Page 139 of Mama Si's Paradise

I flinched. “Oh.”Bears.They had bears here, too. How nice. And what the hell did a bear look like in the Whispering Woods?

I didn’t even want to know.

“Yes, Romin wanted you to be on your own without me for a little bit so he took me to the other side of the Isle.”

“Of course, he sent you away.” Fucking Romin and his smile and his pretty words. For all I knew he sent Grey for the cougar as well.

The question was, though, why didn’t I want to even mention that to Valentine?

“I can’t disobey his orders, not yet,” said Valentine. “I’m sorry I couldn’t take you to the theatre.”

“It’s fine,” I muttered, feeling bad for accusing him now. “I’m okay, still in one piece. The magic in me is growing. I can actually feel it.”

His brows shot up. “Have you used it?”

I shook my head. “No—I don’t want it. I don’t want the stupid magic,” I said with a deep sigh. It was so relieving not to keep these words to myself the way I’d been doing for the past few days with everyone else.

“I don’t want to playbride,Valentine, and I don’t want to wait for the Blood Call. I don’t want any of it—I just want to get out of here.” And it felt mighty good to be saying all of it out loud so that these thoughts didn’t drive me insane locked inside my head. The weight of them lessened on my shoulders instantly.

Maybe there really was a point to therapy andtalking about your feelings.

“I’m sorry, Sunshine,” Valentine said.Sorry—because what more could he say? I was here because I chose to be here. Yes, I was tricked, but he didn’t do this. The fucking curse did.

“Yeah. Me, too.”

“Let’s go to the theatre. I’ll take you right now.”

And that did sound mighty fine, but… “Actually, I’d rather just sit here for a while.”

“Can I join you?” he said without missing a beat.

I smiled. “Only for a little bit.”

“If I were just a little delusional, I’d say you missed me, Sunshine,” said Valentine when I sat on the threshold with my back against the doorframe on the right, and he on the left. Like that, we were looking at one another, not in the room or in the hallway. Just…somewhere in between.

I grinned. “But you’renotdelusional. You’re a vampire.”

“I am.”

“A very bloody, very dirty vampire.”

A thought suddenly popped into my head—no,an image.Of Grey, bloody and dirty, slowly striding toward me, those milky grey eyes locked on mine.

The same image that had been in my mind the moment I woke up.

My heart skipped a tiny beat and my stomach tied in a thousand knots, but at least I wasn’t wearing blue today. I was wearing a navy shirt instead.Navy—not blue.There’s a difference.

And it was the fear that was making me think of him all day. The fear—and the curiosity to know what the hell went on inside his head.

I mean, Grey had given me a compliment.Two—if we want to be specific, and that was certainly a curious thing.

Also, what kind of books did he like to read? What kind of books would he risk his lifefor?

Shit.

“I can get even dirtier,” Valentine said, pulling me out of my fucked-up thoughts.

Thank God. I focused on his face again. “Don’t be naughty.”

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