Page 141 of The Evernight Court

“Of course not. I’ll want to avenge my stolen life before I go,” Genevieve said. “But it’s useless to talk about it now, I guess. The spell is almost finished, and when the last of its layer is undone, Syra shall rise again.”

“Valentine,” I whispered because he had to see what was going on here, how Genevieve had manipulated him. He had to see that killing innocent people wasn’t going to fuckingset him free.“Please stop this, Valentine. This isn’t right.”

He raised his head and met my eyes, but not a single emotion was in his. He’d put on his mask already, and now he didn’t even look sorry anymore. He just looked…bored.

“Valentine is a very smart young man. I’m basically his mother. He’s spent more time with me than Grey since he was six years old. He knows exactly what goes on around here,” Genevieve said, touching Valentine’s cheek with the back of her fingers. Valentine tried to hide his flinch, but he didn’t move away from her touch like he had from Sedelis.

“You’re nothing but a manipulative, bitter woman—you arenothis mother,” I spit, and I prayed to God that Valentine didn’t believe her.

But he said nothing.

“I will notlet you go through with this, Sedelis,” Grey said again. He was right—Genevieve didn’t matter right now. It was Sedelis who had all the power.

The siren was still smiling, and on her distorted grey face, it looked so fucking vile. “Try and stop me then.”

“Grey,” Valentine said, but I already knew that Grey hadmade up his mind to attack. I felt it in the way he squeezed my hand, then let go, and his wing that had been half wrapped around me to protect me spread all the way.

He was going to attack—and so would I.

It wasn’t even a question. I had magic for a reason, and I was going to fucking use it before it was too late, before they really went through with their plan and it was over for good.

So, I let of go Grey as he charged forward, wings spread and hands out, and I ran with him without giving myself a second to think. The magic inside me raged. I had no purpose for it other than tostop Sedelis.Whatever happened, she could not awaken Syra. If I died stopping her, so be it.

Except Sedelis laughed, and her laughter echoed in my head even before Grey beat his wings and I saw her face when they folded. I saw her hands aimed at us and felt the magic that left her grayish skin like it was my own.

Raw power slammed against Grey and me, picking us up and throwing us back a few feet, right against the rocks of the cave floor. We rolled and rolled until we reached the wall. The pain barely registered and the foreign magic wreaking havoc inside my body squeezed my lungs hard until I choked.

Butmymagic was there, too. It came straight from the pit of my stomach and it rose against that energy that was making it impossible to breathe, until it expelled it out of me violently.

By then, Grey was over me, pulling me up by the waist, and my feet touched the ground.

“You’re okay,” he whispered. “You’re okay, you’re okay…”

“Grey, we have to stop them,” I said, because yes, I was okay, but I wouldn’t be for long, and neither wouldhe. If Syra woke up, it was game over for all of us. We wereallgoing to die.

The images of the story I’d seen in the Storyteller were right there in front of my mind’s eye, the way Syrabrokeanentire continent and set it on fire as well. Such power shouldn’t exist in the world. It just shouldn’t.

“We will,” Grey said, pushing my hair away from my face as we turned to the side so we could see the others—Genevieve and Sedelis talking, while Valentine stayed behind them and looked at us with Shadow on his shoulder. “And I’m not going to even tell you to stand back, but look at me, baby.” I did. “Stay alive.”

My heart fell all the way to my heels. The look in his wide greyterrifiedeyes confirmed that this was all, indeed, real. This was actually happening, even though I had yet to wrap my head around it. It was happening, and there was a chance that I was never going to see Grey again. That I would die right here in this cave.

I grabbed his face in my hands and kissed him.

So many things I wanted to say. So many fucking things I’dplannedto say to him in the coming days and months and years. For once in my life, I’d been looking forward to the future with all my heart, knowing he’d be there with me, and now here I was, about to be ripped to shreds all over again.

There was no time to tell Grey all that was on my mind right now, but I could say one thing I’d been holding back on, one that mattered the most.

“I love you,” I whispered against his lips, and I hoped he knew it came from the bottom of my heart.

Grey kissed me again. “And I love you,een aeva.I’ll see you when this is over.”

The confidence in his voice gave me all the motivation I needed. “Deal.”

We both turned to the others again, to find that Sedelis was already facing the pool, and she was getting inside it.

Except…when her bare feet touched the surface of the water, she didn’t go under, didn’t sink as she should have. She continued like that, walking on water right before our eyes, until she reached the very middle, spread her arms, and began to whisper.

Magic erupted from her on all sides, and the wave of it hit us all equally, but this one wasn’t meant to attack. It didn’t throw us back, didn’t knock us against the ground, just pushed our hair back as if to show us what it was made of. How powerful it was.

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