Page 107 of The Evernight Court

Eventually, I walked out of the cave, thinking maybe Storm was waiting for me somewhere. And if he wasn’t, maybe if that red dragon threatened to eat me again, he’d come flying back.

“There is no time,” I told the darkness as I argued with myself,against the fear that wanted me to stay in that cave indefinitely. I couldn’t do that no matter how many dragons lived on this mountaintop—there really was no time. Who knew how much longer Grey had?

Storm wasn’t by the entrance of that cave, though. No wings beating and no roars around me right now, but that ledge seemed to go around the curve of the mountain behind which I couldn’t see. Despite the fear whispering in my ear, I was determined to make it to the other side until I found him, so that’s where I went.

I could have sworn Shadow was flying somewhere close by, but every time I tried to focus on the shape of him it would escape me, or my hair or a snowflake would get in my eyes. The wind made it impossible to walk without holding onto the rocks of the mountain, and I took small steps because the ledge was narrow. One uncontrolled move and I would fall off again.

After about a hundred feet around the mountain, I reached a wider space with big rocks all over the semi-flat ledge, like someone had carved it out the side of the mountaintop.

There in the middle, behind the biggest rock that was over fifty feet tall sat Storm on his hind legs with his black tail wrapped around him, looking out into the darkness without making a single sound. He was so still that a layer of snow had covered parts of him, and despite the fear, I had never seen a more majestic view in my life. If I ever made it back, if I somehow survived this and I got my hands on a canvas and some colors, this was the first image I was going to attempt to recreate.

A black dragon surrounded by snow among pieces of rock on the side of a mountain, looking out at the dark clouds in the sky.

And then his head slowly turned toward me.

My eyes locked with his and my heart stopped beating altogether, but Storm didn’t move at all. For a good minute, he just looked at me—then he turned back to the sky like I wasn’t worth his attention anymore. Now that he’d screamed his guts out at me and he’d sniffed me thoroughly, he couldn’t care less that I was there.

Gathering courage to gotalkto a dragon like him took a bit more time than I liked to admit, but I forced myself to move forward eventually. I went all the way to the rocks, and my hands shook as I reached for the container with faerie-bee honey in my bag. Dragons were supposed to love that stuff—the guy in the Faerie Bazaar had said so—and I’d thought it would be a good idea to bring it to Storm. Maybe it would change his mind about eatingme—though right now I didn’t think he cared enough to do that, either.

But I pulled out the container, and when I was about ten feet away from Storm, I put it on the ground, then pushed it closer to him with my foot. Just a little bit.

The snow began to cover it instantly, and Storm didn’t look at it at all. His nostrils just flared up as he sniffed like that again, hard, and then he went back to breathing normally.

“Storm,” I whispered, both terrified and desperate to get his attention. Right now, no other dragon was flying around us or roaring. It was just the two of us—and possibly Shadow hiding somewhere, watching.

“It’s, uh…” I cleared my throat, holding up a hand to the side of my face to stop the wind and the snowflakes from falling in my eyes. “It’s faerie-bee honey. I brought it for you. Really tasty. I think you’ll like it.”

Storm barely threw a glance my way and to see such a massive creature moving with such ease was incredible to me still.

“C’mon, Storm,” I breathed, taking in the rest of his body, the wings folded on his back, the edges torn, his scalescrisscrossed with thin lines like they were scars from older wounds.

I’d only really seen him from closer up in the duel, but he seemed smaller, now that I thought about it. He seemed…slimmer.Like he’d lost weight. His neck wasn’t nearly as thick as it had been, and those wings…I could have sworn his wings had been whole once.

They go to Mount Agva to starve themselves.

“You haven’t eaten anything, have you,” I whispered, eyes full of tears as I reached for the dried meat I had left in my bag, and I threw it at him. “Eat, Storm. C’mon, eat a little!”

The piece of meat rolled in the snow near his tail. Storm didn’t move a single inch.

I don’t know why that hurt so much, but it was like knives stabbing at my chest repeatedly.

“I saw him, Storm,” I tried again, moving closer, slowly. That wind and snow made it so hard, but at least I wasn’t cold anymore. My magic and the fear had the blood rushing in my veins faster by the minute. “Grey is alive, and I saw him in the eighth mirror in the mirror room back at the castle. And I heard Romin and Emil talking. They said it showedthe Eighth Isle,and Grey was there. I recognized him. I’d recognize his wings anywhere—it washim.”

Nothing.

I was two feet away from him now, pushing the honey closer, hoping he’d smell it and give in.

It didn’t work.

“I can’t get off this Isle, Storm, butyoucan. You can go find him, bring him back. I can take you there if you come with me. I’ll shrink you with my magic, and-and-and I’ll put you in my p-p-pocket…”

Fuck, I was a mess. I was crying before I realized it, shoulders shaking, my face a mess of tears as well as snow.

Grabbing my head in my hands, I sat down on the groundright there because I couldn’t make it back to the cave. I didn’t really want to. Right here was perfectly fine.

“I can’t do it,” I said as I cried. “I can’t just be here without him, not like this. I am not going back. I’mnevergoing back.”

And if Romin came flying to get me, I’d jump off this mountain myself.

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