Page 116 of Mama Si's Paradise

The next second, something came closer to me, fast.

It was the little dragon, and he was landing on my shoulder.

Fascinating that I was still alive, really. With the way I was being scared half to death every few seconds, I should have been six feet underground already, yet here I was, sitting at a round table with five vampires, and a small dragon on my shoulder.

Could be the reason why I was having such a hard time breathing still.

“Keep your dragon where he belongs, young one,” said Romin. Right now, hereallywasn’t amused.

“His choice,” Valentine said.

Romin raised a brow. “That so.” It wasn’t even a question.

Valentine nodded. “Shadow, come to me.”

The absolute silence that followed was only broken by a snickering sound coming straight from the dragon on my left shoulder. I fisted my hands until my fingernails sank in my palms, just so I didn’t let my body react.

Romin sighed, leaning back on his chair. “Well, at least you finally named him.”

That’s when I realized… “Autumn did.”

All eyes turned to Valentine again, except Grey. Grey was looking at me, at the dragon, like he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to skin him alive yet or not.

Meanwhile I wanted to smack Valentine on the back of his fucking head. Not only had he named his dragonShadow,but he was telling Romin and the others that?! Was he nuts?

Then Tristian said, “I’d tell you to not go falling in love, little brother, because it’s not going to be fun to see her feeding and fucking your brother soon, maybe carrying your nephew—but we’re vampires. Our hearts don’t beat, so I think you’re safe.”

Valentine didn’t even flinch, but I did. Fuck, my heart tripped all over itself, and my eyes locked on Grey’s who sat so close to me I could touch him if I just reached out my hand. So close he could grab me without much effort, and he looked like he wanted to. God, he really looked like he wanted to put me over his fucking shoulder and run away.

“Autumn, darling, can I get you a drink?” Romin said, pulling my eyes to his.

Of course, I didn’t want a drink, but the brides had told me how it was considered rude to not accept food or drinks from the Masters just yesterday, so I said, “Yes, thank you.”

His smile widened. “Very well. Let me tell you a little bit about Ennaris and how glorious it used to be.” He waved a hand at the tabletop and the map engraved on the polished wood.

Shadow still sat on my shoulder and my hands were stillfisted tightly. I risked a quick look at Valentine just to beg him,please, get him off me,but Valentine was looking at Romin. The wall sort of opened somewhere behind him—a hidden door of some sort, and Vinny came through holding a glass of red wine on his tray.

I barely choked athank youwhen he brought it to me, then pretended I was too focused on the wine while Vinny left and none of the brothers made a single sound. All my instincts were on high alert and half of me was convinced that I was never going to see sunlight again.

Still, I took the glass of wine from the table and I drank.

Twenty-Eight

I survived.

The darkness outside the windows of the room they put me in seemed to be whispering to me. I survived the meeting with the Evernight brothers, and the reality of the situation was dawning on me slowly but surely—there was nowhere to go. There was no place to hide.

I was stuck here for real.

Last night, when Valentine walked me back to this room after Romin went on and on about the glory of Ennaris before the fall of it, all he said wasrest. I didn’t sleep, though. There was a new clock on my nightstand near the lamp, black with white numbers and a silver pointer, as beautiful as most things around here, and I kept my eyes on it the whole time. I guess I just wanted to know what time it was in the real world.

Right now, it was four in the morning, and I hadn’t slept for a single second all night, the energy coming off all those vampires in Romin’s office still too much for my body to handle. The energy—and the attention of Grey—like a physical weight on my shoulders.

I’d waited to hear another word from him all night long.The brothers had all talked, including Valentine, but Grey hadn’t said a single thing the whole night. He just listened and drank his wine, small sips every now and then. And he watched me.

Fuck, he made me just as curious as he scared me. Such a damn mystery, but I knew enough. He’d killed his own father. His own brothers were scared of him, so I was going to make it my damn mission to stay as far away from him as possible.

Was he watching me right now from the back of his dragon outside my window, or was it just my fear talking?

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