WHEN SORA, TAEYO, AND I rush over to where the sound came from, my worst fears are realized. Emmett has cornered a bunch of scholars and is having a one-sided screaming match with them. Broken cups and dismembered laptops litter the floor next to Boris, and Emmett is holding a jar of multicolored jelly beans over his head.

“Why won’t any of you talk?! Tell me, which one of you killed my mom?!”

The scholars are holding out their wrists, ready to attack if provoked. But Emmett’s clearly not scared of them. I see sheer desperation in his eyes, and it’s like something in him has snapped. As if he’s decided he’s got nothing to lose.

“Em, please, stop!” I cry, taking the jar from him before he smashes that on the ground, too. “I know you’re mad, but this is not the way to deal with it.”

He swivels around to face me, and there is venom in his eyes. “And why should I listen to you? You’re just as bad as them. Power-hungry and magic-obsessed, using your loved ones for your own gain.”

The accusation cuts through me like a knife. He’s right. I dragged him to the clan that made him motherless, only for him to find out I’m one of them…. I’m the definition of selfish.

Emmett turns toward the scholars again. “Which one of you killed my mom?”

“What are you talking about?” Sora asks. She disarms the scholars and sends them away. “Why would you think we killed your mother? We don’t even know who she is.”

Emmett storms up to Sora and points his finger in her face. “But you did know her! And yet, you killed her anyway. Do you know how much my dad is still hurting? You stole the love of his life from him! You ruined both our lives, and you don’t even know it.”

With that he bursts into tears, and I immediately feel tears welling in my eyes, too. Emmett never cries. But today, his carefully built shell is cracking.

Sora and Taeyo look at me for answers. “Emmett’s mom used to be the Gom elder on the LA council,” I explain. “She died in the attack you guys orchestrated.”

Sora gasps. “Sookhee Harrison was your mother?”

Emmett nods and clutches his head in his hands. I run over to him and hug him hard, and he must be exhausted, because he doesn’t push me away. He just sniffles into my shoulder.

Sora sighs deeply and holds her chest. “I’m sorry for your loss, Emmett. And I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. Sookhee was a good colleague and friend of mine.”

He angrily wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “Then why did you do it? Why?”