Page 21 of The Evernight Court

Even now, her words took me by surprise, simply because of how absurd that sentence sounded.

“Strange?” I said without really meaning to, and then I was laughing and crying again, and I was a goddamn mess by the time the minute was over.

The witches smiled like they were sorry for me—all of them. They all wore black dresses, gorgeous fabrics covered in shimmer and gemstones, pointy hats on their heads. They weren’t nearly as appealing to the eyes as the sirens, but they, at least, were real. No magic shielded their true faces. They didn’t look like fucking corpses in real life—they looked like this. Nothing more and nothing less.

“Yes,strangemight be a bit mild,” the witch said once I stopped, then handed me a napkin to wipe my tears with.

I shook my head. “I’m fine.” My hands would do a good enough job.

But she insisted. “It’s a magical napkin. It will fix your makeup right away. You’re a mess.”

Well, fuck.

I took the napkin from her hand more out of curiosity—it was white, very ordinary looking—and I wiped my eyes with it. No stain came off me at all. No mascara or foundation or blush.

“Oh.” A magical napkin. How fancy. Not nearly as impressive as it would have been a week ago. “I couldn’t careless about my makeup, to be honest.” Or any of this bullshit for that matter.

“But the Evernights might,” said the witch. “My name is Reeva Lorein, current ruler of Witches’ Wing, and these are my sisters, as well as my most trusted advisers.”

I swallowed hard and forced myself to look at the smiling faces of the witches. They, at least, didn’t look like they wanted to eat me raw.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I forced myself to say.

“The pleasure is entirely ours, Autumn,” said one of the witches across from me. She had chocolate brown hair in smooth, thick waves and lips painted a deep red, almost the same as Mama Si’s. “We’re sorry about your loss.”

“We are, indeed,” said the others, and it was a breath of fresh air.

“Thank you,” I choked, fighting back the urge to start crying again. Enough with the tears. Enough with the fucking tears—I would not show them again how badly they’d hurt me. Not the guests and not the brothers. No matter what the witches or the faeries or anyone else was going togiftme tonight—I would not cry again.

That’s a promise I made to myself, and I intended to keep it.

“Such a sad thing for an Evernight to perish so soon, so young, when there’s not a single heir born yet. The people grow restless,” Reeva said, shaking her head at herself.

“He was banished,” I said. “It…it wasn’t his fault. He was challenged.” And he saved my life.

“Oh, we know. The Evernights have released an official statement. They haven’t held back any details.”

But they have!I wanted to say. The words were at the tip of my tongue, and I was dying to spit them out.

Then I looked up at the main table at the head of the room, and just like I suspected, I found Romin’s eyes on me.

He was watching me. God, he could even hear the way my heart was beating, I was sure of it.

And so was Valentine.

I turned to Reeva again. “Then you know.”Lies.They knewlies.

“It’s sad that your master isn’t here, young one, but we were told that your blood is compatible with all the Evernights. That is no small thing,” Reeva said, and she dragged her chair a bit closer to mine, leaned her head, too, like she didn’t want anyone else to hear her. “You’re a smart woman. Use that to your advantage.”

“Ihaveno advantage.” I was weak and alone and completelynewto this whole thing without a single clue how to go about anything, and nobody to teach me. I was doomed, and it beat me why I was still trying. Why I didn’t end this whole misery tonight.

“Not right now, you don’t,” Reeva said, and I could have sworn the concern in her wide brown eyes, thesorryin them, was real. She cared. She knew the state I was in, and she cared. “You’re alone. I imagine the other brides hate you. None of the people of the Isles will pray for you—they all despise you right now. To be honest, we did, too, before we saw you.”

The other Lorein sisters nodded their heads and looked downward, as if they wereashamedof themselves.

“It’s not fair.” They despised me, as I despised myself, but it wasn’t fair, was it? Valentine had challenged Grey. Valentine had tried to kill me. Grey was just trying to save my life.

Would they have ratherI’ddied?

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