Page 143 of Lessons In Grey

“It’s been a year. She needs her best friend to tell her what you didn’t get the chance to tell her last time. Go, please. She needs someone.”

After a few seconds, she finally nodded and brushed her lipsby Syn’s. “Thank you.” With a tossed glare at me, Ash headed for the door.

I kept my head down until I heard the bathroom door open and shut again. My eyes found that door. She was okay. She would be okay.

“It took us three months to get her talking again,” Syn revealed, sliding into a barstool on the other side of the island.

My eyes found hers, warm, caring. A natural nurturer. “How did you get through to her?”

Syn shrugged. “One day, she just opened up again. She came into class, and she asked us how our weekend was. Ash tried her best not to make it a thing, but when we got home,” she smiled, “she gushed for a good hour or so. A small step, but a good one. Ash is worried, but I’m not.”

“Why?”

Her smile grew a little more. “We’ve got you this time. I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about her past now, from both Ash and Em, but you should understand that this light that you see, the laughter and smiles, the shine.” Syn shook her head. “That did not exist. Ever. Not even when Charlie was alive, not three years ago before Jordan was in her life. It never existed. It’s what drew Ash in, initially, the darkness that surrounded her. The aura. Even as 6-year-olds, they sensed each other.”

I studied her carefully, really studied her. She was beautiful in the conventional sense. Plump lips, blonde hair. Society’s version of the perfect girl. She was soft and sunshine and a mother hen. “You’re nothing like Ash.”

She laughed lightly. “Opposites attract, in my case. I loved the edginess, the pride. I fell in love with the space she took up in this world. I wanted to be apart of that space. I wanted her to put me into that space and never let me go, but what I love most about her is the ferocity in which she loves.

“She wasn’t in the right to yell at you, Greyson, but she had the right to be angry. Your life is dangerous, and Ash has gonethrough this in so many different ways. Losing Emily. It’s always at the forefront of her mind. Losing her to death, to drinking, to drugs, to her own self. Losing her is her greatest fear and she can’t escape that.”

“I won’t let anything happen to her, ever,” I said, with such passion, my own eyes burned.

She nodded, sympathy clear in her eyes. “I can see that, and I believe you, and I know that your need for Ash’s approval is void, it doesn’t matter to you, but it matters to them,” she went on, glancing towards the door. “However much you think you have Emily, you will never have all of her if you don’t have Ash too.”

I swallowed, my heart thudding at the thought of that. I wanted all of her. I was selfish, needy. I wanted all of her, every single broken ounce. “How do I do it?”

Syn’s eyes flicked back to mine. She pressed her lips together and shrugged. “I have no idea. I think you just have to prove it to her over and over again and I think it’s going to take a lot of patience, but eventually, you’ll get there. I promise you that.”

I worked my jaw, studying her for a moment longer before pushing away from the counter. “I need to start on desert.” I had no desire to try and please Ash, but if it would make Emily happy, then I would give it a better shot.

I would give it my best shot.

~~~

“Well, that’s just great, Everett. Thanks.” I hung up, more than frustrated over the conversation I had just had.

Syn looked up from her phone and rose a brow. “Am I allowed to ask?”

I turned to the tree, taking in all of its gothic Christmas glory. “Brothers,” I muttered, hands on my hips. Azrael was still in the states, but he was causing chaos everywhere. Every step he took was more fucking mess, and he wasn’t even being coy about it.The FBI picked up his scent.

I grasped the bridge of my nose. Fuckingfuck.

“Navarro.”

I turned at Ash’s voice, finding Emily coming out behind her. My shoulders fell, sympathy filling me at the redness in her eyes, the puffy cheeks. I assumed she had been in their crying, but knowing about it and seeing the evidence of it were two separate things.

I would give up my life to bring her sister back if it meant she would never be sad again, but this wasn’t that simple. It would never be that simple.

Emily sniffed and wiggled her phone. “I got a text.”

My brows furrowed. “From who?”

“She wouldn’t tell me,” Ash stated, joining Syn on the couch.

Emily sniffed again, wiping her cheeks as she walked over. “Here.” She held out her phone.

My confusion only grew. Why wouldn’t she tell me?