"Jaxon."
Aubrey's soft, sugary voice floated from the doorway. She stood there, clutching her skirt, looking all delicate and timid. "Am I… interrupting?"
She took a step forward, then yelped, slipping and knocking over a candelabra. The flames leapt onto the scattered photos, and Henry and Lauren's portraits started to burn, curling into ash.
Jaxon's eyes widened, but when he saw Aubrey's tearful face, he froze. Her panicked expression was so much like Lauren's.
"Jaxon, I didn't mean to…" Aubrey bit her lip, tears trembling on the edge of falling. "Don't be mad…"
He blinked, like he was in a trance, and reached out to wipe her tears. "…It's not your fault."
That moment stabbed me like a dagger to the heart.
I tore free from the guards and slapped Jaxon hard across the face. "Wake u
