Page 205 of Mama Si's Paradise

“You are…” Grey thought about it for a second. “My wife.”

I snorted. “That’s the same thing.”

“No, it isn’t. You’re my wife, not my bride.”

“I’d need to marry you to be your wife.”

“Then marry me, beautiful. I’ll make you a ring myself. I’ll get on my knee for as long as you want me to. I’ll give you the biggest wedding the Isles have ever seen.” And he meant every word.

Damn.As much as I loved the sound of that with my whole being, I shook my head. “You make it sound easy.”

He didn’t hesitate. “It is.”

“The others might have something against it. You know—because of thecurseand everything?” I said, frustrated.

“If they have something against it, I’ll show them why they don’t,” he said. “I don’t want you to worry about anything, baby.”

“But I do. I worry. This is my life!”

“And I’ll protect it with mine. You’re safe, I promise you,” he said, eyes wide and honest, seeing right into me.

And I saw right into him, too. He meant every word, I believed that, but…

“I don’t want you fighting your own brothers for me. You almost killed Tristian today, Grey. That was too much, don’t you think?”

He rested his forehead to mine. “And I’ll kill all of them if they speak of you that way. I promise you that.”

“No—that’s not what I mean at all!” He’d completely missed the fucking point.

“I know. It’s whatImean. I can promise you anything you want, Fall, but I will not let anyone get in my way of you or speak of you that way. I’ll never allow it.” And he didn’t even bat an eye about it.

So damn frustrating.

I sighed. “Grey, you can’t fight Valentine tomorrow. Storm ishuge.Shadow is tiny. It isn’t fair, is it?”

“He challenged me. He calculated the risks,” he said.

“He was just pissed off. He doesn’t want people to think he’s a coward—Grey, you can’t accept his challenge.”

“That’s not an option. If we’re challenged, we have to accept. It’s the law,” he said, making my stomach twist and turn. Fuck, I was so stressed I’d forgotten we were on the side of the rooftop of his tower, under the open sky in the rain.

“And what if you break the law?”

“Then I’ll get banished,” Grey said, andthatmade me feel like I wanted to break something and set it on fire. “The same happens if we’re caught stealing from the Court, conspiringagainst the Court, or hurting any of the brides. They all lead to instant banishment.”

My eyes closed and I willed my heart to slow down the beating, but it wasn’t working.

“Listen to me, baby. Valentine challenged me. I have no choice but to accept. I will try not to kill Shadow, I swear it.”

“Really?” I opened my eyes, the rain falling right on my lids.

“For you, I’ll try,” he said. “But this isn’t your fault in any way. Do you understand?”

“Of course, it is.” Everything was my fault. “I’m really starting to think I’m brokenor something. It can’t be a coincidence that my blood is compatible witheveryone,can it?” All of this would have been avoided if I’d just been like every other bride, and if my blood had chosen only Grey.

“Your blood is what it is. You’re not broken, baby. There were others before you who went through the same, remember? There have even been brides whose bloodwasn’tcompatible with anyone, and they had to be sent back home.” I flinched. “Everything is possible where magic is involved, especially magic as complex as the Ennaris curse. You don’t know the whole story yet, but the Blood Call is over, and you already know enough so we don’t have to keep anything from you anymore. We can read a few books together. I’ll tell you all about it,” Grey said, and my heart fell all the way to my heels.

“Actually, I know the story,” I whispered, thinking of the Storyteller. Of Emerald. Of Valentine. “This is so, so wrong…”

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