Page 136 of The Evernight Court

Wherever that noise was coming from, I was willing to bet my life that it was Valentine’s doing—and Grey agreed.

Thirty-Two

It tookhim less than a minute to fly us down the mountain and to the main entrance, the same place where we’d last seen Valentine. My gut wanted to fucking explode both with magic and my instincts that were all on high alert now. Every damn alarm in my head had gone off at the same time, like my body knew what the hell was going on here before I did. Like it knew what we were going to find down that narrow tunnel that led inside the mountain before we got there.

Then we did.

There was more than enough light to brighten up the entire space from the turquoise water of the pool in front of the sleeping dragon, so we saw Valentine kneeling in front of it with his hands raised forward. He didn’t react when we came through, didn’t even turn his head back, just kept staring at the water and whispering senseless words that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing at attention.

Iknewit. I fucking knew Valentine was here—I knew it!

Except I had no idea what the hell he was doing.

I looked at Grey, who seemed just as confused as me.Slowly, he went deeper into the cave, perfectly silent, and I followed close behind, taking in the giant dragon sleeping near the pool with the raised rock between its talons, and Syra sleeping at the top of it. Even though I’d been in this cave every single day now when searching for Valentine, it still seemed so surreal to me that it existed. What it served.

“Valentine.”

Grey’s voice echoed against the high ceiling of the cave, and I almost reminded him that the Great White was right there, that too much noise could awaken him.

But then Valentine turned, and he didn’t seem surprised in the least to find us there. In fact, he didn’t even stop chanting, and I realized he was wearing only his pants. No shirt on him, and Shadow was sitting near him by the edge of the pool in silence, watching us, wings half spread like he was preparing to take flight.

Meanwhile magic, as invisible as mine had been just now, was coming out of Valentine’s hands and going straight into the water—except it didn’t disrupt it at all. The water sort ofabsorbedthe magic without a ripple and without a single sound.

“Valentine, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Grey said, his voice growing louder, his wings spread, and Shadow was already in the air, flying over Valentine’s head.

I grabbed his arm and held him back. “Grey, stop.” Whatever Valentine was doing, it could be dangerous. It could backfire. It could hurt him, maybe even do to him whatmymagic had done to that rock.

“Answer me,” Grey growled, but he stopped walking, and Valentine locked eyes with me for only a second before he turned to the water again.

I squeezed Grey’s arm. “Just give me a minute.”

Shadow wouldn’t hurt me. Valentine wouldn’t, either. He’d talk to me. I’dmakehim if I had to—but he’d talk to me.

Grey let me get closer, and he stayed close behind, but he no longer looked like he was about to attack his brother. Slowly, I went and sat down next to Valentine right there by the pool, looking at his profile as he whispered those words, the bright light of the water revealing the shape of him I knew so well.

He looked good. His skin was clean, his hair combed back, and he had a short stubble covering his cheeks that I’d never seen on him before. He’d been here on this Isle all this time. I had no clue how he hid himself from Grey and Storm, but he’d been here, there was no doubt about it.

“Valentine,” I whispered, but he refused to stop chanting. “Valentine, look at me.”

He didn’t move a single inch.

Grey was standing two feet behind me, and I turned to him for a second, just to assure him that I was fine.

Then I put my hand on Valentine’s shoulder.

His eyes popped open, and he looked at me from his peripheral, those whispers coming out of his lips in a rush.

“What are you doing, Valentine? Talk to me—what are you doing?!” Why was he chanting at the water?

He turned toward me and looked at me without blinking for a long time—as long as it took him to stop chanting.

“What is it?” I whispered to Valentine. He looked the same, but also so different. His eyes looked blue with the light of the water, and that stubble made him look at least a decade older, too.

“Hey, Sunshine,” he finally said, making my heart skip a beat. He heard it and smiled. “Still one of my favorite melodies.”

I shook my head. “What the hell are you doing, Valentine? Why are you whispering at the water?” Why was he hiding on the Eighth Isle? Why was he hidingfrom usfor three days—just…why?

His smile fell. “I’m making it right.”

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