Page 35 of A Lesson in Obedience
“No, not anything new, just from before.”
The house was quiet around us and I felt like I was back in that room with her. The moment right after Chancellor Fowler had thrown those glass pieces at Marianne and the world shifted. The moment I knew my association with everything that happened would make her hate me.
I slowly turned around. “It was clear. His voice telling me to take her. His voice telling me she was the one. I knew what it meant in the sense that Chancellor Fowler had found what he’d been looking for, but I didn’t know what the bigger picture was. Your dad screamed at me to take her and I fucking rationalized about it, Asher. I thought everything would end up fine.”
He pressed his lips together, bringing his drink to his lips and downing the rest of the liquid. Asher placed his glass in the sink, pulling up the sleeves of his shirt, exposing his forearms. He walked up to me, his expression unreadable. “I’m not like River, Grayson. I don’t give a lot of thought about mental invasions when it comes to keeping people safe and protecting others. So, I’ve been in your head when you sleep. I’ve witnessed your sadness. Intentions be damned, you hurt my brother and you hurt that girl upstairs so that made me want to create the worst type of nightmares for you. And then I would bring them out of your dreams and make them haunt you in your real life.” His eyes flared with this hostile kind of darkness, but his face remained neutral. Then his voice got softer. “I stopped myself though, because despite what I think about what you did and your part in it, my brother believes in you and still actually loves you.I can’t speak for Riley, but for me, somehow when you say that you’re sorry, that you didn’t mean to hurt her, I believe you.”
“Asher…” I started, reaching across my body and running a hand down my arm.
“You fight back in your dreams, Grayson. I could make you fight back in reality if I truly wanted to, but that wouldn’t do you any good. As a teacher, reasoning is good, it makes for solid structure and clear thoughts. In situations like this, you don’t have time to reason, because the minute you do, people like my father, people like Chancellor Fowler take that as vulnerability and they will use you just the same as they did before. If you would have just come to us ahead of time, you wouldn’t have had to reason with yourself, but that’s in the past.” I cleared my throat to speak, but he continued, “I’ll ask you again, are you willing to use those shadows?—”
“Yes,” I snapped, pinning him with an intense stare. If it meant protecting the people I care about, I would do whatever it took. I didn’t know if I had the stomach to actually take a life, but I couldn’t think about that when the people I was up against had such a disregard for life itself it seemed.
He raised his eyebrows and huffed a breath of satisfaction. He turned away, stepping back further into the kitchen.
I swallowed, clearing my throat. “Thanks for not mentally debilitating me.”
Asher let out a deep chuckle. “I can be very nice when I want to. It doesn’t mean I like you. It just means I still think you’re most likely a decent person and even decent people deserve second chances.”
“Hmm.” I didn’t know what to say. He was being nice to me, but in a way that only Asher could. “I’m sorry about your dad. River has only told me so much about your family life. I never liked pushing.”
Asher shrugged. “Your family deserves a fucking medal for dealing with him so much.”
“I would say he’s like a brother to me, but that seems kind of gross since we’ve… you know…” I trailed off, tilting my head down so I could smile thinking about the awkward conversation I’d had with my parents after the twentieth time River had stayed over and they’d blatantly asked me if River was my boyfriend and then proceeded to express how much they liked him. The answer was no, neither of us really wanted that, but the affection we had for one another was palpable to the point of suffocation.
Asher cleared his throat, a slight cough coming out. “Mhm, super aware of that. And that fact is why you need to be all in.”
“I am, Asher. Don’t worry,” I said in my most reassuring voice. “Do you plan for me to keep my dampener on while I’m here?”
He eyed me skeptically, pulling another glass from the shelf. I watched him do everything he did before, pouring the whiskey and replacing the cap. “If your shadows need to stretch then, take off the damn ring.” He picked up the glass and walked over, handing it to me.
I looked down at it and then back up at him. My hand was steady when I reached out to take it, but he pulled his hand back a little. I stopped, eyeing him suspiciously. “If she finds it’s too much, if she wants you out of this house, then you leave. You don’t argue.”
I tilted my head to the side, a smirk playing at my lips. “No wonder you make her call you sir. You are good at that.”
He pulled the drink back even further. “And you’re a brat, so no wonder my brother is so enamored by you. Just do what I say.”
I pressed my tongue into my cheek, thinking about Riley. At some point, she had to hear me out. Then again, that was more wishful thinking. She didn’thaveto do anything. I would gratefully accept her yelling and screaming at me. I’ve seen her in tears and it gutted me. I would crawl on my knees for her.
I grabbed his wrist to keep him steady. I took the drink from him with my other hand. “You got it,sir.” I looked at him from over the glass as I took a sip.
He gave me an unamused look. His voice was stern and monotone when he said, “Don’t call me that.”
I took another sip. “You mentioned how you protect the peopleyou care about, keeping them safe. That doesn’t just stop at River, does it?”
“Just go back to the guest room, Grayson.”
I downed the rest of the drink and placed it on the counter, lifting my hands up in surrender. I reached up and slipped my ring off. It was like my body relaxed and could breathe. My shadows came out and picked up the glass, easily placing it in the sink. Asher watched my movements with a keen eye.
I started walking backwards, but caught his attention when I said, “I remember your face in that bathroom, Asher. You were done the minute you kissed her. You’re already obsessed. I know the feeling.”
12
Asher
PRESENT
Iheaded towards the stairs, after taking the time to clean up and spend some time alone, running into my brother as he was coming out of the bathroom. He looked happier than he’d been when he’d left to take Beau for a walk. I gave him a curious expression when he followed me down the stairs.
