Page 103 of The Evernight Court

It was cold.

Ivea was one of the coldest, biggest towns in the Whispering Woods, and it was mostly populated by skinwalkers, as they seemed to be the only ones who actually enjoyed the cold weather.

And Mount Agva was a good distance behind it, the top covered in snow, so large and menacing that the other two mountains to its right paled in comparison. I barely saw their silhouette as they weren’t tipped with snow and they sort of merged into the darkness of the clouds covering the Woods.

As we neared the end of Ivea, even the trees of the surrounding woods were naked, their branches frozen, their bark halfway dead. Worse than that woods I’d been thrown in when I first came here—by Storm.

Storm, who could very well be one of the two dragons I could see flying around the mountain in silence—or maybe I just couldn’t hear their roars from so far away.

“Last chance, Fall. Please, thi?—”

“Stop,” I told Quinn because she’d been trying to get me toreconsiderfor the past three hours now, and I’d had enough. “I can see the mountain now, Quinn. You don’t have to walk with me anymore. I can get to the other side of Ivea with just Shadow.”

“No, I’m coming with you up there,” she said.

“Of course not. Storm doesn’t know you.”

She flinched. “You’rea bride!That means nothing to them at all—he’s gonnaeatyou!”

“And what areyougoing to do about it if he does?”

Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but she couldn’t find anything to say.

“Exactly. You stay down here, and I go after him on my own.”

“But why?” she cried, exasperated. “Why would you—why?!”

I said nothing.

She didn’t ask me again.

We arrivedat the edge of the town less than an hour later. The trees here were few and far enough from each other that we could hardly see the ones surrounding us. The edge of the mountain was right there, and the wide path that led up to it wasn’t as steep as it had seemed from the distance. I’d be able to walk up there without trouble.

Or, at least, that’s what I told myself.

But when I saw it, when it was actually within walking distance, and I could hear the roars of the dragons flying miles over our heads, it struck me that I’d made it. I’d actually made it to Mount Agva in one piece, and I was about to go up there and find Storm for real.

Quinn tried to get me to change my mind about both going up there and letting her tag along. I wouldn’t budge, not even close. Not when I was already here.

I was afraid, yes. I wasterrified,but I was also excitedbecause the image of Grey, his silhouette as I’d seen it in that mirror was more vivid than ever in front of my mind’s eye. Grey was still alive, and Storm was the only one who could bring him back to me.

I’d do anything it took. Anything at all.

So, in the end, I thanked her for coming with me, and when she refused to take the bag of coins I gave her, I left it there on the ground, hoping she wouldn’t leave without it. I had no use for it anymore, anyway.

It was just after six p.m. when I went up the mountain and passed the first row of trees. Tonight, I either died up there—from the cold or from Storm or from other dragons—or I convinced Storm to go find Grey.

The best part was that I’d had time to think, and I’d made my peace with both options. I was never going back to the Evernights again, not on my own. So, every other option was perfectly fine by me.

“I’ll wait,” Quinn said when she came up the path a few feet to shake my hand, and she looked like she was genuinely contemplating hauling me over her shoulder and running away.

“Don’t. I can find my way back.” I’d paid attention to the towns, though most of the forests looked about the same. Shadow had made it easy—I hadn’t had to worry about anything but where we were going.

But I had my magic now. I had my senses. I could feel other people and other energies perfectly fine, and Storm would be with me if I came down that mountain alive.

If I didn’t…

“I’ll still wait,” Quinn said, squeezing my hand tightly. “Just in case you need company back to the castle.”

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