Page 131 of The Eighth Isle

“They will be with you in a second. Please, go on in,” Assa said in her politest voice.

We both stepped through the threshold, but I wasn’t afraid anymore. Assa closed the door behind us, and she remained outside.

At the same time, Mama Si and Reeva opened their eyes, but they seemed to be lost in their heads still because neither blinked nor hinted that she could tell we were there. Neither moved yet, just continued to stare ahead.

“What…what are they doing?” I whispered, and my voice echoed in the almost empty room.

“I don’t know,” Grey said, and just as the words left his lips, the women drew in sharp breaths like they hadn’t tasted air in years.

I jumped back, slamming against Grey’s chest, the scream stuck in my throat.

“Oh, wow. That was quite something,” Reeva said, rubbing her chest with both hands. “You’re much stronger than I thought you would be, Mamayka.”

And Mama Si smiled. “It’s only because my Fall Doll was chosen in the ritual this year,” she said, then turned to us with her brows raised like she hadn’t even realized we were here until now. “Oh, you made it!”

When she stood up, I realized she was wearing pants. Yoga pants, pink and shimmery, that revealed every line of her toned legs perfectly, and a hoody with a zipper in the front.

Ahoodie.On Mama Si.

And her hair, too—it wasn’t as curly as always. Her curls were tamer, like…like they’drelaxed.Like she had taken a step back from the woman she usually was during the day. And I’ll be damned, but the look suited her perfectly. It made her look ten years younger, too.

“Hello, hello,” Reeva sang as she stood up to greet us, too. “Welcome—and please excuse the mess.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “What are you guys doing—and what’s that?” I pointed at the crystal that was still hovering over the floor between them.

“That’s just a fortuneteller—an old thing.” Reeva raised her hand toward it.

I had been surrounded by magic and dragons and sirens for months now, but it still got to me to see magic, actual magic beingperformedin front of me. I stared as the crystal flew over to Reeva as if it were a conscious being and it had heard her call. It stopped over the palm of her hand without making a singlesound, now a simple ball made of glass. “Good thing I had it among my old things, left to me by my predecessor. We didn’t really use these anymore—they refused to work until lately.”

Yes—until Valentine unraveled the spell of the curse and awakened Syra.

“Have you rested, Fall Doll? You look well,” Mama Si said, coming closer to me, looking me over.

“I have, yes. You look…different.” Absolutely breathtaking, but like a completely different person.

She grinned. “I can still pull off yoga pants, can’t I?” And she turned to the sides as she posed.

“Absolutely.”

“You can pull off anything, Mamayka. Ennaris was generous with you,” Reeva said, laughing as she waved her off.

“And plastic surgery is really something. Humans have turned it into an art,” Mama Si said with a wink, pushing her hair back dramatically.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Reeva told her, then turned to me. “We have some good news, young one. I was able to put together a spell from ones my ancestors created in their time. Mind you, I’m still not powerful enough to create my own from scratch, but hopefully I’ll see that day if we do this right!”

“Of course, you will,” Mama Si told her, and she lied so effortlessly it was actually fascinating to watch.

For me, it was like a stab to the gut to see the hopeful look on Reeva’s face, that genuine smile, and I was so close to just telling her the truth, just spitting it out:It’s not true. This is not going to save the Seven Isles!

“I will, I will,” Reeva said, nodding a million times. “Better to keep a positive attitude, of course. But like I said, the spell is ready and by all my calculations, it should work with the supply of magic Mamayka can give us.”

“That’s great news,” Grey said, kissing the side of my head as if to reassure me. “And I assume Fall will be safe through the spell?”

“She will,” Reeva said. “The spell is only designed to read her signatures. Her energy and her magic—nothing else. The first step is to find out more about what is in her. She’ll be perfectly safe, I promise you.”

I swallowed hard but the lump in my throat remained. Either way, I raised my chin. “Let’s get started then.”

So, we did.

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