Page 60 of The Eighth Isle

“Ready for what?” Grey spit, and he sounded so different from normal.

But Syra smiled. “You’ll see.”

“You’ll have to kill me before you lay a finger on her,” Grey said, wings spread and Storm roaring behind him, a clear threat that Syra ignored even though the strength of the roar pushed her hair behind her shoulders.

“I won’t lay a finger on her, don’t you worry about it, handsome. For now, she’ll need to sleep well and eat well and?—”

“Well, finally, you figure it out.”

My heart stopped beating completely when Valentine’s voice filled my ears, and Syra and Grey turned to the side, toward the trees where his voice had come from.

Grey pulled me to sit up because I still couldn’t move as well as I needed to, and I found Valentine leaning against a trunk with his arms crossed in front of him, and Shadow sitting quietly on his shoulder.

“Oh!” Syra said, bringing her hands to her chest. “And who might this handsome young man be?”

I shook my head, eyes on Valentine, but he was looking at Syra.

“Valentine Evernight, at your service,” he said with a deep bow. “I’m basically the reason you’re here. I ruined the spell that kept you under. I gave my blood to awaken you. I attacked yoursister Sedelis before she could complete that spell to strip you off your powers and gave you the time you needed to get yourself together again—I’mthatguy.”

“Ah, yes, yes,” Syra said, moving toward him slowly. “I do remember you.”

“I’m also the guy who signaled you at Witches’ Wing to warn you about her. I actually brought her here myself.” And he nodded his head toward me.

If I didn’t pass out in those moments, I never would.

“You fucking?—”

“Stop,” I whispered to Grey when he growled deep in his throat, and he was about to let go of me and go pull Valentine’s head off his shoulders completely.

I wanted to see it. My God, I wanted to see that happen so badly, but if Grey let me go now, I’d fall. I’d lose it and I still wanted to witness just how well Valentine Evernight dug my grave for me one last time and put me down with his own hands.

“Really…” Syra whispered, her voice trailing off, eyes squinted as she turned to look at me for a second, then at Valentine again. “But I didn’t receive a signal from you—only from my golems.”

Valentine raised a brow. “You didn’t see my dragon?” Syra shook her head, but Valentine wasn’t fazed. He shrugged. “I sent him for you, but he did say you were incredibly fast.”

The way the smile widened on Syra’s face terrified me, though she remained silent.

Valentine, what the hell are you doing?!

I couldn’t say the words out loud if I tried.

“I knew there was something about her that could benefit you,” he then continued. “Incredibly strong much too soon after the Blood Call. Very hard to detect, not to mention her scent changed. Became”— he rubbed his fingers together as he searched for the word—“sweeter.”

I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or fucking cry.

“I’ll admit, I didn’t think it was pregnancy, but I was right, wasn’t I? It serves you, apparently.” And he slowly walked onto the stone plaque, coming closer to Syra.

“It does, indeed,” Syra said, turning to us again. I held onto Grey’s hand with all my strength, and he put his arm around my shoulders because he could tell I was about to fall to the ground again.

So many things ran through my mind at the same second. So many possibilities, and despite everything I’d witnessed until today, a part of me still didn’t want to believe that Valentine wasthis—pure evil. A part of me still wanted to believe that he was just lying to Syra, that he was bluffing. That he was trying to distract her before he told us to run, fly away. He was going to attack her any second now and he was going to let us go.

Yes, a part of me still believed Valentine to begoodat heart.

He wasn’t.

“I’m happy to hear it,” he said with another deep bow of his head, the corner of his lips turned up in a wicked smile. His clothes were a bit dirty, but he was perfectly intact, not a sign of how his body had been twisted when I left him on the ground by the bridge earlier.

I should have killed him—and the thought made me laugh for two reasons. One, because I’d feltsorrywhen I attacked him.Sorry.

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