“Yes, brother, I’m sure,” Emil said, and he sounded irritated. “You can’t honestly believe those absurd tales. She’s just a woman!”
Breathe,I told myself. I just needed to breathe because they were far enough away and they hadn’t seen me at all. They had no clue I was there, sitting in the darkness; otherwise, they’d have been right in front of me by now.
“Idon’tbelieve it,” said Romin, hands on his hips as he shook his head. “I don’t—of course not. But something’s going on here, and I want to know what the fuck it is.”
He’d listened.
Fuck, I couldn’t believe my own ears, but Romin had actually listened to me. He had become suspicious after our talk, at least a little. That’s why he was in the mirror room—to inspect the other Isles. To try to find whatever those people were planning.
Except…
I blinked my eyes a couple of times because I was sure I wasn’t seeing right.
Romin and Emil were standing in front of a mirror, all right, but it wasn’t the one showing Faeries’ Aerie or any other Isle. It was the broken one, the one at the very beginning of the circle of mirrors that didn’t show anything, that was always just black.
“You’ve let her get to your head,” Emil said after a minute. “He’s gone, brother. Valentine is gone. Even if hedidstir something up—he’s gone now. It’s all over.”
Stabs at my gut.Valentine is gone.
The only person who could have shed light on this whole thing for me was indeed gone.
My eyes closed and I took in a slow, deep breath, still not moving a single inch. Part of me was terrified that my minutes were numbered—literally—but another part of me was…calm.Even though I was with two vampires in the same cave, I was calm because they couldn’t see me. They couldn’t hear me. They couldn’t sense me at all because…what was it that Valentine had told me that night in the woods?
You’re already incredibly hard to detect when you don’t want to be seen.
A deep sigh came from ahead, and I opened my eyes again. Romin and Emil were still where I left them, still in front of the broken mirror, looking at its surface like they’d forgotten it didn’t show anything.
And they really,reallycouldn’t tell I was here.
“But what if someone else remains behind?” Romin then whispered, shaking his head to himself.
“Then you’ll find them, and you’ll bring them to justice—just like you did him,” Emil insisted. “Look at it!” And he put a hand over the frame of the broken mirror.
What the hell are you doing?I asked him in my mind.That mirror doesn’t work—what are you doing?
“Look—do you see something? Because I sure as hell don’t, and my eyes are working fine,” Emil said, and no matter how many times I blinked, the view didn’t change—he was showing his brother the broken mirror. They were both looking at it.
“No, I don’t see anything,” Romin reluctantly said. His voice echoed in the cave, making chills run down my back.
“Exactly,” Emil said, patting his shoulder. “Relax, brother. This is no way to live. You’ve been far too stressed lately—relax.” He was grinning widely. I only saw his profile when heturned to look at Romin, but it was enough to make my stomach turn.
“Stresseddoesn’t do it justice,” Romin said. “I’ve banished two of them within a month. That’s never happened before.” And he genuinely sounded concerned.
“No, it hasn’t. But then again, there have never been five Evernights alive in the same timeline before, have there?” Emil actually laughed. “There’s a first time for everything.”
Romin was nodding his head, his eyes still stuck on that mirror.
What the hell was he looking for on it? It was dark.Black—didn’t even show you your reflection. It was broken. So why the hell was he looking at it so intently?
“It’s a gut feeling more than anything,” Romin said. “I guess it’s just these changes—and the fact that none of us has sired an heir yet.”
“But we will!” insisted Emil, not even a little bit worried.
“When?” Romin said with a growl that vibrated deep in my chest. “There’s only three of us left, brother. We kicked out the old brides just five years ago—remember that?”
What the hell?The other brides had told me that the women who were no longer able to carry children could choose to leave the castle and even go back to the human world if they wished, but I had no idea that the Evernights actuallykicked them out.
“Oh, I remember! We kicked out three that were still young, too, and I told you we shouldn’t—didn’t I tell you? I told you we fuckingshouldn’tlet them go, that the more bodies we have, the better our chances, but you didn’t listen.” He slammed his hand on Romin’s shoulder with enough strength to shake him. “Listen to me now! Let us all try withallof them—especially Fall.” My heart all but beat out of my chest. “She’s compatible withallof us—that’s gotta be a sign.Let us all have her, and I guarantee she will be with child in no time.”