Page 4 of The Evernight Court

“He wouldn’t have. Maybe he’d have hurt you a little, but we’d have intervened in time,” he had the audacity to say.

I shook my head, momentarily stunned.

This man, this…thismonsterknew exactly what the hell had happened. He knew what Shadow’sintentionshad been. He knew very well, but he’d chosen not to see. He’d chosen to punish Grey instead.

“You just couldn’t wait to get rid of him, could you,” I whispered because by now I really did have a death wish. I was hoping Romin would kill me, break my neck or sink his fangs in me until my veins were completely dry. Those same fangs that were slowly revealing themselves to me, slipping below his upper lip.

“You’re in mourning,” he said, gripping the glass so tightly it was going to break any second. “You can’t control yourself—that’s understandable.”

“I can control myself just fine,” I spit. “You were afraid of Grey, and you couldn’t wait to get rid of him. At the first chance you got, even when you clearly knew what was happening, you took it. You banished him. You?—”

That’s as far as I could get before he grabbed me by the neck and squeezed.Hard.

No more air going down my throat. I closed my eyes, keeping my hands to my sides before I grabbed his arm and tried to instinctively push him off me. He was going to choke me to death any minute now.Finally.No more guilt to carry on my shoulders—and better yet, no more having to even think about that fact that Grey was or would be dead very soon.

Unfortunately, Romin got his shit together much quicker than I thought he would. He pushed me back and basically threw me to the floor, and I barely got enough air down to fill my burning lungs. Tears in my eyes from the coughing, and I couldn’t stop myself for a good minute, but I was still aware of him. Still perfectly aware when he squatted down in front of me with his fucking wine, his fangs retreated.

“Who knew grieving could make you so delusional?” he whispered, shaking his head as if he now felt sorry for me.

Forget Mama Si—I had never before hated anyone more than I hated this man right now.

“Bring him back,” I choked, hands still around my neck on instinct.

“Don’t be silly, Fall. Even if I wanted to—which I don’t—I can’t just bring him back. Banishment doesn’t work that way.”

My heart skipped a long beat. “You’re the ruler of the Evernight Court. You can do whatever?—”

“Not only me but nobody in the world could bring him back into the Whispering Woods,” he cut me off, rolling his eyes again as he slowly leaned closer and closer. “Accept it, Fall. He’s gone. Grey is as good as dead already.”

I could see the smile in his glistening eyes. The fucker washappy.He was ecstatic because I was right—he couldn’t wait to get rid of Grey.

Fuck, now I couldn’t breathe for real, not even when he stood up and went to his chair again. “It’s all in the past now. No reason to dwell on things we can’t control, is there?” the asshole said. “We’re all okay. Grey is gone. Storm is gone and?—”

“Where?” I said, pushing myself up to my feet. “Where is Storm? What happened to him?”

He shrugged. “What happens to all dragons who lose their master. They die.”

Another stab straight through my heart. “No…”

“I’m sure you and Grey didn’t get the chance to talk about much. After all, you were his bride for only a couple of days.” Oh, the joy he felt in throwing that in my face. The fucking satisfaction reflecting in those evil eyes…a coward.Romin Evernight was a goddamn coward. “But, yes—when a master dies or gets banished without their dragon, said dragon isolates himself in Mount Agva and starves himself until he dies, too. Usually in about a couple months, if not less.”

My fingernails sank in my palms and my legs were shaking so badly I had no choice but to sit down.

“Oh, great! Here, have some wine,” the coward said, waving his hand to make a glass appear in front of me on the table, which he then filled with his red wine.

I was sick to my stomach.

“You can’t…you can’t justlet himstarve,” I said, and my voice shook so badly I barely spoke the words.

“It’s not really a matter of lettinghim. This is their nature.A dragon without his master is a dead dragon, anyway. And trust me, it’s for the best that they hide away in Agva because they lose their minds before their death. They go completely ballistic—you remember Storm, don’t you? He nearly tore his entire wing off with his teeth!”

He laughed.

Romin fuckinglaughedhis heart out.

Meanwhile I felt like another thousand pounds were added to the weight on my shoulders as I remembered Storm biting his own wing. As I imagined Storm hiding away in a cave, refusing to eat.Crazy—just like I was praying to be because when you’re crazy you don’t know what’s going on, do you? You don’t feel pain. You don’t feel guilt. You’re just crazy.

“No, no—it’s safer for everyone that he flew away. He’ll die in peace when his time comes,” Romin continued. “Butwe, my dear Fall…” Putting his glass down on the table, he leaned closer and rested his elbows at the edge. The way he was looking at me, you’d think he was in fucking love with me now.

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