“But I don’t feel it.” I felt just the same as always. No difference whatsoever.
“Really?” Valentine analyzed my face. “You don’t feel more magic? You don’t feel morepowerful?”
“Not at all. I feel the same as always,” I admitted, and he seemed to be surprised. “Why would she do something like that? Why would she…” I shook my head. “She knew I wouldn’t leave her side as long as she kept Grey under her claws.Why?”Why would she choose to give me her power?
For a moment, Valentine was silent.
“We’ll figure it out,” he eventually said.
“What the hell am I going to do now? Mama Si isn’t going to keep me here forever, and they’ll figure out where we are in no time. We?—”
The door on the rooftop floor pushed open, cutting me off, and I thought for sure it was Grey coming to see what was taking so long.
But it wasn’t Grey.
It was Mama Si, followed by Assa, and her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Twenty-Three
“There you are, Fall Doll.”
Her voice sent shivers down my back. I let go of Valentine’s hands and I stood up because, whether I liked it or not, Mama Si had taken us in. She’d taken Grey in—and Valentine, too. She could have easily turned them away when they brought me here, but she didn’t.
And I was going to remember that.
“Hello, Mama Si, Assa,” I said with a nod, and Valentine stood up, too, coming to stand beside me.
“You look well rested. Was your breakfast to your liking?” she asked, her eyes moving fast from my face to Valentine’s and back again. I had rarely seen Mama Si uncomfortable, but right now was definitely one of those times. Valentine made her uncomfortable, and with reason. The way this guy looked like a completely different person when we weren’t alone, the way hepromisedyou with those dark eyes that he could watch you burn in front of his feet and enjoy it, was indeed scary.
“It was, thank you,” I said, then cleared my throat. “Valentine, do you mind?”
And the bastard knew exactly the effect he had on people, so the way he smiled could send you running the other way. I almost rolled my eyes.
“Of course. Please, excuse me,” he said, and then lightning fast, he kissed my forehead.
He did this on purpose, too, just to piss me off.
I wanted to shout my guts out at him for getting me frustrated, but I couldn’t, not in front of Mama Si—and he knew it.
But finally, he moved around her and Assa and disappeared through the door on the deck together with Shadow, who had barely moved from his shoulder.
“Thank you for taking us in, Mama Si,” I said in a rush because I needed to get that out of the way first.
“Well, I couldn’t just leave you out there to die,” she said, waving her hand at the ocean, and she was already feeling more at ease.
“Thank you,” I said again. “I won’t forget it.”
“Really? You’re not going to tell me that Ioweyou?” she said, smiling sneakily, her eyes already glistening with excitement.
“You kind of do because you did steal my life from me, but still.”
She laughed. “Oh, you’re so funny, Fall Doll,” she told me, moving to the ledge where Valentine and I were sitting just now. “Funny—and as good as dead.”
Goose bumps rose on my forearms when I joined her, probably because I knew she was right. Assa stayed behind to give us a moment, as silent as always.
“I assume you heard.”
“Oh, yes. Your Evernights told me plenty,” said Mama Si, throwing me a look. “Is it really true that she’s dead?Really?”