Page 118 of The Eighth Isle

“Don’t trust anyone,” Grey repeated.

And… “Don’t be good.” I don’t even know why I said it—just that those three words were still stuck in my mind ever since Syra said them.

Grey leaned back to look into my eyes. “Never—to those who wouldn’t be good to you.”

I nodded. That sounded so much better.

For a moment, we stayed there in each other’s embrace, deep within the Blood Burrow, with the animals around us, and the sky turning bluer with each minute. And I wanted to believe what he said with all my heart, that nothing could get in our way, but the truth was that it already had.

When he was banished. When we were stuck in the Eighth Isle with Syra.

It already had.

But right now, it was useless to think about it, so I said, “There’s one more thing you need to see.”

When we found the clearing,I smelled the salty scent of the ocean but now it didn’t freak me out in the least. I knew the ocean was right there—I’d sailed it a few times myself.

“Watch,” I told Grey, and touched a tree with one hand, and raised the other toward the middle of the clearing, to that same spot where my piano made of tree roots had always sprouted from before.

I didn’t really know what the hell I was doing, or how tosummonit from the ground. All I did was give magic and show the tree like I had then how much I wasdyingto play.

Just like the first time, whether it was with Mama Si’s order or not, the Burrow obeyed.

Vines and roots moved at an incredible speed, and I saw it all so clearly with the daylight. The sun had almost risen completely, so we saw the dust and the way the ground opened, the way all those roots from the surrounding trees met in the center, then rose fast, intertwining and twisting together masterfully until I was looking at a piano.

My piano made of tree roots.

“Wow,” Grey whispered from my side just as a happy tear slid down my cheek.

“Thatis the reason I’m here,” I said, both to him and to myself.

Not just the piano, no, but the wonder. Thefullnesslife could have with it. That’s what playing it represented to me—freedom to experience every emotion. Freedom to feel whole—a finished piece.

“Will you play for me, baby?” Grey said, and it was the easiestyesin the world for me. I was craving it so much my fingers itched to touch those keys again.

So, I sat on the bench made of roots and I played my favorite song as Grey stayed there by a tree, resting his back against it, watching me. The animals spread out around us like they used to, some climbing up to hear me better, some making themselves comfortable on the ground.

I played my heart out like I used to back when I was just a girl, and for those few minutes, nothing in the world could really get in our way.

Grey wrappedhis arms around me from behind, then slowly closed his hands over my stomach.

I put mine over his as we looked out the window of the bedroom, at the ocean glistening under the morning sunlight like its surface was made out of millions of sparkly gems. Mama Si had invited us for breakfast when we got back from the clearing, and we’d come to change quickly because it was really warm here. But I’d just needed a moment to breathe, so I’dstopped in front of the window while Grey put on a new shirt Marissa had brought for him just now.

I just needed a moment because though I hadn’t slept, sleep was the last thing on my mind, and the more time passed, the more the entire truth of my reality sunk in. Became…real.

“I know it’s making you uncomfortable to talk about it,” Grey whispered in my ear. “But I’m here whenever you’re ready.”

I flinched, closing my eyes for a moment. “It’s not that I’m uncomfortable.” The baby was just something I trained my mind not to think about—I was always running from it since I found out. Running like hell from that thought because I was a prisoner of Syra and I saw no way out and I was going to lose my fucking head if I didn’t make it just a bit easier on myself. If I didn’t focus on everything else other than the fact that there was a baby in my womb.

That—and it felt so surreal. The only time when I could even think about it clearly was when I was with Grey.

“Then what is it?” he asked now.

I shook my head. “There’s too much going on. I guess I’m just scared to think about it. Scared to imagine that…that…the end is coming, and I might not…you know.” So fucking hard to say the words out loud, and I didn’t want to. God, I’d rather be doing anything else, but I also knew I had to.

This was Grey, and I needed to say those words, let them out before they suffocated me for real.

“It’s a lot to take in, it is,” Grey whispered. “But we can start small, baby.” He kissed the side of my neck and breathed in my scent for a moment. “Tell me—do you feel any different?”

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