Page 159 of Mama Si's Paradise

My mouth opened and closed, but I had no clue what to say.

“Don’t you understand—you don’t have to be afraid at all!” Emerald continued, mistaking my silence. “Once you leave and the brother who chose you gets banished, you’ll be freeforever.”

And shouldn’t that have been music to my fucking ears?

Instead, my eyes closed and my heart hammered in my chest harder by the second.No, no, no, no…

“Where did you find the ring, though? I doubt you made it yourself—you were only human until recently.” Emerald stood in front of me, smiling genuinely, her eyes sparkling.

It took me a little while to gather myself and speak again.

“Emerald, what do you mean by that? Can you explain to me why…how?” I was about ready to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until all the answers came out of her lips.

“You don’t know?” she said a beat later, red eyes wide. She wasn’t smiling anymore.

“No, I really don’t.”

“The Evernight brother,” she whispered. “The one who chose you in the ritual. You haven’t gone through the Blood Call yet, so you are his responsibility.”

I shook my head. “How do you know that, though? How do you know I haven’t gone through the Blood Call?” And how the hell did she know about the ring?!

“You wouldn’t have been able to leave the Whispering Woods after,” Emerald said.

I flinched—of course.The Blood Call would have tied me to that Isle forever.

“So, what happens if I leave?” I choked, even though I already knew the answer. I just needed her to spell it out for me again.

“The Evernight will get banished, which is the only way to get a vampire out of the Whispering Woods withoutbreaking the spell. And we all know what happens to vampires when they leave their Isle,” Emerald said reluctantly.

“They die.” Those words sounded so strange on my tongue, but I knew them to be true. Valentine had talked about it. The brides had talked about it. I’d seen Grey with my own eyes—if they so much as went close to shore, the magic of the curse would kill them.

“Precisely. So you never have to worry because they can’t find you without him.” Emerald’s fingers were under my chin, and she raised my head until I looked into her eyes again. “Who gave you that ring, Doll?”

Genevieve.

Because Valentine had asked her to.

My eyes squeezed shut tightly and I barely breathed. I moved back to the stairs through which we’d come down here, and I sat on the first just to catch my breath, just to try to calm down a bit.

Valentine had brought me here knowing I had the ring to leave. Knowing Iwouldleave. Knowing he’d be banished from his home and die when I did.

And he’d still brought me here.

“I truly am sorry, dear,” Emerald was saying, squatting in front of me again. “I had no idea you didn’t know.” Buthedid. Valentine knew. He fucking knew he would die if I left, and he brought me here with this fucking ring. “I honestly thought you’d be happy about it.”

Happy,she said.

Of course, I wouldn’t be happy! How the hell was I supposed to live my life knowing he’d die when I left? How was I going to live knowing Valentine no longer existed anywhere in the world because of me?

My heart ached. My stomach kept on turning. Every inch of my limbs had turned numb.

A deep sigh left Emerald’s lips. “Come, Doll. I’ll guide you, just like I promised. Follow me.”

She stood up and turned toward a shelf somewhere to the right. I watched her, my mind so chaotic it felt blank at the same time. She pushed a couple of books down on one of the shelves, and the wood suddenly moved. With a weak groan, the shelf slid against the floor and pushed back with a click, revealing a corridor on the other side.

Emerald turned to me before she stepped through. “This way.”

My body moved on its own as if I was being pulled by invisible strings as I followed. All the while I tried to tell myself that Valentine knew what he was doing. He would never kill himself just to let me leave—he knew what he was doing. He wouldn’t sacrifice himself like that…would he?

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