Page 62 of The Evernight Court

Protect yourself until you don’t have to, Valentine said the night before. But I always would, wouldn’t I? I’d always have to protect myself, not just from him, but from everyone else. Because Romin might have let it slide when I kneed him in the balls a second time, but I could be sure that when he came for me now, he’d be twice as merciless. Twice as angry. He had convinced himself that he had the right to do with me whatever he wanted, even if it was against my will—and what the hell could I do to stop him?

If it wasn’t him specifically, it would be the others. I was surrounded by the world’s most sophisticated predators, and my magic refused to give me a single spark.

“Work!”I ordered it again when my thoughts, my fear got the best of me. It had to work, damn it. It had to!

This was my best chance because I’d need time to learn how to fight physically. Even though my body was primed and I moved with so much more ease and strength than I ever thought possible, I still needed time to hone my reflexes and to work on my speed. My muscles still ached the first few hours after training every night, and though I recovered quickly, and the bruises and cuts Quinn left me with healed within hours, Istill wasn’t even close to capable of fighting someone like Romin or the others.

Thiswas my best chance.

Sleep took me and I woke up a few hours later. Again—I stayed right there in the closet and I tried with all my strength to harness magic the way that book said I should.

Close your eyes and search inside yourself and pull at the heat of the magic as if it were a physical thing. Shape it with your mind and will. The stronger your image of what you want your magic to do, the more strength it has when it comes out into the world.

It didn’t work.

And it didn’t work the next day, either.

Quinn tried to cheer me up. She offered to help me train my magic, too, and the look on her face when she saw how utterly helpless I was on my tenth try said enough. When we parted ways last night, she even tried to suggest I fuck one of the Evernights, too—Maybe you should consider alternative ways of strengthening your magic. The more of it you use, the more you’ll have. But to use it initially, you have to have a decent supply.

I knew exactly where she wanted me to get thatsupplyand the thought made me sick to my stomach the same way it had that very first day, even if to her I said nothing.

But in the morning when I woke up next to Grey’s portrait, I took strength from the look in his eyes, even if they were only made of colors. I took strength from the idea of him, from my hyperactive imagination that painted the scene for me in my mind of what he’d tell me if he was here. Of what he’d tell me if he knew the position I was in right now.

Try again,he’d say.Get up and try again until you make it.

Grey wasn’t one to give up. He’d said it himself once—he didn’t lose.

I wasn’t going to lose, either, and so I was going to keeptrying until I got it right. Except my kitchen was nearly empty and I needed energy. I needed a good breakfast to get me started. And I figured it was still six in the morning, so the kitchen would be empty. If not empty, then only a couple people should be there, definitely not the brides, or even Vinny and Aster.

I was right—only two of the helpers I’d seen last time were there, cleaning the appliances and turning them on to prepare them for the chefs, I figured. And they didn’t stop me when I opened the fridges and the cabinets and filled my basket to the brim with everything I needed, just like last time. They just kept their heads down and waited, still as statues, until I walked out of the kitchen again.

Nobody else was in the hallways to stop me, and even though I had my ears strained and I looked about me every few seconds, I noticed no sound or movement until I pushed open the door of the third tower.

And then he simply appeared right behind me.

“Good morning, Fall.”

Emil.

Every inch of my skin raised in goose bumps.

His hand closed around the back of my neck and everything came to a halt.

“I’ve been waiting a really long time for you to change your mind, beautiful.” His mouth was right next to my ear. His tongue came out and licked the side of my neck slowly. “I’m done waiting now. I’m ready to show you why you don’t want to stay away from me any longer.” His arms slowly snaked around my waist and he pulled me to his chest hard.

The basket dropped from my hand and I saw it all in slow motion—when it hit the floor, when the empty plastic cups fell inside the door, when the bottle of milk broke and the apples rolled to the sides and the flour basically exploded from thecontainer that broke open. I saw it all and the milk soaked my sneakers and the legs of my pants.

Then Emil bit my neck—without fangs—as he growled. “I’m going to enjoy you so, so much…”

I moved.

Pulling my head forward as much as he let me, I slammed it back with all my strength, and it worked. The back of my skull connected with Emil’s nose and his grip around my waist loosened. I had no fucking clue what I was doing, but I was well aware that my biggest advantage was to catch him off guard, and so I just let my body move on its own. I spun around and fisted him in the face with all the strength I could muster, just like Quinn taught me.

Again, I hit him, and his head bobbed back, blood dripping down his nose from where I headbutted him.

But Emil laughed.

He laughed as he wiped the blood off his face and looked at me like he’d never seen a more curious thing. I was too stunned myself to be afraid, just kept my position with my arms raised like Quinn said, so when he came for me again, I was already moving, slamming my fists to his arms fast enough that I barely saw them.

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