Page 101 of The Eighth Isle

NowIlaughed. “You really think highly of yourself.”

He shrugged. “Iamvery highly.” Impossible not to keep laughing. “You’ve read Dorian Gray, haven’t you?”

I nodded. “I have.”

“Remember Sybil, the actress who falls in love with him, then never recovers when he leaves her?”

“Let me guess—that’s how it would be for you if you fell in love with yourself.”

He grinned. “I would never recover,” he solemnly said with a hand to his heart.

“You’re so full of yourself, Valentine Evernight.”

“How could I not be?” he teased.

“I think I was wrong—you’realreadyin love with you!” And I pretended to be shocked.

“Absolutely. I am.” It was a damn lie.

“Sothat’swhy you awakened a siren to ruin the world as you know it.”

“An act of love, indeed.” His smile faltered. “Do you think Dorian was good?”

“I think he was naive, at least at first. Henry was bad,” I said. “He is your Genevieve.”

He laughed a little, and it wasn’t pleasant.

“Why did you trust Genevieve?” I’d wondered since that first time we talked about this. “You knew what she was—you had to.” Maybe he’d been a kid when it all started, but Valentine grew up to be a very smart man.

“Absolutely,” he said without missing a beat. “Make no mistake, I was never under the illusion that she was good, but that’s just it. She was all I knew, and back then I had no clue that peoplecouldbe good. I genuinely believed that they are bad at their core.” He gave me a look. “Beforeyou.”

I shook my head. “You suck.”

“Oh, I do much worse than justsuck.”

“Yet you don’t look like you care all that much.” His face said it all. He was perfectly calm.

“Well, you’re here. You’re okay. So far I’d say I’m doing fine.”

I wished I could have doubted my own ears, but Valentine wasthissenseless for real, so I didn’t. “This isn’t about me, Valentine.”

“Not at first, no,” he said, and he kept his eyes on the sky because he didn’t dare look at me. “It is now.”

“Why did you call her back last night?” I whispered. “Why, just…why not let us leave?”

“Leave?”He looked at me then. “You think she would have let you leave?!”

He was right. Syra was definitely not the type to just let something go. Especially something as big as what she thought she had—another chance at the life that was stolen from her.

Still.

“We’d have stayed hidden. She wouldn’t have found us.”

“She would have burned the world to the ground searching,” Valentine said.

This time my laughter was bitter. “And you suddenly care about the world now?!”

“Don’t be silly, Sunshine. I don’t,” he said. “But you do. You care about this rotten place.”

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