Page 123 of The Evernight Court

“Very. It’s very…” I paused for a moment. “Unusual,I think. I mean, I don’t know much, and I didn’t really speak to anybody at the castle about this. All your books are Faeish and you didn’t get the chance to teach me how to read Faeish, but I have a lot of it, and I think my magic is not like…you know, normal.” Quinn wouldn’t know about it because she wasn’t a bride, and there was nobody else I’d risk asking about it.

Grey thought about it for a second. “Brides grow their magic only by being with an Evernight at first.” His voice was a bit strained, though he was trying hard to hide it.

I squinted my eyes at him. “Yes, I know that.” I’d been told that over and over again by everybody.

Grey’s smile had vanished completely. “I know what we said in there,” and he nodded at the cave. “I know you said…” His voice trailed off for a second and heshook his head. “It’s okay if you’ve been with my brothers, Fall, but I need to know about it.”

Oh, hell.

Nervous Grey,tormentedGrey—for the wrong reasons—could be my favorite Grey yet. So damn funny.

It was impossible not to laugh, even though I tried.

“No, Grey. I haven’t been with your brothers,” I solemnly said, but my shoulders were shaking.

He looked so perplexed it was a miracle I could hold myself back.

“Then how do you have a lot of magic? How do you know if it’s unusual?” he said.

Fuck.There went my own smile, down the drain within a second.

“About that…” I lowered my head as the memory came over me.

“What?” Grey said, pulling my head up again. “What happened, baby? Talk to me.”

“I, uh…” I tried for another smile. “I kind of made a deal with your mother.” And it sounded even worse to say it out loud.

“What kind of a deal?” said Grey, and he had yet to give me a reaction.

“Blood,” I whispered. “I gave her my blood in exchange for a power boost.”

His eyes closed and his jaws locked for a moment. “You shouldn’t have, baby.”

“I know that,” I said, suddenly panicked because it really did sound bad when I said it out loud. “I know that very well, but I had no choice. Emil came for me and he almost bit me, and there was literally nothing I could do against him. Not a single damn thing!”

Only when I said those words did I realize what theymeant, but it was too late. Grey already looked more murderous than I’d ever seen him before.

“I survived,” I added in a breath. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“What did he do to you?” he asked, and his voice was completely transformed. His eyes were bloodshot, so dark it was like they’d never been grey before, and I could see the tips of his fangs slipping down his upper lip.

“Nothing. He did nothing, just scratched me on the shoulder, that’s all. Valentine stopped him,” I whispered, taking his face in my hands. “I’mfine,Grey! I was fine then, too, but I needed a way to protect myself, and I wasn’t about to get in any of their beds, so my options wereincrediblylimited. I did what I had to do.”

“I’m going to kill him,” he said through gritted teeth, and he was trying so hard to contain himself that I saw all the veins in his neck.

“Grey, look at me. It worked. There’s no need to be pissed about it now—it worked!”

He sighed deeply. “Are you sure?”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure. I swear it, it worked better than I’d hoped. I can shrink things and make them big and make fire and make things float—and I can fuck anything up pretty well, too,” I said in a rush.

Grey raised his brows. “Fuck anything up? What do you mean?”

“Exactly that. When Tristian came for me, I used my magic on him.” I knew this was going to piss him off even more, but I would rather just get it over with because I wasn’t about to keep something like that to myself. He needed to know exactly what they’d done in his absence because I was no longer the naive fool who believed that them beingbrothersmeant anything at all.

Wings suddenly exploded from under Grey’s skin,spreading to the sides. His fangs extended all the way, too, and I sighed.

“Grey, please.” He didn’t have to be so damn stubborn when he could see very well that I was okay.

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