Page 18 of The Evernight Court

Now, I was breathing. I was immune. I wasimpatient.

And they said, “There she is,” almost in unison.

“Autumn Hayes, how wonderful to meet you,” said one of them as she brought her hands to her chest, her almost completely transparent dress made out of thin mesh and fish scales not really covering anything on her body.

“Yes, yes, indeed,” said another.

“Even though you cost us an Evernight, we’re hopeful that you’ll give us another in return,” said the next.

“After all, you’re one of the very few whose blood is compatible withallthe brothers.”

“All of them—oh, what joy!”

“What pleasure, indeed.”

Laughter.

“What an honor,” said Sedelis who stood to my right, looking me over the same way she’d done the day Mama Si brought me to the Whispering Woods. “You must consider yourself lucky.”

I swallowed hard, hands fisted, chin up.Don’t throw up,I reminded myself, because even though I hadn’t eaten, the reality of the situation wasn’t lost on me—I was standing before sirens. Actual sirens who ate human flesh for a living, and I’d seen all of it with my own eyes in the Storyteller. It was impossible to keep my skin from crawling at the reminder.

And at the thought that they werestilldoing the same thing to this day, probably on the regular.

“Does she speak?” said one of the others. Their aura was exactly the same, even though they had different colored hair and different features. But they were still so similar they could have been twins.

“Of course, she does,” said Sedelis. “Let’s sit.”

With a wave of her hand, a chair identical to theirs appeared right behind me, and the sisters sat. They all watched me with a raw hunger in their eyes, and my mind keptreplaying that scene I’d seen in the Storyteller, of them eating Hansil’s pirate crew on the shore.

Had their faces been the same then as they were now?

I couldn’t really remember. All I’d seen with clarity was Syra because she was the only one the author of the book had described—and she had indeed been more beautiful than the ones sitting at the table, even though these sirens were wrapped up in magic.

Having no other choice, I sat down on the chair and folded my hands on my lap, praying to any god who’d listen that this was over quickly.

“We are the siren sisters of Ennaris, as I’m sure you already know, Autumn Hayes,” Sedelis said. “You’ve had the pleasure of meeting me. Now, meet Andya, Oreinne, Fessa, Raxae, and Mea.”

I was sweating by the time she spoke all the names of her sisters, nodding at each, and I could have sworn that each name held raw magical power when it left her lips.

Breathe,I said to myself, and gave a deep nod. “Pleasure.” It was the best I could do.

“She’s very pretty, indeed,” the third on the left said—Fessa.

“I guess it makes sense that Grey would lose his head over her. After all, he’s only a man,” said Andya, the one with the piercing green eyes sitting right next to me.

“They told us that Grey was absolutely smitten by you,” said Sedelis from my other side, then put her hand on my lap. Right there on my thigh. “Is it true?”

Don’t you dare throw up!

She was touching me. My God, she was touching me, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I met her eyes.Get your filthy hand off me.“Yes.”

Sedelis smiled.

Sedelis took her hand back.

“Oh, do tell us everything. Grey always made us curious. So very reserved. So detached from the rest of us—tell us! Come on, tell us!” said Mea, and they were all clapping and talking at the same time by the minute’s end,beggingme to tell them what Grey was like.

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