Page 52 of The Eighth Isle

It didn’t matter, though, did it? We were both as good as dead now because I knew Grey. He was going to stand in her way if she tried to come for me, and then she’d kill him.

She was going to kill me, too, when I attacked her—because I would. With my everything, I would.

“Keep quiet while the women talk, sweetheart. You there,” Syra said, leaning her head to the side with that smile still on, to meet my eyes. “Come forth. Tell me—what’s your name?”

“None of your business,” Grey spit again, and she flinched. Syra flinched, and even that looked good on her.

Fuck, I was having trouble getting used to the looks of her, the way she moved. The sound of her voice.

Get it together!

“I’ll say it one more time—” she started, and it was easy to see how irritated she was, so I said,

“Fall.” My voice shook. “My name is Fall and I’ve come to get Grey out of here.”

The next second was loaded with so much tension, you could feel it in the air together with the sound of the forest around us, of Storm growling, of birds chirping in the distance…

Again, Syra laughed.

Now, I felt like I was floating on the surface of the ocean.

“You lied to me,” said Syra, coming closer to the middle of that stone plaque. Grey moved us back slowly, and Storm moved with us, too, his eye never leaving Syra. “I asked you if you were in love, and you lied to me, Hansil. It’s her—I can feel it.”

“I won’t let you come near her,” Grey said, and he let go of me, stepping in front of me slowly.

“Grey, don’t,” I said with barely any voice, but I knew it was useless.

“Let me look at you, Fall,” said Syra. “Come on—let me see your face.”

I closed my eyes, praying for a goddamn miracle even now. Even when I knew for a fact that there was no hope left, that it was already as good as over.

“Don’t,” said Grey, and I opened my eyes to see that Syra was coming closer.

Her smile faltered. “Don’t make me hurt you again.”

My heart fell all the way to my heels.Again,she said.

“I want to see her. Step aside,” she demanded, but Grey wouldn’t. He wouldn’t fucking budge, and he was planning to attack her. I could see it in the way he held his shoulders and his wings half spread, and I could see it in the way Storm had taken his position, too. He was going to attack Syra as well, on Grey’s notice.

And how could I let that happen?

I stepped to the side, away from Grey where she could see me, barely feeling my legs.

“Fall,” he warned, but I had to try, didn’t I?

Syra looked at me like I both mesmerized her and disgusted her at the same time.

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “It’s fine. We’re all fine.” And I’d doanythingto keep it that way. “She just wants to see me.”

The siren smiled, her eyes sparkling in a very, very bad way as they scrolled down the length of me. “Sothat’swho you traded me for,” she finally said, and it was like a punch in the face all over again.

Grey was already coming closer, but I raised a hand—what was the point, anyway? It’s not like he could stop her.

“He didn’t trade you for anything—he’s not Hansil, Syra. He’s Grey. He’smyGrey.” And if she could understand that, maybe we could even escape this place with our lives.

Such a silly thought. Such an absurd fucking hope, but that wasme—hoping against all odds. Hoping, even when I stared death in the face.

But Syra didn’t care about what I said. “All those years…” and she shook her head, now turning to Grey. Nowdisappointed.“And what exactly were you planning to do—just fly out of here?” she asked, her voice ice-cold. “You thought I wouldn’t find you, my love? You thought I would let you go?”

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