He stepped closer, right up in my face, and growled, "It's because of you. Burning your friends out of power? Not cool. Thinking that swinging an iron sword and yelling at a bastard crow is good enough? Not cool. Just in case no one ever told you this, the Morrigan isn't the answer to the problems. She's supposed to be the weapon. The tool. The thing that gets used - not the one who uses everyone else!"
"Get the fuck out!" Aspen screamed, storming in behind him.
"You know I'm right," he told her.
"I know you're a fucking asshole," she snapped. "Torian, right now, I do not want to see you, or hear you, or eventhinkabout you! Just..." She pointed at the door. "Get out of my life!"
Torian's head whipped back to me. "You did this."
"No, this is all on you," I assured him.
Which was enough to make him storm out, slamming my door behind him. For a little too long, we just stood there, breathing hard in anger but saying nothing. I wanted to check on Aspen, to make sure she was ok, but did Torian have a point? Was Aspen mad at me?
"Rain-Court?" Jack asked.
"Rain-Court," Aspen assured him. "I make no promises on Torian-Court though. Fuckingidiot!" And she tossed her hands up before turning like she was about to march back to her room.
"Asp..." I breathed at her retreating back.
She paused.
"I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry. I thought I was helping, and I didn't want to be kept out of class. I just... I was trying to keep you safe. That's why we were outside when the Hunt came. We were looking for the thing."
"Oh, Rain," she said, hurrying back to crush me in a hug. "I know! I do, but my brother's scared and he doesn't know how to handle it. His magic is messed up, and Harper came at me again - "
"Again?" I asked, pulling back so I could see her face.
"With the Hunt sign," she explained. "I mean, she tried to get me killed a few times before you got here too."
I gasped. "Killed?"
"Yeah, that's why Torian dumped her."
Sounds sputtered in my mouth, yet my brain couldn't even think of a word, let alone form one. "What?" I finally managed. "I thought she was playing Torian and Keir off each other!"
"Well, that too," Aspen agreed. "But she realized I was Tor's weakness, so she started fucking with me."
"Trying to kill you is a hell of a lot more than fucking with you!"
She palmed the side of my face, sliding her thumb across my cheek. "It's fae politics, and my brother can't help but get himself in the middle of it. And now, with Keir being your boyfriend, and the Hunt thing, and just everything? He's having a hard time."
"Aspen, what does that mean?" I asked.
She bit her lower lip and made a face. "Um, I can't say much, but I kinda told him I like being around Keir. Like, a lot, and he blew up."
"Because of me?" I asked. "You know I'm not replacing you, right?"
"I know!" she assured me. "Rain, I'm not saying I'm worried about him. I'm saying I like him!"
"So this is ok?" I asked.
She slid her hands down until they were holding mine. "This is the best thing to ever happen to me. But that's the thing, Rain. Fae bullshit? It's deadly, and I don't want to be involved in it. I just want to have my own life, you know? And Torian thinks that because I have all this magic - so much that I can't even handle it all - that I should 'be responsible' and shit."
"Says the guy who tends to be anything but," I grumbled.
But it made her giggle. "Yeah, pretty much. That's something I told him too, but Torian's worried because he thinks you should be further with all this Morrigan stuff. He's pissed because I went out there to help - and he's right! I should've stayed inside. I knew the Hunt had been sent for me - and that means for all of us. I knew better, but in the heat of the moment, when Ms. Rhodes said to stay close, I just thought she knew better, so I kinda fucked up."
"And it worked out," I reminded her. "I mean, we didn't know they were coming."
