Page 163 of Mama Si's Paradise

And I made it. I somehow made it back to the way I’d come here, and I slammed against the trunk of one of those trees that shielded the edge of the cliff from the Bazaar.

Emerald’s scream filled my ears:“Stop right this second! Stop running!”

I didn’t even turn to look at her, afraid I’d freeze if I realized she was close enough to catch me.

Like that, I made it through the trees and to the steep stairs at the edge of the cliff.

In this darkness, they were going to be the death of me for sure before I reached the mirror. Even so, I didn’t hesitate.

Throwing the shawl away so I could breathe easier, I began to climb down the stairs.

It was very dark out there, but still not as dark as in the Whispering Woods. And I kept forgetting that my eyes were enhanced now. I saw so much better under the moonlight and it wasn’t half as difficult to climb down those stairs as I thought it would be—or maybe the fact that I could see those men and Emerald coming after me helped in keeping me moving.

I slipped. I gripped the edges of rocks and almost fell way too many times to count, but my mind was sharp and my body responded. Whatever these people were planning, I had to tell the Evernights. They had to know. Emerald and those men had wanted to get rid of me for whatever reason, and I wouldn’t leave, not until I told the brothers what I’d heard.

“Stop it, you fool!”

I jumped when I was still ten feet off the ground, no longer patient enough to keep climbing. I landed on the rocks on my side with my arms around my head, still breathing.

Everything hurt but not enough to stop me from moving. I was on my feet again and I started running right away, the anticipation of finding that mirror again giving me a boost of energy and sending me forward. My jacket was still where I’d left it when I first came here, so I was definitely moving in the right direction.

Emerald and the men were still after me, still shouting at me to stop.

The mirror was right there, as dark as the last time, waiting for me, half buried in the rocks of the beach.

I made it.

“Stop it—what are you doing?! Are you mad?!”

Finally, I stopped in front of the mirror and had enough courage to turn and see Emerald yelling at me, those men coming right behind her.

I knew there was something about her. That sweet smile and those sweet words weretoo sweet.Fake—just like Mama Si’s had been.

“You could befree!” Emerald shouted, slowing down now that she knew I was as good as gone, the mirror right in front of me, my hands on the frame. I shook my head—she’d played her part well. Whatever the hell she was planning, she’d really played her part well.

“Don’t do it. Don’t go back. You can go home! You can be free again! Don’t?—”

I heard enough.

With my breath held I stepped forward, straight into the mirror, and back to the Whispering Woods again.

Thirty-Seven

My feet touched solid ground.I didn’t dare exhale, and even my heart stood perfectly still until I opened my eyes and saw the room.

The mirror room in the Evernight castle.

Valentine.

It was like the whole world was mine to take when I saw his pale face, his dark eyes, the uttershockin them at seeing me.

He’d been sitting at the edge of the round couch with a pad in his hand, writing something down, and when I came through the Faeries’ Aerie mirror, he didn’t move a single inch for a good moment.

I’d made it back. I’d escaped Emerald and those men, and I’d made it back through the mirror, and Valentine was still here. Still not banished. Still alive.

“Fall?”

He called me by my own name so rarely. His whisper was weak, like he didn’t dare make more sound for fear he’d change something, and he slowly put his pad on the couch and stood up, unblinking eyes on me.

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