Page 81 of The Evernight Court

But…

Something else occurred to me. In that vision, I’d seen these mirrors from deep into the darkness, from the edges of the cave I was in. Could it be that I had to look at them from that same spot now, too, to see whatever this necklace wanted me to see?

Shaking my head at myself, disappointed that I still expected to find an answer, I made my way between the mirrors and into that very darkness, and I went all the way to the edge of the cave, to the uneven stone wall that I could barely make out.

Nothing happened.

I was in the same place I had been in that vision, and I was looking at the mirrors just like I had in it, but nothing happened. Nothing revealed itself to me. No movement, no sound, no change—just that same room.

So, I sat on the floor right there against the stone wall, rested my forehead on my knees, and I tried to become one with the darkness until it hurt a little less.

Hours must have passed.Maybe minutes? I wasn’t sure. My whole body was numb, but at the same time, I felt like I wasn’t even there. It felt like I’d merged into the absolute darkness of the cave completely, and even the bright sunlight coming through the mirrors from the other Isles couldn’t reach me.

I guess that’s what happens when you finally admit to yourself that you’ve lost your mind, that you imagined a whole place and a whole Isle of people.

I had never really been to Faeries’ Aerie. I hadn’t crossed through that mirror and I hadn’t climbed all those half-ruined stairs on the side of the cliff, and I hadn’t spoken to Emerald, and I hadn’t gone into her Storyteller—and I hadn’t, and I hadn’t, and I hadn’t…

“But the story is real,” I whispered to the cave.

The story of Syra and Hansil Knight was real, wasn’t it? I’d seen it. I remembered it in detail—not just their faces, but the feelings, the pain, the rage, exactly as the author had described it. I couldn’t have possibly imagined all of that, and nobody else had told me Syra’s story. I’d seen it myself.

So…maybe Ihadn’tlost my mind, after all?

God, it was so hard to tell reality from fantasy in this place. So hard to trust my senses, my own damn thoughts.

Then the door opened.

Every inch of my skin rose in goose bumps. I sunk my nails into my shins until it hurt, and I held my breath tightly as I squeezed my eyes shut.

It was the brides. They liked to spend time in the mirror room looking at the other Isles. It wasthemand when they saw me here, they were going to start shouting those awful words at me again.

Please, please, please,I prayed in my mind.Please don’t let them see me.I couldn’t handle them right now. I didn’t want to. And I didn’t even know if my legs would carry me if I tried to make a run for it.

But what I could do was sit really, really still and not make a single sound. So, I rested my forehead on my knees, and I released my breath slowly, perfectly silently, willing my heart to slow its beating all the way until even the cave forgot I was sitting here.

The footsteps coming closer echoed in my head. I didn’t let myself panic, didn’t let myself think about what would happen if they saw me. I didn’t even raise my head at all, just focused on my body, on the cave, on the stone wall behind my back.

Then…

“There’s nothing there.”

My eyes opened.

It was Emil.

My instincts were already screaming for me to run. Emil was here—that vile man who’d tried to bite me against my will just a few days ago, who thought he’d given me enough time and now he would be claiming what washis. He was in the cave with me, and there was no way I could keep my head down and my eyes closed for a second longer.

No, I wanted to see it when he came for me. I wanted to look the monster right in his mad eyes.

So, I raised my head and I looked.

Emil and Romin were standing in between the mirrors, the sunlight coming off them making it impossible to mistake them for someone else, even though they were both turned away from me.

Even my heart stopped beating for the longest second.

“Are you sure? You don’t see anything at all?”

Definitely Romin.

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