Page 124 of Mama Si's Paradise

My body was more powerful. Faster.Alive. Even my imagination seemed to be flourishing every day more—like when I was playing the piano and I imagined I was at a concert, my own concerts. The stage was twice as big, and there were ten times as many seats in the audience, and I’d sit there with a gorgeous dress on, fascinating and inspiring every single person come to listen to my melodies.

It all looked more vivid in my head than ever before, the images so much more detailed, and I loved it.

But still, asking Valentine wasn’t an option. Yes, I might have considered him close enough to be a friend,but I had no illusion about who he was and what he could do. Mama Si had fooled me that time. I wasn’t going to let it happen again.

That night, long after playing the piano in the theatre, I sat by the door of my room, arguing with myself, trying to figure out whether I should go out there, try to run, try to find a way to escape. Trying to figure out whether I should even bother, knowing what waited for me in this castle and outside it, when…

“What was it?”

My heart stood perfectly still when Valentine’s voice reached me from the other side of the door.

Shit. I thought I’d gotten good at hearing things, footsteps coming my way even from a distance, but then again, this was Valentine. He could move without making a single sound, and speed was on his side, too.

“What was what?” I asked, not in the least bit surprised that he knew I’d be there. He could hear my heart beating justfine.

“What made you accept that deal with Mamayka?”

I said nothing, just continued to play with the ring Genevieve had given me, spinning it around my finger.

“I’m trying to figure it out, but it’s not making sense. Why? Where is your family? You’re not even curious enough about magic to have done it because of it—so, why?”

I shook my head at myself, smiling. “What are you still doing here, Valentine?” Hadn’t he left after bringing me back from the theatre?

He was silent for a while.

“It’s just driving me mad not knowing where you come from. Where you’ve been.”

I kept my mouth shut. What would even be the point of telling him? There wasso littleto tell, anyway, and I didn’t want him to know how weak I really was. How naive I’d been and how easily Mama Si had made a fool out of me.

A little while later, Valentine said, “Goodnight, Sunshine.”

I smiled at myself again. “Goodnight, Valentine.”

When he left, I lay down on the bed, hoping to sleep, hoping my mind would shut up so I could rest, then tomorrow the brides would take me to the courtyard again. It still felt like I wasinsideout there surrounded by that darkness, but it was better than the castle. Better than these never-ending hallways and paintings and the color black.

Eventually, I gave up tossing and turning and I began to pace around my room. My attention was on the windows—since that first night during the rainstorm, I still felt like Grey was riding his dragon just outside, watching me, though I’d never seen him there again. It still freaked me out just as much as it made me curious about him.Dangerous combination.

Maybe I could ask Valentine to put some blinds or drapes in my room tomorrow. That way I wouldn’t feel so exposed.

It was a little past midnight when I decided the room would drive me insane if I didn’t walk out of it soon. Theroom—and my stomach. I was so hungry it was growling—and what iftonightwas the night when I finally found my way out of the castle?

I’d argued with myself for so long about this now that I just went ahead and did it. I opened the door and I walked out.

Shadow was in the hallway, resting on one of the lamps mounted on the wall. Valentine left him there to babysit me all the time and it wasn’t fair. He probably hated it, but I smiled and waved at him, anyway.

“Hey, Shadow,” I whispered. “Sorry you’re stuck here with me. I just wanna go find the kitchen and get a snack or something. Wanna come with?”

He blinked those small beady eyes at me, and even his long tail wasn’t moving for a second, as if he wanted to say,are you really expecting an answer from me, you fool?

“Right. Dragons don’t talk.”

Shaking my head at myself, I made my way to the stairs, and Shadow followed behind me in almost perfect silence. I could barely hear his wings beating. No guards in the hallways and none on the ground floor, either. There were plenty outside, but very few in the castle, for which I was thankful. I found my way to the dining room in no time, and though I’d never been to the kitchen before, I knew where Vinny and Aster came from to bring us food—that half-hidden door behind the strange painting of a headless man.

The dining room was empty, so silent it was kind of creepy, the lights much lower than usual.

“I’m not scared or anything,” I muttered to myself as I went to the painting, ears strained to catch the small sound Shadow’s wings made just to reassure myself that I wasn’t all alone. He was right there with me should a giant snake come to eat me. I was safe.

The door was basically the same color as the wall—adark grey that merged in so well it took me a moment to find the handle. It let me through, and the other side was darker, just a single lamp on at the end of what looked like a long corridor set with a black carpet and the same dark walls. No paintings here, just that lamp next to a set of doors.

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