Page 22 of The Evernight Court

Oh, God, of course they would!

Iwould, too. I’d have chosen my death over Grey’s any second, without a moment’s hesitation. I would have chosen Grey.

“What doesfairhave to do with life?” Reeva asked me,like I’d said the most senseless thing. “Is it fair that any of us live like this to begin with?”

My eyes closed. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’d like to receive your gift so I can keep moving.” So I could go hide in my tower and pray that I somehow, magically, found a way out of this mess.

Reeva sighed deeply. “Oh, I understand, dearest Autumn. And I am truly sorry for you, for the life you’re forced to lead. Do remember one thing, though.” She put her hand over mine on my lap where I held the napkin tightly, and I didn’t flinch. Her skin was warm. I wasn’t repulsed by it as I had been from Tristian and Sedelis. “Nothing lasts forever,” she whispered, squeezing my hand. “Not the good, not the bad, and definitely not the ugly. It’s a universal rule that has but one exception, so trust that it is true.”

I gave her the best smile I could muster, even though I didn’t believe it, not for a single second because there simply wasn’t any way out of the trap I was in. “If you say so,” I said anyway.

“Now, your gift,” the witch said, and she took her hat off. To see her without it was so strange—like I was looking at a different person altogether. Her eyes were such a light brown—like amber. And her hair wasn’t as dark as it had seemed, and there was a glow to her skin that the shade of her hat had hidden away from me.

Wow. She looked incredible.

And she reached for the inside of her hat the next moment and produced a strange necklace with a thin golden chain and a round crystal in the middle, wrapped in vines of gold that looked like they were holding it prisoner in there.

“We originally planned another gift for you, as is custom from our people—a book of spells and recipes for potions you would have no use for because you cannot do rune magic.”She smiled at me and her eyes lit up. “But you seem like you need something you can actually use, young one.”

I narrowed my brows. “It’s okay, really. The book is just fine.” Especially when that necklace seemed like a very,veryexpensive piece of gold.

“I want to,” Reeva simply said, putting her hat back on her head, and it immediately gave her a darker aura, made her seem colder, more intimidating.

“Why?” I asked because it felt wrong to even touch what she was offering me. It was too much. Far too much.

“Because you break my heart,” she told me, and she said itsmiling,like that was a good thing. “Here. This is a magical crystal. With enough magic, it shows you your heart’s greatest desire. Take it.” And she put it in my hand.

“Really, I can’t. It’s too much,” I whispered, though I was mesmerized by the transparent, slightlycloudylooking gemstone in the middle, half the size of my palm.

“Nonsense. It was meant for you,” Reeva said with a wave of her hand. “Give it magic, a lot of magic, and you willseewhat you want most. You willseethe life you want to live, young one. This will give you the greatest gift of all—the gift of hope.” Her voice was pitched higher, like she was excited for real.

Her sisters weren’t, though. They all smiled, but it seemed forced, and their eyes were constantly moving around us, as if to make sure nobody was close enough to hear.

“I don’t need hope.” I needed a plan. I neededan end.

“Everybody needs hope,” Reeva said. “And you will have plenty of it once you see where you’re going.”

“Thank you,” I whispered even if I didn’t believe a single word she said. Because even if I saw myself out there in the human world, living a quiet, peaceful life all by myself in that crystal, it wasn’t going to give me hope because I already knewit wasn’t possible. I couldn’t leave the Whispering Woods. My fate was set in stone.

“Be careful when you use it. It can be a drain as it requires a lot of magic,” she told me.

“Well, I don’t really have a lot of magic.” And wasn’t that for the better? I didn’t want to see what my heart wanted most, and also know that I wasnevergoing to have it. It seemed like such a cruel joke to play on myself—even crueler than the dead grey fish in the bowl the sirens had gifted me.

“Not yet, but you will,” Reeva said, and she slowly came closer again, whispering, “I will give you this piece of advice as part of our gift to you, young one: use whatever you have to your advantage. Your magic is your strongest weapon now. Tend to it. Harness as much as you can.”

Nowthatwas definitely something I was interested in. Magic could help me. Magic was the only thing that could keep me safe from the Evernights. “How do I do that?” I asked Reeva, holding onto the napkin in one hand and the necklace in the other.

“By beingwith them!” she told me, eyes wide and full, fuckingendlesswhen she was so close to me.

Ice-cold chills rushed down my back. “No.” Fuck no. Not in any hell.

Not in any heaven, ever.

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, Autumn. The more a bride lays with an Evernight, the more blood she gives him, the more power she gathers, and you can be withallof them. Imagine all the power—and if you actually get pregnant? Oh, justimagineit!”

“Stop it, Reeva.” I didn’t want to imagine anything, and I wasnevergoing to be with any of them. I’d die first. I’d fucking stab myself through the heart with a damn fork.

“Naïveté will not save you from the injustices of life,” she told me, and it was like a knife straight to my heart becausethat, I believed, was a hundred percent true. “Lay with them. All of them. Accumulate more power than any has before you. Then, you will have the means to protect yourself.”

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