Page 37 of The Evernight Court

Could be, but it wasn’t the ale that stole my joy. It was the fact that I missed Grey, and I missed himmorethan I did the last time I realized I missed him, and I wanted him to be here with me so badly I’d have traded a world for it. What would it be like if he sat with me at one of those tables, and we listened to the couple playing their pianos together, and we held hands and drank those awful ales until the sun came up in the real world?

That.

That was everything I wanted. Even if I never got to do what those people on stage were doing, I’d be happy if Grey was watching this with me. I knew it deep in my bones with as much certainty as I knew that I wasn’t going to survive the Evernights for long if I didn’t find a way to learn magic, to fight, to protect myself.

And I was tired. So goddamn tired of always being on the run. Always having to conquer new demons. Always having to adapt, make changes,grow.I was tired and I just wanted to drink some goddamn ale in peace.

So, I did, and as pathetic as it sounds now, I pretended Grey was right there at the bar with me. Every time Toss said something that made me laugh, I imagined Grey was laughing with me. And when my ale was done, I told Toss to save me the second one for tomorrow because I had to go. I had to getback to the castle and pick myself up and put myself together, then come back and try another night.

I walked out into the night and breathed in deeply, hoping the colder air would clear my head. I wasn’t tipsy, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sober, either. The ale had been very light on alcohol, but that cup was really big, so it had gotten me. I was glad for it. It would make falling asleep a little easier, I hoped.

Less people in the wide cobbled street around me when I made my way back. It was late. Most shops were closed, and some lights had gone off, but it was still so much brighter than in the castle.

God, Ihatedthat place. I didn’t even want to go back. I wanted to find a corner and sleep right there in the street instead, but I knew that wasn’t an option. I knew I needed to keep moving, find ways. Learn.

And I needed to be clear-headed when I came back here to search for people who could help me figure it all out.

Except I’d barely taken the fifth step into the dark woods that separated the town from the castle when I realized something was wrong.

When I realized that whatever I’d just stepped on was different from the soil underneath my feet. Harder.

Too late.

Something moved fast to my side. It grabbed me by the ankle and pulled me up before I had the chance to even blink. I found myself upside down, hanging by my leg on a branch of a big tree with a scream stuck in my throat, already terrified.

They’d found me. One of the Evernights had found me, and they’d trapped me outside the castle where nobody would ever know what happened to me.

My life was as good as over.

Nine

“Look what we have here.”

A woman’s voice.

Every thought in my head came to a halt, together with the fear and panic. I focused on my eyes, pushing down Grey’s jacket so I could see my surroundings better, and the person who’d trapped me stepped in front of me. Dark brown pants, tall leather boots, a brown shirt wrapped around her thin frame—and I saw all of it upside down.

“Who the hell are you?!” I said, moving my head to the side to see her face, but it was half covered by the hood of her shirt and I barely saw her chin.

A woman. Definitely a woman.

The Evernights weren’t here. They hadn’t found me.

“I think the better question is, who areyou?”

Hands on my body.

Her hands were small, and she was searching my waist, the waistband of my pants. I tried to push her off me, but it was really hard to do when I was hanging upside down by a leg on a fucking branch.

I could have screamed in frustration.

“Get off me!” I demanded instead, but she didn’t care. She just slapped my hands away and continued to search me until she found what she was looking for—the bag of coins in the pocket of Grey’s jacket.

“Stop it!”I shouted at the top of my voice, but she was already stepping away from me.

Heat gathered in the pit of my stomach.

She dared to touch Grey’s things?!

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