Page 22 of The Eighth Isle

Nature had indeed come alive—the sky so blue and the sun so bright and the trees so green, but the people were still restless. I’d seen only a handful as I’d passed by the town to get to the other side. To get to the closest beach to the castle, as per that map that Grey had drawn. It was still early, I guessed—a little past eight a.m.—but all the people that I saw in town looked pale. Looked tired. Looked afraid as they went about their business of opening shops and dusting off the cobbles of the streets.

Nobody really paid me any attention, and I was thankful for it. Last night, after the meeting with the sirens, I’d gone back to the closet, and exhaustion had left me no choice but to sleep. Butwhen I woke up, I knew exactly what I had to do, even if I hated it.

While waiting for the sirens to arrive yesterday, I’d thought about everything, and there was one simple truth to the matter: I alone could not do anything against Syra. I doubted I could even make it onto the grounds of the Eighth Isle at all.

If I really wanted to put my best efforts into saving Grey, I needed to go ask for help. Even though I knew I wouldn’t find it, and I knew I’d come back empty-handed, I needed to put my pride aside and go ask for help.

I didn’t tell anyone that I was leaving—why would I, anyway, when the spell was no more? Everything that had made the Seven Isles what they were—from the darkness, to the magic, to the rituals, to the offerings and the choosing of the brides—all of it made no sense at all anymore. Like it had never been that way. Like we’d always lived here like this, under the sunlight, free to leave at any given time.

LikeI’dalways been a part of Ennaris and never of the human world. Like I’d belonged here my whole life.

Such a silly thought.

I looked back at the forest behind me that shielded the town and the castle and the mountains—the entire Whispering Woods—from my view. There were boats docked near me, left there unattended, to serve the people who were never bound to this Isle before, and they were all small and empty. A couple of them were almost identical to the one Mama Si had used to bring me to the Whispering Woods.

Maybe that’s why I chose one of them.

I put on my socks and sneakers, and I didn’t even mind the sand sticking to my skin. I tricked myself into thinking that there was a point to this, and I got on that tiny boat made of light-colored wood, with only a bench in the middle, and two rowers resting against it. I’d searched for something similar in MamaSi’s boat that morning, such a long time ago, but now I smiled at the memory because I had no more use for them. Now, I just stepped onto the boat and pulled it free of the thick rope tied to the pillar on the beach, and I went all the way to the front of it, just like Mama Si had done.

Then I ordered my magic to push me forward—exactly like Mama Si had done.

Such a strange feeling to be moving in perfect silence, floating over the water rather than sailing, and all I had to do was keep my hand raised as a way for my magic to leave my body, and my intention clear—I needed to get to Witches’ Wing as fast as possible, as safely as this boat allowed.

The Isle was to the east of the Whispering Woods, the only one with a large structure shaped like a witch’s hat right in the middle of it. Impossible to miss, like a giant skyscraper in the middle of a town full of houses. I kept my eyes on it, though I could only see the silhouette, and I didn’t allow myself to think about anything else. Just that Isle, and just the boat I was on, and just my magic.

For a long time, I sailed smoothly.

Boats around me, but they were far away, and if the people in them found it odd that I was there, they made no attempt to approach or call out to me. I kept going and my magic was steady, coming off me in waves, taking me forward fast enough so that I arrived not an hour in.

I arrived at Witches’ Wing for the first time, and there were plenty of them on shore, waiting for me, as if they’d known I was coming all along.

Pulling my hands into fists, I stopped the magic from propelling the boat forward, just so I could assess my surroundings when I was still about half a mile away. It wasn’tfearthat I was feeling exactly, just…unease. Discomfort. Guiltover wasting time here when I knew I wasn’t going to find what I was looking for.

Yet I still had to try.

Taking in a deep breath, I raised my head and forced my magic out of me once more. I was here now. Might as well look into Reeva Lorein’s eyes while she told me to fuck off with her own words—and then I could move on.

I’d seen Witches’ Wing through the mirror in the mirror room before. It was the smallest of all the Isles, full of trees and bushes and flowers, and the cutest little wooden houses spread around the center of one huge town, with the giant witch hat right in the middle of it.

The boat moved forward slowly this time, headed toward the rocky beach where seven witches wearing long black dresses waited for me with their hands folded in front of them. Some had witch hats on, some didn’t. I had no idea how they’d heard that I was coming or if they saw me approaching just now, but I was thankful I didn’t have to go about an unfamiliar Isle and try to find the ruler of the witches all by myself. If these women had a problem with me seeing Reeva, they would say so, and less time would be wasted. If they didn’t, they’d take me to her themselves.

“Autumn Hayes, welcome to Witches’ Wing,” said one of the witches wearing a gorgeous velvet hat over her rich chocolate brown waves that looked satin smooth. I recognized her—she’d been at Reeva’s table at the party.

“Hello,” I said with a nod, remaining on my boat still. “And thank you. I’m sorry to come here unannounced. I’m not sure if you have phones—or ifwedo.”

The woman smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She—and the others by her side—looked just as gloomy and sad as the people in the Woods.

“Nonsense—we don’t need an announcement. You are welcome to our Isle at any time. Please, approach,” she said, waving for me to come closer, and the boat moved on its own. I didn’t release magic at all, but I felt the heat of it in the air—it was coming from her. She guided my boat toward the shore until the edge of it touched the small grey rocks.

As soon as I jumped off, I said, “I need to see Reeva, if she’s available.”

Again, the woman smiled like she was afraid I would say exactly that. She was a bit taller than me from so close up, and that hat on her head made her look so dark—but she wasn’t. It was just the shadows falling on her beautiful face.

“Of course,” she said. “You might find her a bit…distracted, though.”

I narrowed my brows. “Distracted?”

She pursed her lips. “Come, Autumn Hayes. It’s not a long walk.” She waved her hand toward the thick green trees, while the other witches moved to the sides at the same time, like they were in a choreographed dance.

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