Page 2 of One Little Lie
I’m pounding on Ashton’s door without caring about the other guests. When it swings open, I burst through it.
“I-I don’t know what to do, Ash. One little lie might tear our family apart, and it’s all my fault.”
Sighing, Ashton glances at the floor. “It wasn’t your fault, Halt. Maybe what happened after, but Dad wasn’t your fault.”
My body heaves from the inside out and I spin on him so fast I almost fall over. “What did you just say?” My eyes are wild as I take him in.
Shoulders slumped, he shuffles around the room, his recent injuries forcing changes none of us were prepared for.
“It wasn’t your fault,” he repeats, even though I can tell it hurts him to speak.
“How the fuck do you know what I’m talking about, Ash? How many goddamn secrets do you keep in the name of our family?”
“Too many, Halt. Too fucking many. Sit down. I need to think.”
Chapter 2
Halton
My body drops into an old, wooden chair with such force it creaks under my weight. With wild eyes, I watch Ashton pace. His hand is pulling at the back of his neck, a habit we all inherited from our father when we’re stressed. Suddenly, I feel like a prick for dropping this on him.
When he turns his gaze on me, I feel my stomach riot for a second time. The new scar covering his face is a constant reminder of the danger he put himself in to keep our family safe from a threat no one even knew about. A threat that nearly took him from us. In some ways, the monsters that carved into his skin that night already have. I’m not sure he’ll ever be the man he once was. Ashton was the good one. The smart one. The kind one. We lost the brother we knew and loved the night they scarred him, and in his place is a hardened man my heart bleeds for.
Ash has always been my best friend, and now, when he glares at me, I feel as if I don’t even know him anymore.
I stand abruptly. He has too much shit on his hands to deal with mine, too.
“Sit.” It’s a one-word command from my little brother in a voice that’s permanently hoarse from his attack.
My body stills in midair. Raising my gaze to his, I see a glimpse of the brother I once knew, and with a simple nod of his head, I drop back down into my seat.
“I was there that day,” he forces, the crackling of his voice making my spine tingle. “And I was there after you left. I know you hurt her on purpose, and I have my suspicions as to why, but you’re wrong.”
I bolt from my seat, angry at him for possibly speaking a truth I don’t deserve to hear. At my father for dying, and at myself for being so weak.
“Don’t, Ash. J-Just don’t.” My words nearly choke me as I head for the door. Nothing is going to comfort me, and even if it could, I don’t deserve it.
“Halt. He was wrong. Dad was wrong, and you know it. Deep down, you know he was. Stop punishing yourself.”
I want to scream and yell at him, but when his last words are barely a whisper, I know how hard he’s working to soothe me.
“Don’t you ever get tired of protecting us, Ash? I don’t know what you do or did in that secret spy agency with Loki, but you need to stop harboring our secrets and learn to love yourself as you are now.”
“A monster? Is that what you mean? I do what I have to do.” He’s coughing now, and I hand him a bottle of water from the counter next to me.
“No, little brother. You’ve never been and never will be a monster. But you’re not our guardian angel, either. You’re a gentle soul with a brilliant mind that’s wasting away in bitterness and hate.”
Not long after his attack, we learned our friend, Pacen, had gone missing. No one knows the details of their relationship or if she left on her own, but I know it’s slowly eating away at him that he can’t find her.
I think he scoffs, but his voice is so weak now I can’t be sure. He knows it, too, and takes a few steps toward me. We’re just inches apart.
Placing both hands on my shoulders, he stares into my eyes. An oddly intimate moment for two brothers, but when he attempts to speak, I know he’s conveying the conviction he can’t force his voice to portray.
“And Dad’s death wasn’t your fault either. You’ve damned yourself for all of eternity in a misguided attempt to keep a brotherly code. And you broke a beautiful soul in the process.”
His words knock the wind right out of me. I know I hurt her. I know I probably destroyed her for a short time, but broke her? My teeth clench to keep tears at bay, and I shrug off his strange embrace.
“Then I guess we both have work to do.” I’m already out of his door before he can respond.
