Page 129 of Mama Si's Paradise

Ugh—pathetic, Fall.

I closed my eyes for a second, cursing myself in my head.Thiswas what had gotten me in this mess in the first place—my goddamn curiosity. All the way back to the Paradise, to that triangle room.

If I’d just gone back to my bedroom that night instead of walking out into the woods when I realized the glass panel was missing, I’d have been okay. I’d have been just fine—far away from the Whispering Woods and the Evernights and the promise ofmagic.

A loaded moment of silence later, Grey raised a brow and said, “Come with me.”

Then he turned around and walked out the door, because he didn’t fucking need my help.

When he disappeared, I took in a deep breath, called to the rational part of my mind, and tried to reason with myself.

I was here for a snack. I’d found the kitchen. I could get a damn snack and I could disappear back to my room right now.Notfollow Grey because he was walking just fine. He was a big boy. He could handle himself no matter how badly he was injured.

Or—I could even try my luck at running away again, or find Valentine, or go back to the theatre—as long as Idid not follow Grey!

Another long sigh slipped from my lips and I looked back when I heard that snickering sound—Shadow was still in the kitchen sitting atop a cabinet on the other side, watching me.

“Don’t judge me,” I told him.

Then I followed Grey.

I kepta good distance between us as Grey led me down corridors, but I had my eyes on him all the damn time. There was something on his back, something that didn’t quite look likemuscles,something hidden underneath his skin, but he was so bloody and dirty that I couldn’t make it out clearly.

Was ithis wings? The other brides said he almost got them. They were terribly impressed by that, too, like having wings was the next level of power for these people. Like the fangs weren’t enough already.

Still, I bit my tongue before I uttered the question and actually asked him about it. I kept my mouth shut until he finally took us to the main hallway at the front doors of the castle.

I’d been there once before, that morning the snake was about to eat me raw, but the hall had been empty then.

Now, a large cage made out of bars as thick as my arms was right in the middle, and a creature with glowing yellow eyes and really long, really sharp teeth was inside it.

I stopped breathing, a hand to the wall just in case my legs let go.

“That’s her,” Grey said, limping his way closer to the cage, his eyes sparkling as he looked at the creature.

The creature that was growling like a damn beast, prowling from one side of the cage to the other, a large fluffy tail moving with her, the size of her body easily three times that of Grey.

“What is she?” I whispered, afraid,terrifiedto see more of her, but so curious it was impossible to sit still. Impossible to stand back, so I went closer to them, slowly, cautiously…until the beast’s glowing eyes locked on mine.

“A cougar,” Grey said, slowly walking around the cage, eyeing the beast. “I caught her in the woods tonight. Just brought her back.”

I shook my head when the cougar growled deeper. Despite knowing better, I went closer still.

“That’s no normal cougar.” It didn’t look like the cougars I’d seen pictures of back home at all. No, this creature was bigger, her deep brown fur much, much longer, and she looked like a cross between a jungle cat and a wolf—with two curved horns at the top of her head, almost completely hidden away by the fur. Those glowing eyes were wide and feline, the pupils two horizontal slits, her teeth long and covered in blood.

“It is here. One of a few kinds,” he simply said.

“Butwhy?” I whispered, looking up at Grey where he’d stopped by the cage’s side, one hand on top of it for support while the cougar watched him, head lowered to the ground as if she was preparing for an attack. “Why would you go after her or fight her orcageher?”

“Because I had to,” said Grey as he opened the container he’d picked up in the kitchen. Another deep growl from the cougar. “Her kind is going extinct because of the lions. She’s one of three females left in the surrounding area.”

Lions.What didthoselook like in this place, if cougars looked like this?

Grey picked up a piece of meat from the container and threw it at the cougar in the cage. She caught it so fast, I barely saw it, and he smiled.

Grey fucking smiled—or maybe it was the light playing tricks on me? Because I’d more readily believe that.

“She’s wounded. She was bitten on the shoulder,” he continued. “You can’t see it, but I smell it. It makes her slower. She can’t really fight or run. She won’t make it to tomorrow out there without healing first.”

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