewolf court,” Jason says quietly. “After I was released by the vampires. And I was the worst.”
“Jax,” I start, frowning.
“I was the worst of the tormenters,” Jason goes on. “I had so much fucking anger. Fury. I couldn’t contain it inside of me. Others took the brunt of it. And then there’s the girl they say I killed when I wolfed out. I can’t remember it but what if…” He swallows hard. “What if it’s true?”
“I was accused of killing a woman,” Ashton says. “Not your mother, Sin. Another, a woman I don’t even remember meeting. My clan said I did it in bloodlust.”
“And I was accused of the same,” I whisper. “A young woman. I don’t remember any of it.”
“So either we’re cursed and we lose our minds once in a while, murdering innocent people,” Jason says, looking up, “or…”
“Or we didn’t do it,” I whisper. “Doesn’t it strike you as odd that none of us remember doing something like that but our families told everyone that we did?”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Emrys says, eyes gleaming. “We’re the heirs, the scions of our Houses. Why accuse us unjustly?”
“Because they want someone else on the throne. Someone they can control.” I frown. “Someone with less elemental magic.”
“They were afraid of a Queen Witch rising and using us,” Emrys growls. “Well, a fat lot of good it did them.”
“Yes, but…” I shake my head. “But if they were afraid, why didn’t they just have us killed?”
