Page 66 of The Evernight Court

Genevieve was smiling when she met my eyes, but she looked tired all of a sudden. Fuck, she lookedexhausted,like years of life had been taken from her within seconds. At least a decade older, her skin no longer radiant, her hair flat, her eyes almost colorless. Almost like Grey’s.

Then she laughed. “Don’t look so worried on my account, Fall. I promise I will be just fine.” And she winked at me. “But my end of the deal is complete. Now, I need to lie down if you don’t mind.”

I kept shaking my head at myself, at that sizzling energy that was still inside me, except it was no longer hurting me. It was very uncomfortable, but the pain, that stinging sensation was gone.

“Wait, hold on,” I said when she turned around to leave, walking toward the wall across from me even though there was no door there that I could see. “What happens to me now? What…what…”

“It’s raw magic inside your body, a lot of it at once, different from how you’re supposed to harness it,” she said as she went. “Now, go back to your tower and rest. My magic should merge with yours within a couple of days. Then you’ll be able to do with it as you please.” She pressed a hand to the shiny surface of the wall, and it pushed open, just like that.

“Wait, Genevieve,” I said because I still needed her to tell me about Grey. I just wanted to know where he was, that’s all. Ineededto know so badly.

But Genevieve didn’t wait. She disappeared behind that door that closed the next second and disappeared from the wall, leaving me all alone in the sky room.

I knew that I wouldn’t be able to open it if I went after her, so I didn’t waste time trying. I just turned around anddescended the stairs, then ran back to the tower as fast as my body allowed.

Someone was watching me, but whether it was Emil or Tristian or Valentine or Shadow, I had no idea. There was no time to stop and look. No time to stop and listen for footsteps or beating wings. I was scared and dizzy—so fucking dizzy that I almost fell on my face ten times by the time I was inside my bedroom in the third tower.

Then I fell on the bed sideways, my body so fucking heavy, so warm, buzzing with energy, and I passed out within seconds, thinking about Grey.

It wasnine p.m. when my eyes opened, which meant I’d slept the whole day. I woke up disoriented as hell—and so hungry I could eat a damn horse.

Memories from that morning came back to me slowly, and the more I remembered, the more afraid I became.

Emil. Then Valentine. Then Genevieve.

Releasing a long breath, I took in every inch of the bedroom just to remind myself that I was all alone. Then I looked at my body, sure that I’d find marks and scars all over my shoulders—except nothing was there. My pale skin was unbroken, not a sign of where Emil’s teeth had torn it or where Genevieve had pressed her finger and basically set my body on fire from the inside with her magic.

Nothing. I was perfectly okay—physically speaking.

And I’d done it. I’d given Genevieve my blood, and she’d given me a charge of her magic.Within a couple of days, you’ll be able to do with it as you please,she said. Just a couple of days.

Raising my hands in front of my face, I analyzed my fingers, hoping to see something different, something that would tell me it had worked, but I found nothing.Not a single sign that Genevieve had given me her magic, all that magic that had left her completely spent. Had aged her ten years within three seconds.

Wow.

I had been here a long enough time now, but the idea of magic, actual raw magic, still fascinated me. And the idea thatIcould do it myself was still very much a fantasy to me.

Part of me wanted to stay in the room and think and try to do magic and try to figure out everything at once, just skip training with Quinn and go back to the woods tomorrow. But I knew that if I did that, I’d only be making myself miserable. I’d be driving myself mad with questions and theories, and I’d end up regretting having stayed inside.

That—and I really needed to eat. I might not have food in the tower kitchen, but I had golden coins that could buy me food in the town.

So, I took a quick shower just to wash away the dried blood on my arm and shoulder, put on some clean clothes, and I ran out of the castle within half an hour.

Twenty minutes later, I was sitting at the nearest restaurant to the woods, looking at possibly the biggest steak I’d ever eaten in my life, and I dove right in. It could have been the world’s worst steak and I wouldn’t know it from how fast I ate. I hadn’t been that hungry in ages, but I was done within minutes, and then I felt like my stomach might explode.

There was no time to sit and enjoy the quiet night, the people, all kinds of Enchanted dining at the tables around me or the beautiful slow music coming from the speakers in the round room. I had to get back to the woods to meet Quinn right away.

I didn’t tell her about what I’d done with Genevieve, and she had no reason to ask me if something had happened. There was no wound on my shoulder, and I didn’t hurt anywhere as we trained, so there was no need to even talkabout any of it. I liked Quinn, but I wouldn’t let myself trust her. Not that Genevieve was going to keep what happened a secret, but I would just rather not talk about it with anyone if I could help it.

But when we sat down near a tree to rest after training, I said, “Where do they go when they get banished?”

The question had haunted me all day. Genevieve had planted it in my head, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“You mean, the Evernights?” I nodded. Quinn thought about it for a minute. “No idea. They just disappear, I think. The curse sort ofeatsthem little by little.”

I flinched. “But they have to besomewhere,don’t they? They’d have to end up somewhere physically before the curse kills them.” It hadn’t occurred to me before this morning because I was constantly trying to escape the thought of Grey being banished. Grey beingdead.But it made sense that he would still be somewhere physically.

“I guess so,” Quinn said, brows narrowed. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody talking about that, to be honest. No Evernight has been banished in at least a century until Master Grey, so I have no clue. All I know is that if their dragons don’t get banished with them, they starve themselves to death on Agva.”

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