Page 110 of The Eighth Isle

“Where is Storm, anyway?” I asked Grey, turning to the darkened sky because it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen him flying anywhere.

“In the woods around the Paradise,” said Grey. “I told him to stick to the ground for now.”

The woods around the Paradise.The first place where I’d felt true magic, where I’d seen it. Where I’d chased animals with glowing fur and played that piano made of tree roots.

Shivers washed all over me at the reminder. At the thought that I could do that same thing nowwith my ownmagic. With my own energy. I could create my own melody, too—just like the soundmakers at Mina’s.

“Then it is decided,” I said. “You take Storm, and you try to find a blanket spell like Syra used before they come and end me.”

Valentine smiled, but it was bitter as fuck. Before I knew it, he was in front of me, and he didn’t even care that Grey was by my side.

“Nobody will hurt you, Sunshine. Don’t you worry about a thing.” And again, he kissed my forehead before he moved away.

“Fuck, I hate you so much…” Grey whispered so low I barely caught it, but he didn’t attack Valentine, or even look at him at all—his eyes were closed.

I stifled a smile.

“I will see you soon,” Valentine said. “But don’t wait up for me.”

With a wink, he turned around and walked back into the building, leaving us alone in the dark.

Twenty-Four

Who knewhow much time we had left?

I looked at the many beautiful colors in my closet and touched the soft, rich fabrics as I went. I wasn’t exactly sad nor was I happy. I wasn’t…anything, only wondering, stuck in this strange state—not asleep but not fully awake, either. Like a dream that merged with reality seamlessly, so you couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.

I put on red lingerie and that red dress Grey had loved, and they looked better on me that I’d hoped. I’d gained a couple of pounds and I was curvier than I’d ever been before, but everything still fit perfectly. The mirror would have you believing that I lived the best life, that I washappy,my skin glowing and radiant, my hair satin-smooth, my eyes so full of color. All shades of green hid in them, and you’d never guess by looking at them what I’d been through since I first set foot in the Paradise.

Healthy. Glowing. Happy.

But now I knew that mirrors were the biggest liars in the world.

Even so, when I walked out of the closet, I did feel at ease. I did feel comfortable in my skin, and as I went to the other side, to the windows that showed the dark sky and the ocean beyond, my step didn’t falter. I just continued to wonder how much longer all of us had left because I’d already answered the most important question we all had to ask ourselves at this point—what do I want to do for what could be the last days of my life?

The answer still hadn’t changed since that day I spoke to Romin and Emil. I wanted to be with Grey.

He came into the room, completely unsuspicious, having gone to see Storm and Valentine off the Burrow. When he saw me standing in front of the windows with my red dress on, he stopped in his tracks and let the door fall closed behind him slowly. The lamps on the bedside tables were on, and another near the vanity, but even without them he’d have seen me. Even without them his eyes would have scrolled down the length of me, taking in my breasts and my legs as I rested back against the windowsill.

Now I felt beautiful, too. When he looked at me, I felt like the most beautiful girl in the world.

“Is he gone?” I said, and Grey’s bloodshot eyes locked on mine. He opened his lips to talk but ended up only nodding.

I’d never get used to that look on him. He was so fascinated by what he saw in me, and even if I didn’t see the same, I believed him when we were like this.

“Good,” I whispered. “So…what do you want to do now?”

We both knew what we wanted to do, but the air was so thick with tension, and I could smell his arousal so clearly it was spilling heat all over me. So, I asked, hoping to lighten the mood a bit, to get him moving, and it worked.

“I want to fucking worship the ground you walk on, my queen,” he said, his voice thick and hoarse, making my knees weak.

“Come here,” I said because he was too far away. He obeyed slowly, looking at me from under his lashes like I was both his queen for real, and his prey. There were no limits to what this man could make me feel with his eyes alone.

“What else?” I said, when he stopped in front of me, so big and hot andhard. Deliciously hard, and I could see it through his jeans, now clearly. That must have been painful, so I ran my hands down his chest, over that blue shirt that looked so beautiful on him, even ripped in the back from his wings, until I reached the buttons.

“I want to worship your body, too. To prove my faith and my dedication,” he said, running his fingers up my forearms as I worked on those buttons. His touch raised my hair everywhere his fingers were, just like magic. “And, at the same time, I want to see you on your knees before me—” he touched my chin and raised my head, slowly coming closer and closer—“completely submissive.”

I could have moaned at the sound of his voice alone. My tongue came out and I licked my dry lips on purpose, just to see those jaws clenching as he watched—and they did. And when he growled, I slowly pulled his jeans down a bit to give his hard cock some space.

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