Page 158 of Mama Si's Paradise

DNH

Thirty-Six

I was not okay.

All of that—what the hell was that?!—was still replaying in my mind so fucking vividly, and all that I felt was going to drive me insane.

All that pain. All thatrage…

“I picked this book because this author does the best job at describing the feelings. She focused a bit more on Syra than the other books about the Fall of Ennaris. I thought you might appreciate it,” Emerald said.

She’d squatted in front of me because I was still sitting on the floor, trying to get my head together, and she was looking at that book like she was in love with it.

“My Storyteller can only reveal to you what the author of the book has already written, and the better the job they do in describing the emotions of their characters, the more authentic they’ll feel to you. Perhaps it was a bit too much for you, now that I think about it,” she then said with a small smile. “Perhaps I just wanted to make sure that you really didn’t know the story of Syra—something each and everyEnchanted in the Seven Isles has heard of at least a dozen times a year.”

My stomach fell, my mind wiped clean instantly.

The way Emerald was suddenly looking at me…

“So, you see, I can put two and two together. You’re not really an Enchanted, but you have magic in you, which I feel, and that only leaves me with one option,” she said, and she finally stood up, offering me her hand.

I took it reluctantly, half of me hoping that she hadn’treallyfigured anything out. Half of me cursing myself in my head for revealing to her that I didn’t know the stupid story.Fuck.I should have known better. I should have known thatnotknowing this story wasn’t a normal thing for an Enchanted.

“Here’s a question for you, Doll,” Emerald said, holding her book to her chest as she watched me curiously, those red eyes like they were filled with blood. “How did you manage to leave the castle, I wonder?”

Oh, God… “What castle?” I choked, suddenly mortified. Suddenlyterrified.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” she said. “I am not going to tell on you or hurt you. I’m just curious—how did you manage to escape the Evernight brothers?”

One of them brought me here himself,I wanted to say, but I swallowed hard. “I just want to go home.”

That was all I wanted—to go home.

But like a fool I’d stayed here, and I’d gone in that glass ball and seen all of that story, and now my chest was aching with all that pain. Whoever the author of that book was, they’d really outdone themselves because I still felt all the fucking pain exactly like Syra had felt it.

“Of course. That’s something I understand,” Emerald said. “Rumor had it that Mamayka hadtricked her offering into the ritual, but I didn’t really believe it. She might be a seductress, but she’s always played fair before.”

I shook my head. “If you tell someone, I’m dead.” And just as I said the words, I realized they were true. If someone found out, they were going to kill me.

Because I’d seen that story. I knew the story of how Ennaris came to be the Seven Isles—but most importantly, I now knew exactly how important it was to continue the bloodline of Hansil Knight.

“I won’t,” Emerald said calmly as she went to put the book back in its place.

“Why?” I asked despite my better judgment. If I were smart, I’d be running out of here already, but the problem was that I was still in shock. The problem was that I had no clue where the hell to go from here.

Emerald turned to me. “Because it’s not any of my business. What would I gain from it, really?”

“My capture,” I whispered. “My death.” She knew the story. She knew what would happen if the Evernight brothers didn’t have children. Not that I was the only one who could bear one, but more brides meant more chances, didn’t it? Even if none of them had gotten pregnant yet.

“I have nothing to gain from your death, Doll,” she told me as she approached. “Not the way you gain from his.”

“I—wait, what?” Did she saidyou gain from his?

“His death,” Emerald said with a nod, like I was supposed to know what she meant.

I shook my head. “Whosedeath?!”

“Hisdeath—the brother who chose you!” she said, half-smiling, half-confused. “Once he’s dead, you’ll be free. None of the others will be able to find you out there again. Of course, you might want to change your appearance, and maybe your name…”

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