Page 5 of The Evernight Court

“Weare still alive. Still here. And we will be for a long time,” he whispered, then reached out a finger for my face.

I slapped it away with all my strength. “Don’ttouchme,” I spit.

He was not happy about it. “You’re lucky your blood chose all of us, Fall. Now you’re free to be with any one of us—even Valentine, if you so wish. Shadow might not make it, we’re not sure yet as he’s still unconscious, but Valentine won’t lose his mind without the little bugger. He’ll be just fine—and ableto put a baby in you.”

I sank my nails in my thigh until it hurt so much I wanted to cry out.

“I would rather stab myself in the eye first.” And I fucking meant itwith all my heart.

But my words amused Romin. He was laughing again as he poured himself another drink, perfectly comfortable in his chair. “That’s okay—we have time. Lots and lots of time to change your mind about us. You belong to all of us. Your blood chose us and?—”

“ButIchose Grey,” I cut him off. “I chose Grey and it makes you sick, doesn’t it? Because he’s better than you? Because you’re afraid of him and he’s stronger than you—and I know for a fact that he’s better in bed as well.” I said that just to hurt him because I wasn’t really sure, but I hoped he would assume the brides told me about it.

It worked. Romin was no longer laughing or smiling, and those fangs were starting to peek out his upper lip again. I’d gotten under his skin.

“Was,” he then said, confusing me for a second.

“What?”

“Was.Grey was—past tense.” If he’d slapped me, it would have hurt less. “It’s so cute that you’re so riled up about this whole thing, but I’ll be here to pick you up when you come around, darling.”

“No.”

He was not going to touch me. None of them were going to even come close to me. I’d either make it out of this place somehow, or I would really stab myself in the eye first.

I stood up, legs still shaking, but I needed to be away from this monster. From thiscoward.

“Oh, yes. You’re all alone here, Fall,” he said as he stood up, too, and when I started walking backward toward the door, too afraid to have him out of my sight until I was out of here, he followed.

“I don’t care. I would rather die.”

“But you won’t! Of course, you won’t. You’ll come around soon enough. We have years—decades!” And he laughed again.

“No, no, no…” My back was pressed to the doors and I grabbed the handles.

Romin was suddenly right in front of me, his hand around my chin. “Youwillbe mine, Fall. I’ll wait as long as I have to. You will come to me yourself.”

“Never.” Not if we were stuck here for another hundred years.

“But what about when a year turns to two and four and eight? What about when you’re lonely and need to be cherished and loved and made to feel good, huh? What about then?” he whispered against my lips, and he was coming closer and closer, his tongue slipping out of his lips.

He was coming tokissme.

It repulsed me, his proximity. Whatever feelings I’d had for him that night of the Blood Call when he’d bitten me, those feelings were gone. Raw disgust took their place, so I acted on instinct when I moved my knee up and slammed it right between his legs.

Air left his lips, even though vampires didn’t really breathe. It didn’t hurt him, not nearly as much as I’d hoped, but it did keep him in place for a moment to give me enough time to run out the doors.

I didn’t dare take a single breath until I was all the way down the hallway and turned the corner.

Two

He was coming after me.

The hallway walls were closing in on me as I ran to get back to the third tower, but Romin was coming after me. I heard his footsteps, could see his smiling face right there in front of my eyes, and when I finally made it to the main hall of the ground floor, Emil and Tristian were there, too. Waiting.

I moved to the side as fast as I could. My God, the way they were looking at me made me sick. They were smiling, too, just like Romin, like they were relieved. Like they’d alreadywon.

They whispered to one another as they watched me from the middle of the hall, and Romin joined them. The beating of my heart in my ears didn’t let me hear a single word, and I was thankful for it. By the time I made it to the doors that led to the third tower, my soul was about ready to leave my body.

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