Heart of Stone (Rock Star Fairy Tales #1)

Chapter 13

C h apte r 13

To Try

“H e was always the favorite,” Tobin sneered. “The chosen one. The per fect son.”

Ash scoffed. “Hardly perfect. You kno w better.”

“I certainly know how much he preferred your mother to mine,” Tobin snapped. Margot tried to see the family resemblance between the two brothers. Tobin was pale, silvery while Ash was tan and dark-haired, but Margot could see they shared a similar facial structure—high cheekbones, pointed chin, and wick ed smiles.

“What happened to your mothers?” Margot asked, trying to defuse th e tension.

“My mother went into exile,” Tobin snarled, “while his moved into her rooms in th e palace.”

Okay , Margot thought, that failed utterly.

“I am not responsible for your Claiming,” Ash told Tobin quietly. “Nor am I to blame for what happened with you r mother.”

“Wait.” Margot held out a hand, trying to stem the flood of information. She looked at Tobin. “So your mom was married to your dad when she had you, but then he met someone else, and they what? Divorced? Is that a thing a mong fae?”

“Separation is a possibility,” Timothy answered. “Marriages are sometimes a bandoned.”

“What about Claiming, though? Husbands and wives don’t Claim one another? I thought that was p ermanent.”

“It is,” Tobin ass ured her.

“But not all couples are part of a Claimed relationship,” Timothy added, gesturing to Tobin and Ash. “Their father is a fae Lord, beholden to no one but himself now that his father has passed. Lady Sylvia, Tobin’s mother, belonged to Lady Drina.” At Margot’s confused expression, he added, “Drina is not a Lord, though Fae Lords can be any gender—it’s about power. And Claiming can occur betwee n anyone.”

“Anyone? So can powerful fae just Claim one another?” Margot asked, still seeki ng an out.

Tobin frowned. “They could, but it’s against our laws to deprive the Lords of a new fae like that. Ultimately everyone needs to fall under one of them.”

“Oh,” Margot said, trying to keep it straight. “Wait, you said your father isn’t Claimed?”

“That’s why he’s a Lord,” Tobin explained. “Those who remain Unclaimed eventually become Lords.” Tobin glanced at Ash, and Margot followed the suggestion—if Ash remained Unclaimed, as she suspected he was—he could becom e a Lord.

“But Lady Drina?” Marg ot asked.

“Ultimately she’s with Lord Kristoff, but he allows her a great deal of freedom. And she is a forgiving mistress,” Timothy said, “so when Lady Sylvia wished to depart her ex-husband’s home, she permitted her to return to her h ousehold.”

“Under her protection, perhaps,” Tobin said, “but not part of the household. She was shamed, exiled, spurned. You both k now that.”

Timothy shrugged. “I was younger then, so I only know the rumors. But I understood Lady Sylvia to be content in her n ew place.”

“As if any of you noticed she was gone,” Tobin snapped. “No doubt thrilled that Father no longer had to provide for h er needs.”

“You know our father was devastated,” Ash said quietly. “Even my mother couldn’t truly soothe him. After you left—”

“Taken,” Tobin corrected. “Unw illingly.”

“Yes, after what happened to you—it was a terri ble year.”

“I’m sure you were drowning in your sorrows at the loss of your pathetic elder brother,” Tobin said sarca stically.

Ash glanced up quickly, a flash of hurt in his eyes, there and gone in an instant. “You are my brother,” he said quietly. “I mi ssed you.”

“Whatever,” Tobin scoffed, rolling his eyes. He looked at Margot. “Last I heard, his parents are quite happy together.”

Ash made an involuntary sound, but it was Timothy who spoke. “Then you have not been listening recently. Lady Abigail has … departed.”

“She’s dead?” Tobin asked, shock making the question harsh with d isbelief.

“She’s gone,” Ash c orrected.

“Oh,” Tobin said, forehead creasing in concern. “I did not know.” He paused, then added, “I am sorry for y our loss.”

It was Ash’s turn to scoff. “Of course you are.”

“Your dad sent you here,” Margot said to Ash, trying to shift the subject. “But why? What does it mean to hide among th e humans?”

Timothy put a hand on Ash’s shoulder. “It means I get to keep this one out of trouble while we tour the land of Ardon, making music with our friends.” He pointed at Margot. “That includes you, Margot. You’re o ne of us.”

“Thanks, Timothy,” Margot said, feeling a rush of warmth at his words. At least he enjoyed her company.

“If she’s one of you, then give her the protection she needs,” Tobin said, bringing the conversation ba ck around.

“Not that again,” Ash grumbled. “Let it g o, Tobin.”

“Forgive me if I cannot,” Tobin said. “As someone who was Claimed against my will, I have strong feelings about the possibility for any one else.”

“If you cared about anyone else, you wouldn’t be here,” Ash said, stepping closer to Tobin. Timothy’s hand fell from his shoulder.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Tobin snapped.

“It means you shouldn’t have Awakened her in the first place!” Ash shouted, and Margot flinched at the rage in his voice, suddenly visible in his expression. She’d seen Ash get emotional on stage—lost in the words, face transfixed with the feeling of the song—but she’d never seen him lose his temper like this and certainly not over her. She glanced around, glad to see no one else had come outside into the back lot to see them.

“It was bound to happen,” Tobin said. “You’re being careless and you know it. You assume if you wait long enough, she will become someone else’s problem.”

“I am no one’s problem,” Margot stated, but they ign ored her.

“Thanks to you, soon everyone will know about her and try to Claim her. That problem is your fault!” Ash continued, voice raised but not the angry shout fro m before.

“Then let me help her, at least!” Tobin shouted back, getting in his half-brothe r’s face.

“I think you’ve helped quite enough!” Ash retorted. “Any more help and she’ll be boun d to you!”

“Better me than the others!” Tobi n argued.

“Is that an option?” Margot asked. The brothers ignored her, still bickering, but Timothy cocked his head, con sidering.

“Possibly,” he answered. “Tobin isn’t a minor fae. He’s Lord Novus’s son and powerful in his own right. He is Lord Rebinus’s vassal, though, so him Claiming you would ultimately make you R ebinus’s.”

“You say that like it’s not a good thing,” she observed.

“Lord Rebinus has a certain reputation for cruelty,” Timothy told her. “He is powerful and cunning, but I wouldn’t want anyone I know joining his h ousehold.”

Margot nodded. “So even if Tobin Claimed me, I would still be i n danger.”

Timothy frown ed. “Yes.”

“But Ash—” sh e started.

“Ash is very powerful,” Timothy admitted, “but he is under very specific orders.” He sighed. “I cannot say any more about it, except that I know he would Claim you if he could.”

Margot gave him a sad look. “A sympathy Claiming? Ugh. No, thank you.” She turned her attention back to the still arguing brothers.

Timothy grabbed her arm. “He would Claim you, Margot. In an instant. If he could.”

She raised her eyebrows at him, glancing over at Ash, who was still yelling back and forth with Tobin, years of frustrated sibling rivalry finally out in the open. “I hear you, Timothy,” she said, “but I doubt it. He’s never wa nted me.”

Before the drummer could continue, Margot stepped away, not wanting to h ear more.

“—if you’d just give me the chance,” Tobin was saying. “I could teach her things! She could defend herself!”

“What can she learn that will matter in the end?” Ash asked. “You would only give her false hopes of freedom.”

“So you’d condemn her to servitude without even a chance of resistance?” Tobi n pushed.

“Of course not!” Ash snapped. “But we need to be reasonable. How could she withstand someone powerful?”

“I have learned a great many things since leaving home,” Tobin said ominously. “I could prepare her. She could stay Unclaimed for a w hile yet.”

Ash sighed, glancing around. “You know as well as I that the only reason we aren’t fending off fae is because we’re in Armav. The moment we enter Genc, they will s ense her.”

“Then we need to give her a basic skillset before we enter Genc,” Tobin argued. He looked at Margot, seeing her approach. “She’s already mastered the glamour on her own. With more training, who knows what other abilities she may possess? You said her mother could control air and her aunt water. Those gifts are powerful if harnessed properly.”

“You think air and water can fend off someone like Lord Rebinus?” Ash snarled.

“I think she can pull the air from a Lord’s lungs and evaporate the water in a Lord’s body,” Tobin replied, his vo ice cold.

Margot’s skin prickled at the words, at the idea that she could—or would ever—do suc h things.

“You’ve been living among the humans for a long time,” Tobin said, looking at Ash. “And before that, you were sheltered at home. There are things we can do, tricks we can show her, that may preserve her freedom.”

Ash nodded slowly, Tobin’s words breaking through his denial. “I believe that you can, but at what cost? Would you have her tainted by darkness if she had such gifts, to use them that way? You know how that ends,” he said sadly. “And what use is all of that when we all know where it lead s anyway?”

“We all die in the end,” Margot interrupted, remembering her mother. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t live in the meantime.” She glanced nervously at both faces—Tobin flushed with excitement and promise, Ash withdrawn and serious. “I want to try,” she told them. Glancing at Tobin, she said, “If you can teach me something to keep me free, I want to try.” She turned her gaze to Ash. “Please, let him try.”

At her plea, something in Ash’s determination shattered, and he closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he stared down at her as if she were every problem and every solution at the s ame time.

“All right, Margot,” he said finally. “We can try.”