Page 110 of Lessons In Grey

Her eyes darkened.

“One night, you overheard the doctor telling your mom that she had to make a choice, that she couldn’t afford to keep him on any longer. You learned that day about the power of holding a life in your hands. You asked us to come with you, and we held you while you cried. You told us that you had felt the very moment his soul left his body. You hated that feeling, like a star had gone out. Now imagine you are holding a loaded gun to his head. Your finger is over the trigger. It’s not cancer or machines that snuff out that star, it’s you. Tell me you could do it. Tell me you could snuff out the star.”

Her eyes were burning, Syn watching her carefully, the entire room silent.

Finally, Ash straightened and shrugged. “I could do it for you.” Her eyes shifted back to Grey. “Why haven’t you done it yet? You’re a criminal. You’re head over heels for her. Why haven’t you done it?”

Grey glanced towards the door, studying it as if hoping someone would walk through. Finally, he sighed, turning back to her. “He doesn’t deserve a quick death. He tried to play a game of psychological warfare on her, I can do the same only better. Now, get to class. I need to speak with Emily.”

It wasn’t a request.

I swallowed, turning back to them.

Syn was holding Ash’s hand, disappointment in her eyes.

Ash was watching me, her beautiful eyes hardened into ice. “I’ll let you have the hall today,” she said bitterly and turned away from us.

“Syn,” I started.

Syn hesitated at the door, glancing into the hall towards Ash.

Ash must have given her a nod because Syn stepped back in,watching me carefully, worry in her eyes.

“I know you’ve known each other for five or six years now, so you should know that she loves fiercely. Even if she didn’t know it, she saw how it was in our home. She’s always been protective over me.”

Syn nodded, her eyes filling. “I know, it’s why I fell in love with her.” She sucked in her lips, clearly trying not to cry. “Do you really think she would kill him?”

I glanced towards Grey, who had made his way over, his eyes ever steady. “I think she believes she could,” I finally answered, turning back to her. “I think that’s how angry she is right now, yeah.”

She nodded, quickly wiping under her eyes. “Two days with him and you’ve bloomed. Sometimes it’s just that easy with the right person. Try to keep your hand elevated.”

I watched as she left before my eyes fell to my black and blue hand. Anything like last night was out of the question for at least a few days, I guess.

Shit.

Grey appeared in front of me, sliding his knuckle under my chin and gently pushing it up until our eyes locked. “You stood up to your best friend this morning.”

I rolled my eyes, pulling my head out of his grip. “I’m exhausted.” I walked over and sank down onto the stage, holding my right hand carefully, inspecting the discolored skin. “People watch all this television, and they believe they can just go out there and do all of this stuff without repercussions. It’s the same thing with the whole mental illness phenomena. Everyone suddenly believes they have autism or a mental disorder because they saw a video on the internet. It’s frustrating.”

“Have you always believed this?”

I nodded, looking up at him. “For as long as I can remember. Why?”

He shrugged. “I just wanted to be sure. You do understand thatI’ve killed many people before.”

I frowned, lowering my glare to the classroom. “What did Bane once say? ‘I was born in it, molded by it’.”

“So you think that because I was trained at a young age to do this, then it didn’t affect me in the same way.”

My glare softened. “No,” I replied softly, eyes lifting to his. “It affects everyone. Are you trying to justify her killing someone?”

He shook his head. “Absolutely not. In fact, I’ll probably have Matthew follow her for a while to make sure that she doesn’t do anything stupid.” He was quiet a moment. “I’m sorry again about Azrael.”

I searched his eyes, my brows pulling together. “Am I allowed to ask why he was there? Are you allowed to tell me?”

An amused smile crossed his lips. “Yes and yes. It’s my discretion. Unfortunately for all of us, Azrael doesn’t like to share. He said he was chasing something and that’s all any of us will get until he comes back.” Grey took a seat beside me, sliding his hand over my thigh, squeezing it gently, sending shockwaves up my skin and between my thighs. “I’ve called Everett and Malachi and let them know, but that’s about as much as I can do.”

I swallowed, relishing in his touch, leaning into it. “Are you worried?”