Page 143 of The Evernight Court

And in his language, that meant,I love you.

I knew it even if he didn’t say it. In his own way, Valentine loved me—not romantically, but like a friend. Like…the little sister I’m never going to have,he once said.

And it wasn’t just because he’d drunk the blood I gave to Genevieve and gained power from it. I knew because he showed me a part of himself I didn’t think he’d ever showed anyone else. He’d told me his biggest fear—of being a coward.

The Evernights served a purpose on the Seven Isles, just like the brides did. Just like everyone did, and his brothers, all the Evernights before him, had accepted it. Maybe they’d struggled with the truth of their lives, but they’d accepted it eventually.

Valentine never did.

Whether it was because he didn’t want to or his mind was poisoned by the snake that was Genevieve since he was six years old—no idea. But he had chosen to fight against the very thing that kept him alive, and I couldn’t accept it.

“You mean a lot to me, too, Valentine,” I said, pulling at my magic, raising my hands toward him. “And I’m sorry for this.”

His eyes widened a split second before he realized that I was really going to attack him. I meant to just knock him out, not kill him.

Please, God, don’t kill him,I prayed.

Then my magic unleashed from me violently, throwing my hands back, and though he moved to the side, he couldn’t get away. My magic chased him like I didn’t even know itcould, and it slammed onto him and pulled him down to his knees instantly.

Valentine began to transform right in front of my eyes, looking at me, mouth open as his lower jaw moved to the side as it shouldn’t, distorting his face completely, his arms stretching until his fingers touched the ground.

Shadow was snickering and roaring that screeching sound as he flew around his head, but he didn’t attack me.

And I couldn’t fucking stand to watch the end of it because I had no idea what the end looked like, if my magic would kill Valentine or not. I was a coward because I couldn’t—didn’t wantto see it.

So, I blinked the tears from my eyes just as Grey managed to slam his elbow onto Genevieve’s face about ten feet from the pool’s side and send her to the ground. Then I ran for Sedelis with all the speed in my body, planning to tackle her and hopefully pull her under the water, just until Grey was able to knock out Genevieve. Just until he was able to dosomethingto stop this madness for good and take these people off this Isle.

And I thought I had it. I thought I was going to do it because failing wasn’t an option. Failing meant death and that concept was foreign to me still—this was all so very sudden. This whole thing—the end of the world coming at the hands of people I personally knew?

No way. Just no way.

So, I didn’t even consider that I might not make it.

Until my boots stepped into the water, and Sedelis turned to me, her eyes white,completelywhite, not a pupil or iris anywhere in them. And she waved her hand at me.

Magicgrabbedme as if it had invisible hands and pulled me out of the water, then moved me to the side, toward Valentine who was on the ground now, arms and legs and face twisted at awful angles. Bile rose up my throat as I struggled tomove, tried to scream my guts out but couldn’t. No air in my lungs, and that magic wasn’t just holding down my arms, but it was holding my heart still as well.

I looked at Grey who had pushed Genevieve against the wall with one hand around her neck, slowly choking her to death. And he turned his head at the last second and he saw me suspended in air, completely paralyzed.

He moved so fast his body was a blur. He let go of Genevieve and flew toward Sedelis and slammed his fist onto her side. She couldn’t move away in time because she was focused on me. She fell against the water, slipping inside, the surface no longer holding her up—and her magic let go of me. I fell to the ground, coughing, trying to draw in air as my heart picked up the beating, my body desperate for oxygen. My legs and arms were completely numb, and I barely managed to sit up and take in my surroundings again, the fear growing in me by the second.

Three things happened at once.

Valentine opened his eyes, and his body was moving again, his limbs and his jaws going back to normal.

Genevieve was on her feet, no longer smiling, face bloody, one hand around her neck as she looked at Grey and raised the other toward him.

And Sedelis, fighting Grey with half her body in the water, raised a large wave from the pool behind her, and slammed it onto him with all her strength.

My ears rang. Grey fell against the wall and the water seemed to be holding him prisoner against it, keeping his wings back and his arms to the sides. He was struggling to free himself, and I knew he would eventually, but Valentine was already rolling on his back with a painful groan, and Genevieve was already on her way to Grey. There was no doubt in my mind that she’d try to kill him—her own son—and I would never make it to her in time.

Would my magic even work if I unleashed it on her from thirty feet away?

Would Valentine, who was already trying to stand up, stop me?

But none of that even mattered anymore because Sedelis hadclimbedonto the surface of the water once more, and whispers left her lips in a rush as she turned toward the body of Syra again.

Over.

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